What are transparent backgrounds and how do I use them?
Digital Direct Printing
Pixel graphics are used as the master copy for Digital Direct printing . These graphics are printed on the shirt exactly as they were uploaded.
If your graphic contains a background, this will also be printed as it appears.
If you do not want the background to be printed on the shirt, you must crop your design (meaning to cut your design from the background.) By doing this, you make your design's background transparent.
Most graphics editing software shows transparent backgrounds as a white-gray checkerboard pattern. If you upload a graphic with a transparent background, the colour of the shirt will appear in those areas after the printing is finished.
Note: When you save your final cropped graphic, please choose the .png format.
Most of the other file formats, like .jpg, do not recognise transparent surfaces and give the cropped image a white background when it is saved.
Articles in this category
- My design for plot printing has been rejected by Spreadshirt's Designs Service. Why?
- The approved design is larger than the design I submitted. Why?
- Why do the colours of my pixel graphic show up differently on the shirt and my screen?
- What are transparent backgrounds and how do I use them?
- What are vector and pixel graphics?
- How do I create a pixel graphic (e.g. from a photo) that meets all requirements for digital printing?
- How do I increase the (dpi) resolution of my pixel graphic and reduce the file size below 10 MB?
- How do I get the best printing quality with a multi-coloured vector design?
- How do I create a vector graphic that will meet all the requirements for a plot printing (flex / flock) format?
- How do I convert a pixel graphic to a vector graphic for plot printing?
- How do I use Spreadshirt's Graphics Service?
