Send a vector file — AI, EPS, or PDF with outlined fonts — for screen printing and embroidery, since both methods rebuild your design from scratch and a fuzzy raster image just means a fuzzy print or a garbled stitch file. For DTF transfers, a high-resolution PNG at 300 DPI or higher works fine, since DTF prints your art directly rather than converting it. When in doubt, send the largest, cleanest file you have — a shop that knows what it's doing will tell you if it needs more.
Why file format actually matters here
Every decoration method starts from your artwork, but none of them print your file exactly as you see it on screen. Screen printing separates your design into individual ink colors, each one burned onto its own screen. Embroidery converts your logo into a stitch path a sewing machine follows, needle by needle. DTF is the outlier — it prints your design in full color onto film, so it's closer to a regular printer than the other two.
That difference is why the file format question doesn't have one universal answer. A format that's perfect for one method can cause real problems for another.
Vector vs. raster, in plain terms
This is the one distinction that matters more than any specific file extension.
- Vector files (AI, EPS, and PDFs built from vector art) are made of mathematical paths, not pixels. They can scale from a business card to a banner with zero loss in quality. Programs like Adobe Illustrator create true vector files.
- Raster files (JPG, PNG, most files that come out of a phone camera or a quick Canva export) are made of a fixed grid of pixels. Scale one up past its native size and it turns soft, blurry, or blocky — what printers call "pixelated."
A logo pulled off a website is almost always a small raster file, usually 72 DPI, sized for a screen rather than a print run. It might look fine in an email signature and still be unusable for a 12-inch print on a hoodie.
Screen printing: vector art, separated by color
Screen printing needs a clean vector file — AI, EPS, or a PDF saved from vector artwork — with fonts converted to outlines so nothing shifts or substitutes on a different machine. From that file, we separate your design into individual colors and burn one screen per color, so the file needs to hold up to being pulled apart that way.
What we need from you:
- AI, EPS, or vector PDF (preferred)
- Fonts converted to outlines/curves, not linked as live text
- Pantone (PMS) color codes if you need an exact color match, rather than "make it blue"
- A limited, defined color count — screen printing gets more expensive per color, so a 1–4 color design is the sweet spot for most runs
Don't have vector art? Send what you have — even a phone photo of a napkin sketch. We redraw and vectorize logos in-house at no charge and send a mockup before anything gets burned to a screen.
Embroidery: vector art in, a digitized stitch file out
Embroidery starts the same way screen printing does — clean vector art or a high-resolution image is best — but then goes through an extra step called digitizing. A digitizer (in our case, in-house) converts your design into a stitch file that tells the embroidery machine exactly where to stitch, in what direction, and with what density. This isn't optional and it isn't automatic; it's a skilled, manual process, which is part of why embroidery setup costs more than a simple screen print.
What matters most for embroidery art:
- Simple, bold shapes translate to thread far better than fine gradients or thin hairline details, which tend to disappear or blur once stitched
- Small text gets tricky below about 1/4 inch tall — very fine lettering can clog or blur in thread
- We send a digital mockup and, for larger orders, a physical sew-out sample on real fabric before your full order runs — so you're seeing actual thread, not a rendering, before we commit
If your logo has a lot of fine detail or a photographic gradient, don't panic — that's often a sign DTF or screen printing is the better call for that particular design, and we'll tell you that up front rather than force a bad fit.
DTF transfers: the one exception to "always send vector"
DTF is the odd one out. Because it prints your design directly rather than rebuilding it from separated colors or stitch paths, a high-resolution raster file works just fine — a PNG with a transparent background at 300 DPI (or higher) is the standard we ask for. Vector art still works if you have it, but it's not required the way it is for screen printing and embroidery.
What we need from you:
- PNG with a transparent background (preferred), or a high-res JPG if transparency isn't available
- 300 DPI minimum at the actual print size you want — a small icon pulled off Instagram won't hold up at 10 inches wide
- Full color, gradients, and photo-realistic detail are all fair game — this is where DTF genuinely outperforms the other two methods
File formats by decoration method, at a glance
| Method | Best format | Also acceptable | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen printing | AI, EPS, vector PDF | High-res PSD with clear layers | Low-res JPG/PNG, screenshots |
| Embroidery | AI, EPS, vector PDF | High-res PNG/JPG (300+ DPI) | Low-res web images, fine gradients as the primary design |
| DTF transfers | PNG (transparent background, 300+ DPI) | Vector AI/EPS, high-res JPG | Anything under 150 DPI at final print size |
Common artwork mistakes we see
- Pulling a logo straight off a website. Web graphics are built for screens at 72 DPI — fine for a browser tab, too small for a 10-inch print.
