Pixel graphics are photos or images made up of a combination of pixels. Each pixel holds colour information, and together they form the digital image. Spreadshirt uses pixel graphics in digital printing, laser transfer and thermal sublimation. Below you’ll find tips on creating pixel graphics for perfect print results.
For a perfect print: file format and resolution
Your designs can be printed if they meet these requirements:
- File formats: PNG, JPG, BMP or GIF
- Size limit: max. 10 MB
- Resolution: at least 1000 pixels on the shorter side, max. 4000 pixels on the longer side
- Your design must not contain transparency gradients (i.e. transitions from transparent to opaque)
- Design has no background
Although we accept several file formats, we recommend you create your designs in PNG format. The big advantage: only .png files support transparent backgrounds.
Find the requirements for poster designs here.
For optimal print results, a sufficiently high resolution and size of your design is crucial. We recommend a design of at least 1000 × 1000 pixels. The higher the resolution, the sharper the print – up to a maximum of 4000 × 4000 pixels.
If the resolution is too low, the pixels will be clearly visible:
Designs without background
Printing photos on T-shirts is very popular. To make your photo look its best, remove the background so only the main image is left. Don’t just make the background white, or black for black products – the background colour will still be printed and will show up on the product. The background must be transparent, so save your image as a PNG.
No colour transitions with transparencies
To make your design look bright on coloured products, our printers first apply a white base layer and then print your design on top of it. This only applies to Digital Direct printing and isn’t done on white products. Because of this white layer, your design must not contain semi-transparent areas or fades from transparent to solid colour. In these areas, the white layer would show through and look patchy.
Tip for advanced users: To get a similar effect, use halftone or dither effects in your graphics program, such as “Dissolve” or “Dither”. You can find more tips on our forum.
Consider colour differences in the CMYK and RGB mode
Colours often look brighter on a screen than on a printed T-shirt. To get the colours of your printed T-shirt as close as possible to what you see on screen:
- Make your design a bit brighter. A print will never look as bright as a screen, because a screen gives off its own light, while a print only reflects light.
- Always upload your design in RGB mode. Our system works with RGB, so RGB files give smaller colour differences than CMYK files.
From left to right: Perfect – design too dark – contrast too low – saturation too low