Let’s Get Started!

Are you in charge of ordering this year’s leaver or school trip hoodies and are unsure of what type of artwork needs to be supplied? Do you need a quick refresher on what file types are recommended? Well good news everybody! I’m here to provide you with a brief explanation of how our art department works and what you will need when ordering one of our stylish leavers hoodies or t-shirts. To ensure your order is process efficiently and correctly we have outlined our artwork recommendations below. I also went ahead and highlighted specific keywords to emphasize their importance to both us and you. Hopefully our post will help answer your questions and put an end to “What file types do I need and why do I need it in that format”?

The Correct File Formats

Screen Printing / Digital Transfers are the most common and most cost effective way of printing hoodies, t-shirts and other garments. We require Vector Illustrator and EPS files as they are the preferred files types for these printing solutions. It’s easy to differentiate between vectors and other formats. If you zoom into a vector, you will see no jagged edges or distortion. If you zoom into a bitmap, the image and edges will become blocky.

We highly encourage you NOT creating a bitmap file and then save it as a .AI or .EPS file – it’s still a bitmap and would be unusable unless we re-draw it for a fee.

Your Colouring / Pantones

Artwork colours should be converted to spot colours within Illustrator or other graphic software you may be using. The individual colours can be selected and changed to their Pantone equivalents. Please refer to the software documentation, or browse the Internet for more details on how to do this. When we screen print, we first print one colour, then print a second colour, etc. This is the reason why we need colour separated files. We can then easily print out the files in colour separation.

Embedding Fonts and Converting Fonts

If your logo has any fonts / typefaces, then these MUST be converted to paths (OR converted to curves – depending on your software package). This simply means that the font is converted to a graphic object and cannot be changed. If this is not done, then when we receive the file and don’t have the equivalent font, we won’t be able to match your artwork.

TIF and PSD Bitmap Files – Suitable for Single Colour Prints

Artwork files must be sized to the exact size (or larger) than the actual print size and must be at least 300dpi at the print size. Colours should be separated in layers. This is not a preferred method and may incur extra costs if we have to manipulate the file.

Adobe PDF Files

PDFs must be created from vector files and maintain edit capabilities. Don’t create a bitmap file and then save it as a PDF file – it’s still a bitmap and would be unusable and would be liable for a re-draw fee.

Embroidery Process

For embroideries we require that the artwork is a high resolution .JPG, .BMP, .TIF, .EPS, .AI formats. All files types are accepted as long as the resolution is high quality.

If you have any further questions about our artwork guidelines or want to place a enquiry or order with us please give us a call at 0800 014 8284 or reach us at sales@hoodietee.co.uk.