- Sending a screenshot. A screenshot of your logo is a raster image of a raster image, and quality drops further with every step.
- Assuming a PDF is automatically a vector file. A PDF can contain vector art or it can just be a raster image wrapped in a PDF container — the file extension alone doesn't tell you which.
- Not specifying colors. "Navy blue" means something different on every monitor. A Pantone code takes the guesswork out and is worth having on hand, especially for brand colors that need to match exactly across shirts, hats, and signage.
- Assuming more detail is always better. A photo-realistic gradient logo is a great fit for DTF and a rough one for embroidery — the same design doesn't always translate cleanly across every method.
A quick checklist before you send your artwork
- Is it a vector file (AI, EPS, vector PDF) if you're ordering screen printing or embroidery?
- If it's a raster image, is it at least 300 DPI at the size you actually want printed?
- Are fonts outlined, not left as live/editable text?
- Do you have Pantone codes for any color that needs to match exactly?
- Does the design's level of detail actually fit the method you're ordering — bold and simple for screen printing and embroidery, or full-color and intricate for DTF?
If you can't check all of these boxes, that's normal — most first-time customers can't. Send what you have and let the shop tell you what's missing rather than guessing on your own.
What about color mode — RGB or CMYK?
This trips up more customers than you'd expect. Anything designed on a screen — a logo made in Canva, a graphic pulled from a website, a mockup from a design app — is usually built in RGB, the color mode monitors use to display light. Print production works in CMYK (or, for screen printing, individual spot colors matched to Pantone codes) — a physical mix of ink rather than glowing pixels. The two don't always translate one-to-one: a bright RGB blue or neon green can shift noticeably once it's mixed as ink. It's not something you need to fix yourself before sending a file — we'll flag a color that won't hold up and show you what it'll actually look like printed — but it's worth knowing why the on-screen preview and the finished product aren't always an exact match.
How bad artwork affects turnaround and price
A print-ready vector file with clear color separations moves straight into production. A blurry logo pulled off Instagram, or a design with no defined color count, means someone on our end has to redraw it, guess at your intended colors, or go back and forth with you over email before anything gets scheduled. That back-and-forth is the single most common reason a "week" turnaround stretches longer — not the printing itself, but the delay before printing can even start.
It can affect price too. Screen printing charges per color, so a logo with an undefined or excessive number of colors can push a job from a simple 2-color setup into a more expensive 5-color one without anyone intending it. Sending Pantone codes and a clear color count up front is one of the easiest ways to keep a quote accurate the first time.
Quick answers to common file questions
Can I use a PDF for screen printing?
Sometimes. It depends whether the PDF was saved from vector artwork (good) or is just a raster image dropped into a PDF wrapper (not usable as-is). If you're not sure which one you have, send it anyway — we'll check and let you know.
Do you accept files made in Canva?
Yes, though most Canva exports are raster (PNG or JPG), not vector. That's fine for DTF as long as the resolution holds up. For screen printing or embroidery, a Canva file often needs to be redrawn as vector art first, which we can do in-house.
What if my only logo file is low resolution?
Send it anyway. A skilled redraw from a rough source is routine work for us, and it's almost always better than trying to source a "found" version of your own logo online.
Do I need to convert fonts to outlines myself?
No — if you send a file with live text, we'll outline it on our end before separating colors or digitizing. It just helps to know that's part of what "print-ready" means if you're prepping the file yourself.
Don't have print-ready art? That's what we're here for
Here at our shop in Portland, OR, we review every file before it goes anywhere near a screen, a digitizing station, or a film printer. If your logo needs to be redrawn, vectorized, or cleaned up, we handle that in-house and send a mockup for approval first — no surprise charges, no guessing whether it'll actually look right on the finished piece.
A few numbers worth knowing if you're planning an order: screen printing runs a 50-piece minimum, embroidery and DTF start at 12 pieces, and standard turnaround across all three is 7–10 business days from art approval, with rush production available on qualifying orders.
Not sure which method fits your design in the first place? Send us your artwork and quantity and we'll tell you honestly what it needs — or browse our screen printing, embroidery, and DTF pages for more on each process.
Written by the team at Pacific North Press, printing and decorating apparel in-house in Portland, OR for years.