Tips to Make Your Art Look Amazing on Products
Want more people to notice and buy your designs? One of the biggest differences between a purchase and scrolling past is how your design looks on the product. Your artwork may look amazing, but if it doesn’t translate well onto the product, you might be losing sales.
Here are some steps to help your designs look their absolute best:
Start with the right size
The rule of thumb is simple: bigger is better. Large files are sharper, print better, and look amazing on more products. Aim for 5000px by 5500px at 150 DPI. Following this will make sure your designs stay crisp and clear, whether on a shirt, mug, or wall art.
*A tip: Don’t try to enlarge a small file later. Even though the canvas gets bigger, the details will become blurry. Start with a sharp, high-quality file from the very start!
Match your design to the product
Different design styles are better suited for various products. There are two main formats to consider when planning your designs:
- Full-coverage designs – As the name implies, these designs cover the canvas of the file in its entirety. As a result, they tend to have a rectangular shape. Examples include photographs, paintings, and repeating patterns.
- Designs with a transparent background – Although they have a rectangular canvas, these designs have an irregular shape when viewed because their background is transparent. This format is especially effective for artwork that primarily features text or characters, as it allows the product's color to be the design's background!
Use these three main product categories as your guide:
Apparel – T-shirts, tank tops, or hoodies aren’t flat canvases — they’re worn on a moving body. The most appealing designs for these products are those with a transparent background. With the fabric acting as the background, the design feels like it truly belongs on the product!
Designs with a transparent background also make the greatest stickers!
Crystal Lotus II by Wild Skullflower Art
Home Goods and Accessories – Phone Cases, Tote Bags or Wall Art are where full-coverage designs truly shine! To ensure the products are fully covered, you may need to scale your design above 100%.
Her hopes never end by FrankMoth
Mugs – Mugs are pretty versatile. You can either upload a full coverage design or one with a transparent background. They will look awesome both ways!
Easy To Teasy by Hillary White Rabbit
Be aware of printing method limitations
Products are printed using DTG (Direct-to-Garment), DTF (Direct-to-Film), and Sublimation, and these methods have a few limitations. Designing with these in mind will help your art look its best in real life!
- Extremely bright or neon colors may not print as expected. Transferring artwork from screen to print cannot reproduce highly saturated/neon shades as the color format changes from RGB to CMYK, which has a more limited color range. In fact, these shades may appear slightly duller or more muted once printed. To avoid any surprises, make sure to use slightly muted colors in your designs.
- Very fine details can get lost. Tiny text, thin lines, and intricate patterns may blur or fade during printing, especially on small products such as stickers or hats. Using slightly thicker lines and clearer shapes helps preserve your design.
- Subtle gradients and transparency can be tricky. Soft fades and low-opacity elements sometimes lose smoothness in print. Gradients can appear slightly banded or less smooth than they do on a screen. To work around this, it is best to use halftones.
Designing with the final product in mind can make all the difference in customer trust and sales! These tips will help ensure your artwork looks just as great in real life as it does on your screen!
Happy designing!
