What Image Resolution Do You Need for Shirt Printing?

Pixels for each print size

Height works the same way: multiply the printed height in centimetres by 59.

The maths, both ways

DPI means dots per inch: how many pixels of your image are spread across each inch of fabric. To find the pixels you need, divide the printed width in centimetres by 2.54 to get inches, then multiply by 150. A 20 cm print is 7.87 inches, and 7.87 × 150 is about 1,182 pixels.

To find how large an image you already have will print, go the other way: divide its width in pixels by 150 and multiply by 2.54. An image 2,000 pixels wide prints cleanly to about 33.8 cm; one 1,000 pixels wide, to about 16.9 cm. Print it wider than that and every pixel is stretched over more fabric, which is when edges start to look soft or stepped.

What those sizes look like

As a rough guide on an adult shirt:

• About 8 to 10 cm is a small logo on the chest, over the heart.
• About 20 cm is a medium print across the chest, close to the width of an A4 sheet.
• About 25 to 30 cm is a large print that fills the front or the back.

Sizes and shapes vary between garments, so place the design in the design studio and look at it on the shirt rather than relying on a number alone.

Why 150, not 300

Ink spreads slightly into the weave of the fabric, and a shirt is seen from across a room rather than at reading distance. Asking for 300 DPI doubles the pixels you need without a difference anyone can see on a shirt.

That does not make 150 a target to scrape past. It is the point below which prints start to look rough. More pixels than that do no harm, so if you have a larger version of your image, upload that one.

Which file type to use

The design studio takes PNG, JPG and WebP files, up to 10MB, between 50 and 10,000 pixels on each side.

• PNG is the best choice for logos, lettering and illustrations. It keeps sharp edges exactly and can have a transparent background.
• JPG suits photographs. It cannot be transparent, and heavy compression leaves smudges around text and hard edges, so save it at high quality.
• WebP can do either, and many websites and phones now save images in it.

Artwork made in a vector program — an SVG, PDF or AI file — has no pixel size of its own. Export it as a PNG with a transparent background, at the pixel width in the table for the size you want.

Getting the most from your image

• Upload the original file, not a screenshot or an image saved from a chat. Messaging apps shrink photos to send them quickly; sending the file as a document instead keeps the original.
• Use a transparent background. Anything that is not transparent is printed, so a white box behind your design becomes a white box on the shirt.
• If a designer made your logo, ask them for a large PNG export rather than the version on your website or social media, which is usually small.
• Enlarging a small image does not add detail. It only makes the blur bigger.

Checking your image

Once you have uploaded an image, My Designs in your account shows its size in pixels and how wide it prints cleanly. You can also ask Lime, the assistant in the corner of every page, to check an image: it works out how large it will print cleanly. An image under 50 pixels on a side is refused outright, and we check every design before it is printed, so one placed far larger than it can carry may be stopped. Then open the design studio and place it.

If your image is too small

• Look for the original: the file from the camera, or from whoever designed it.
• Print it smaller. A crisp 15 cm print looks better than a blurry 30 cm one, and the table above shows what your image can carry.
• For a simple logo or lettering, have it redrawn as vector artwork and export a large PNG from that. It will be sharp at any size.
• Upscaling tools can help a photograph, but look at the result closely at full size before you order: they guess the missing detail, and sometimes guess wrong.

Common questions