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How to prepare files for DTF Printing with PhotopeaTon Atelier2024-05-22T11:37:57-04:00
A guide to prepare files for DTF printing with Photopea
Photopea is an online tool similar to Photoshop. It's really powerfull and easy to use. Better than Canva, cheaper than Photoshop!
Benefits of using a real graphic tool vs Canva
A good print starts with a better file
Control your file resolution
1 – Open an image or create a new file from scratch.
2 – Click on Image -> Image Size.
3 – Set the DPI to 300.
This is the right parameter for optimal printing resolution. Everything less than 300 dpi will provide a fuzzy and pixelated print.
4 – In the Image size menu, you can also resize your image by changing the width and height. *Do not forget to make your changes in inches.
Image Size vs Canva Size
Canvas size is the whole size of your file in inches. Including empty spaces. Image size is the actual size of your design.
As you can see on this preview the image size is much smaller than the canvas size.
When uploading a file to print, our file upload tool on the website takes the canvas size into consideration, not only the image size.
Best practice is to remove any empty and transparent spacing in your canvas. That way you know exactly the size of your image. Canvas size should equal = Image size.
1 – To view the canvas size, click on Image – Canvas Size.
2 – To get rid of any empty spaces, click on Image – Trim.
3 – Select transparent, and all sides.
4 – Now your image is trimmed on all edges and your canvas size is the same as your image size.
Easy right? You are now a Pro!
Background removal
You need to make sure that the background is always transparent for your images. In the printing world a transparent background is represented by the small grey squares. As you can see on the top part of the image.
1 – To remove the background, click on the eraser tool and on Magic Eraser.
2 – Then simply click on the part with your cursor that you want to delete. Everything within the same color will be deleted!
A second way!
1 – Click on Select – Remove BG
Summary
Resolution
File resolution should alway be 300 dpi for best printing result.
Image size
Your image size should be equal to your canvas size. Removing any unecessary transparent parts from the canvas will help you understand better your image size.
Background removal
If your design contains a background and you don’t want it to be printed, remove it using the magic eraser tool or the auto background removal tool.
Verification and practice
Always double and triple verify your files before submitting an order. When performing background removal add another color layer under the design to see how it got.
The best advice we can give you is to play around with this awesome tool. Try to create gang sheets, create new files, work on existing designs, change parameters, see the previews. It takes only a few minutes to understand how it works and you will be a pro.