ARTWORK GUIDE

ARTWORK GUIDE FOR SCREEN PRINTING

If you’re unsure how to provide your artwork for screen printing, have a look over this handy artwork guide to learn how best to supply your designs.

VECTOR FILES

Our preferred file formats where possible are vector files, We prefer vectors as they can be resized without loss of quality. We accept vectors in one of the following formats:

RECOMMENDED VECTOR FORMATS

  • .ai (Adobe Illustrator)

  • .eps (Encapsulated Postscript Vector)

  • .pdf (Portable Document Format)

VECTOR CHECKLIST

  • Size the image to the size you'd like it printed

  • Crop the art board to the design

  • Convert fonts to outlines

RASTER FILES

RECOMMENDED RASTER FORMATS

If you can’t provide a vector file, we also accept the following raster formats:

  • .psd (Photoshop Document)

  • .tif / tiff (Tagged Image File Format)

  • .png (Portable Network Graphic)


RASTER CHECKLIST

  • Design at 300dpi minimum (600dpi preferred)

  • Design at print size or larger

  • Check image is of good quality. It should look sharp when viewed at 100% zoom

PHOTOGRAPHIC / GRADIENT FILES

Photographic artwork, or artwork with gradients are handled a little differently to standard, color designs. Typically these are printed as CMYK or singular halftone designs where the image is composed of thousands of small dots. We offer this in Greyscale (White or Black) as well as Full Color (CMYK). Full color involves 4 layers of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black that blend into the colors needed for the artwork. This doesn't provide full accuracy, so we would recommend an alternative imprint method known as Direct To Garment (DTG) Full Color printing that applies water based ink onto shirts similar to an inkjet printer. For this process, we highly advise to use 100% cotton t-shirts for maximum vibrancy and longevity after repeated washes.

In terms of preparation from you, we ask that you follow the same file formats & checklist as raster files above, plus the following. 

PHOTOGRAPHIC CHECKLIST

  • Same as raster plus the following

  • If artwork is a .psd we recommend sending the original artwork in layers

  • Do not apply halftone or halftone effects, this is something we would need to do to ensure best results with our set up

HAND DRAWN / SCANNED FILES

We often get hand drawn files from artists, so we are used to working with sketches & paintings. There are a few things you should consider when sending these files.

HAND DRAWN CHECKLIST

  • Scan at the highest resolution you can, we recommend at least 600dpi

  • Try & make sure that you have tidied up any scuffs & rogue marks you don’t want printed. If you have Photoshop then this can be done after scanning. If we have a lot of tidying up to do before printing this may be subject to an additional fee

  • If edited in Photoshop save as a .psd file

INK COLOURS

The industry standard colours used in screen printing are “Pantone” colours. Pantone is a guide (typically a book) which has a large number of swatches we reference when proofing your artwork & mixing your ink. We recommend providing Pantone numbers chosen from a printed Solid Coated book, these Pantone numbers end in “C”. If not supplied with Pantone colours our art department will pick the closest Pantone colour to match the colour they see on their monitor. Monitor colours can vary a lot which is why if you’re particular about colour we recommend providing us with the appropriate Pantone numbers.