How to Prepare the Perfect Print File

Basic print file graphic requirements

The quality of your product depends on the print file you submit. So if you want to make
your designs look the best they can and avoid order holds, carefully follow basic
graphics requirements. Some of the things you must keep in mind are:

 Maximum size of print area depends on the product you choose. For example,
for t-shirts it’s 12×16 inches, but for mugs (11oz) – 9x 3.5 inches.
 File resolution recommendations: Your print file has to be at least 150 DPI (dots
per inch) to ensure optimal print quality.
 Accepted print file formats: PNG, EPS

Each product might have slightly different set of guidelines, so make sure you carefully
follow graphics requirements provided in Print file guidelines tab.
Acceptable Content Guidelines
We want submitted content to be respectful of others and of the law, so keep that in
mind before you hit the submit button. Content that is hateful, illegal, and that violates
intellectual property rights may be reviewed and removed at any time.

 Intellectual Property Rights

MoggyStamp respects your work and empowers you to express your voice and ideas.
We ask that you respect the work and creative rights of others. You need to either own
the content you submit to MoggyStamp, or have the rights to use, display, and resell it.
Content must comply with right of publicity, trademark, and copyright laws.

 Illegal Content

We will remove content that depicts child pornography. Obscene content, or content
that depicts or promotes illegal activity may be removed. You also have to follow your
local laws and those of the regions you’re shipping orders to. It’s your responsibility to
understand what you legally can and can’t.

 Hateful Content

MoggyStamp is proud to serve customers. We value tolerance, understanding, and

respect. We don’t tolerate content that expresses hatred towards any person or group.
You cannot upload this sort of content.

 A Few More Notes

Your content is yours – MoggyStamp won’t use it in our advertising or as promotional

material without your permission. All content is subject to review and we reserve the
right to remove it at any time and for any reason. Each case is evaluated individually.
Top reasons your order is on hold
1. Bad print file quality
Low-quality designs, or designs that are too small to be qualitatively scaled up are one
of the most common reasons why orders are put on hold.
When it comes to size, make sure the print file you submit is as big as you want it on
your garment. Remember, that it’s better to submit a larger print file that we can scale
down, instead of vice versa.

Resolution is no less important. If we printed a low-resolution file that’s scaled up,

design would be blurry and pixelated. And that probably isn’t something you’d like to
send to your customers.
As it’s been already mentioned, we require files to be at least 150 DPI for DTG and
sublimation products. Print files for smaller items like mugs or phone cases need to have
higher resolution because prints are small and often detailed.
How to know if your print file quality is suitable for printing
If the size of your files is not suitable for printing, you’ll see different warnings in our
mockup generator:
*This file is too small to generate print files. Please either decrease the image size or
upload a new file.
You may think that enlarging the print file size, or increasing its DPI will solve the
problem. But the root of the problem is that you’re still submitting low-quality image.
Even 300 DPI doesn’t guarantee a quality print if you use a low-quality file in the first
place.
To quickly find out if your image is large enough to be printed in a good quality, upload
it to the mockup generator and see if you can scale it to the desired size. We don’t
recommend scaling the file to a point where resolution drops below 150 DPI.
2. Incorrectly used transparencies
While transparent elements in print files are OK for some products (all-over print
products, mugs), they aren’t recommended in DTG printing because the white
underbase will show through. This will create a very speckled look that can be
associated with poor quality.
If you’re not sure whether your design has transparent elements, try switching off the
solid white background in the editor you’re using to create your print file. If the grid is
showing through the elements – they’re transparent.
3. Print file has a solid background
Avoid using background unless it’s a part of your design – this is especially important for
the designs you want to print on apparel. Why? Because if a product you want to print
on is the same color as the background of your design, it might not look as sharp once
printed.
Let’s say you decided to print a design on a white t-shirt. If your design has a white
background, it’s likely that the shades of white in the printed design and the garment
won’t match and your final product may look odd.
Similarly, if you’re printing design with a black background on a black garment, you’ll be
left with a greyish rectangle around your design. That’s because prints on dark garments
require a white under base, and as a result, the printed black will be a lighter shade than
the actual garment.
If you’re not sure whether your design has a background, open the file in Photoshop,
add a different color background, and duplicate the layer several times to make any
residue show up.
A few more things to keep in mind
Make sure your print file doesn’t have multiple layers
Even though we accept print files in PNG and EPS formats, we recommend you to stick
with PNG.
You see, print files submitted in .eps format often have hidden layers that printers can’t
read. If these files aren’t exported properly, all layers get printed and that’s usually
something you weren’t originally planning to have on your design.