BEST GRAPHIC FILE FORMAT FOR DTF PRINTING
Good quality DTF transfers begin with good quality artwork. The best quality inks & printers cannot correct problems with the actual image being printed.
There are a few important considerations when creating or sourcing any artwork for DTF printing:
Transparent background: no-one wants a white rectangular print, so be sure to make the background transparent.
PNG format is pixel based: resolution is dependent on how many pixels fit within a square inch or DPI (dots per inch). The higher the DPI the more clear and higher quality the image. With raster art you cannot increase low resolution art, you can only decrease in resolution. For example, you can’t take 72 DPI art and make it 300 DPI, but you can take 300 DPI art and make it 72 DPI.
Exceptions: there's just one! If you have an image with extremely large dimensions, say 3,200 pixels by 2,400 pixels (45”x34”) at 72 DPI, there is sufficient DPI at these large scales that you can reduce the image dimensions to fit within your print perimeters and still maintain a high quality print.
Have realistic color reproduction expectations: Colors vary from monitor to monitor, and from printer to printer. Most artwork is created using RGB settings, but keep in mind the DTF printer, just like any other printer, will use CMYK.
RGB vs CMYK: Our printer uses four-color CMYK inks, plus white for the underbase and highlights. Our software is optimized to convert the commonly used RGB colors to CMYK+W.
If using bright blue and lime green colors (they suffer during the RGB to CMYK conversion) and it's very important to preserve the colors, then create your design in CMYK with transparent background and save it as PDF or TIFF. Otherwise, design your files in RGB and save as PNG.
If you're unsure if your artwork will work for DTF printing, email it to order@pnwprintco.com and we will be happy to take a look.
We are not responsible for the printing outcome if low-resolution images were provided for printing. We often do not see the quality of the image until the job is complete and your order is printed. At this point, we cannot cancel your order or modify your files, and you will receive what was ordered.