Requirements for uploading a design

Close-up of a transparent print transfer sheet being applied for custom apparel printing

When it comes to creating and personalizing your own clothing or merch, the quality of the design is crucial for the end results. At ShirtUp! we ensure you a high resolution print by adding guidelines in the designtool that can help you to achieve the desired outcome. Get your images to the next level with ShirtUp!

PIXELS: THE KEY TO SHARP DESIGNS

What Are Pixels?

A pixel is the smallest unit in a digital image, in which each dot is assigned a color arranged in a grid. All of these color dots combined create every image, photo or digital formatted file you see. The higher the number of pixels an image has, the better the quality. An image with a high pixel resolution is the perfect base for the printing process, which is why we require a minimum resolution of 200 dpi.

Comparison between 300 DPI and 72 DPI image quality showing sharp versus blurry printed notebook designs

DOT PER INCH

What Does DPI Mean?

DPI (Dot per Inch) means how many color points per inch your image should have. When printing your design, the dpi shows how many ink droplets of the printer will be produced while printing the design.

IMAGE REQUIREMENTS

To get the best print, we established technical image requirements when uploading your own design in the design-tool:

• The image format must be PNG, JPG, SVG or GIF
• It must have a minimum resolution of 200 dpi
• The file size must be a minimum of 160 pixels by 160 pixels
• The file size must be a maximum of 8500 pixels by 8500 pixels
• The file size must be smaller than 10 MB

OUR PRINTING TECHNIQUES

At ShirtUp!, we print using both DTG (Direct-to-Garment) and DTF (Direct-to-Film) technologies, ensuring versatility and exceptional quality for every design.

With DTG, your digital design is directly transferred to our printing machines as soon as we receive your order. This technique uses sustainable, water-based inkjet technology, specially formulated for garments like T-shirts to deliver the best results. The DTG process starts with a white underlayer of the design, guaranteeing consistent color replication on all fabric colors and a smooth, natural finish.

For even greater flexibility, DTF printing allows us to bring your designs to life on a variety of materials, including polyester, nylon, and leather. This process involves printing your design onto a special film, coating it with adhesive powder, and heat-pressing it onto the fabric. The result is a bold, durable print that sits on top of the material, making it perfect for vibrant and detailed designs on unique or textured surfaces.

CMYK VS. RGB

CMYK vs. RGB Color Differences

Our printing facilities print in CMYK colors. (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) This color mode lets us create full-color graphics and images. If you upload an image in RGB colors (Red, Green, Blue format), our system will automatically change the color resolution to CMYK. This may lead to color differences between the digital design and the printing results on the garments.

If you want to be sure that the digital version matches the printing results, here are a few things you can do:

• Use high contrasts in your images and your designs
• Play around with the saturation of the colors
• Manipulate the brightness of the image to maintain a balance of dark and light

PRINTING IMAGES WITHOUT A WHITE BACKGROUND

In general, any image in JPG format has a white background. If you wish to print a specific design or image without a white background, you can either:

• Upload the image in PNG format
• Manipulate the image yourself as a VSG file with tools such as Photoshop, Canva, Gimp and more
• Or remove the white background with our design-tool function

Please be aware that certain websites that erase the background of your desired design or file can also affect the quality of your image file. There are various sources online for you that will analyse the quality of your image for you.