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How to Prep Your Artwork for Printing: Files, Resolution & Common Mistakes
Most "my print looks bad" stories start with the file, not the printer. Here's exactly what we look for when your artwork lands in our queue at Sactown's Finest Vinyl & Print in Elk Grove — the file types we accept, the resolution each product actually needs, and the handful of mistakes that cause almost every reprint. Five minutes here saves a day of back-and-forth.
Which file types we accept
Across our shop — banners, signs, stickers, posters, magnets, and shirt printing — our upload buttons accept PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, AI, EPS, and PSD files. You don't need special software to order: whatever your designer gave you, or whatever Canva exported, we can almost certainly work with.
- Shirt prints & DTF transfers: PNG with a transparent background is the gold standard. Our gang sheet builder also takes PDF, SVG, AI, EPS, and PSD.
- Banners & signs: any of the formats above — vector files (SVG, AI, EPS, PDF) print sharpest at large sizes.
- Decals & cut vinyl: vector files strongly preferred (SVG, AI, EPS), because the cutter follows vector paths.
- Finished gang sheets you built elsewhere: upload them as PNG or JPG at /shop/gang-sheet/upload and we'll auto-detect the sheet size.
Vector vs. raster — and when the difference matters
A raster file (PNG, JPG, PSD) is a grid of pixels. It has a fixed amount of detail — enlarge it past that and it goes soft and blocky. A vector file (SVG, AI, EPS, and most true PDFs) is math: shapes and curves that redraw perfectly at any size, from a business card to a building wrap. That's why our builders skip the resolution check entirely for vector uploads — there's nothing to check.
The practical rule: logos, text, and anything with clean edges belong in vector whenever you have it. Photos are raster by nature and that's fine — they just need enough pixels for the size you're printing. If all you have is a raster logo, don't panic; we work with raster art all day. It just needs to meet the resolution numbers below.
Resolution rules by product — the real numbers
"300 DPI" gets repeated like a law, but the honest answer is that resolution requirements depend on viewing distance. These are the numbers our own tools and product pages use:
| Product | Target resolution (at final print size) |
|---|---|
| DTF shirt transfers & gang sheets | 300 DPI optimal · 250+ good · builder warns below 150 DPI |
| Banners | 100–150 DPI at the final banner size |
| Signs (yard signs, foam board, rigid) | ~150 DPI at the final sign size |
| Stickers & decals | Vector preferred; high-res PNG otherwise |
DPI is just pixels divided by inches. A 3000-pixel-wide PNG printed 10 inches wide is 300 DPI — perfect for a shirt. That same file printed as a 6-foot banner is about 42 DPI, which is why big products want big files (or vectors). Our gang sheet builder does this math for you: every design you place gets a live DPI badge — Optimal ≥ 300 DPI, Good ≥ 250 DPI — and the pre-checkout checklist flags anything under 150 DPI before you can pay. It even includes a free AI upscaler that can rescue a low-res image into print-ready territory.
Transparency: the make-or-break detail for DTF
DTF prints exactly what's in your file. If your logo sits on a white rectangle, we print a white rectangle on your shirt. For any apparel transfer, export a PNG with a transparent background — JPGs can't store transparency at all, which is the single most common reason a "shirt file" needs fixing. If your only copy has a background baked in, the background remover built into our gang sheet builder can usually strip it in one click, and our art check catches the rest.
RGB vs. CMYK — the honest version
Old-school print advice says "always convert to CMYK." For our shop, you usually shouldn't bother. Our DTF transfer workflow is RGB-friendly — a standard sRGB PNG from Canva, Procreate, or Photoshop prints the way you'd expect, and converting it yourself can actually dull the colors. The truthful caveat: no printer on earth can match the most fluorescent, backlit-screen colors, so electric neons will land slightly less radioactive on fabric than on your monitor. If a color is critical (brand colors, team colors), tell us — that's exactly the kind of thing our human art check is for.
The five mistakes we fix most often
- The website logo. A logo saved off a homepage is typically 200–400 pixels wide — sharp on screen, mush at 300 DPI print size. Get the original file from whoever designed it.
- Screenshots as artwork. Screenshots inherit your screen's resolution and compression. They're reference material, not print files.
- Missing transparency. The white-box-on-a-black-shirt classic. Export PNG, not JPG, and check the background is actually transparent (a checkerboard pattern in your preview).
- Text too thin. Hairline fonts and 1-pixel strokes that look elegant on screen can break up at print size — especially on textured fabric. If you have to squint at 100% zoom, bump the weight.
- Wrong aspect ratio. A square Instagram graphic doesn't become a 3:1 banner without cropping or redesign. Set your canvas to the finished product's proportions before you export — stretching distorts everything in the file.
What our free art check actually does
Every file that comes through our shop gets looked at by a real person before it prints — not a bot, not an automated "preflight pass." We flag low-res logos, missing transparency, text creeping toward trim edges, and layouts that won't work at the ordered size, and we send mockups on request so you approve the look before production. That human check is a big part of why the reprint rate here stays low: the wrong-date, blurry-logo mistakes get caught while they're still free to fix.
And if you don't have artwork at all? Most of our product pages — banners, signs, stickers, business cards, and more — have a "hire a designer" option for $50 flat. Tell us what you're after at checkout and our team builds the art for you.
Quick pre-upload checklist
- Original file, not a screenshot or web download
- Vector (SVG/AI/EPS/PDF) if you have it; large PNG if you don't
- Shirt prints: transparent PNG, ~300 DPI at print size
- Banners/signs: 100–150 DPI at the final size is enough
- Canvas proportions match the product you're ordering
- Not sure? Upload it anyway — we check everything before printing
Ready to put that file to work?
Upload it and our tools — and our humans — will tell you if anything needs attention before it prints.
Artwork FAQ
What file types do you accept for printing?
PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, AI, EPS, and PSD. Our upload buttons on banners, signs, stickers, posters, and shirt products all take these formats. For DTF shirt transfers, a PNG with a transparent background is the ideal format. If you're uploading an already-finished gang sheet at /shop/gang-sheet/upload, send it as a PNG or JPG.
What DPI does my artwork need to be?
It depends on the product. For DTF shirt transfers, 300 DPI at the printed size is optimal — our gang sheet builder marks 300+ DPI as optimal, 250+ as good, and warns you before checkout if anything is below 150 DPI. Banners are viewed from far away, so 100–150 DPI at the final banner size is plenty. Signs should be around 150 DPI at final size. Vector files (SVG, AI, EPS) scale to any size with no DPI concerns at all.
What's the best file type for DTF shirt printing?
A PNG with a transparent background at 300 DPI at your print size. Transparency matters because DTF prints exactly what's in the file — if your logo sits on a white box, we print the white box. Our gang sheet builder includes a background remover and a free AI upscaler if your file isn't quite there.
Do I need to convert my file to CMYK?
No — send us what you have. Our DTF transfer workflow is RGB-friendly, so a standard sRGB PNG straight out of Canva, Procreate, or Photoshop prints great. Extremely fluorescent screen colors can't be perfectly reproduced by any printer, and a real person reviews your file before it prints, so if something in your art won't translate well, we'll tell you first.
What if my artwork isn't print-ready — can you fix it?
Yes. Every order gets checked by a real person before it prints — we flag low-res logos, missing transparency, and layout problems, and we send mockups on request so you can approve the look first. If you don't have usable artwork at all, our design team can build it for you for $50 on most products — just choose the "hire a designer" option on the product page or call (916) 931-7010.
Sactown's Finest Vinyl & Print · Elk Grove, CA · (916) 931-7010 · Your first & last stop for print & promo