Send us the right files.
Most production delays are not manufacturing problems — they are artwork problems discovered late. Five minutes here saves a week later. And if you do not have any of this, say so: we redraw logos from scratch regularly and it is a normal part of the job, not a failure.
The Four Things That Matter Most
These apply whatever method your design is produced with.
Vector wherever possible
AI, EPS, PDF or SVG. Vector artwork can be scaled to any size without softening, which matters when a crest that looks fine on a website is printed 30 cm across a chest.
300 dpi at final size, minimum
If you can only supply raster, it must be 300 dpi at the size it will be printed — not 300 dpi at 5 cm then enlarged. Enlarging does not add detail back.
Pantone references for brand colours
Screen colour and fabric colour are different things. A Pantone reference gives us a physical target to match and to record against your account for reorders.
Fonts outlined or supplied
Convert type to outlines, or send the font file. Otherwise your typeface will be substituted silently and you will only notice on the sample.
What Will Not Work
We will tell you before production rather than after — but it is quicker if these never arrive.
- Screenshots, or images pulled from a website
- JPEGs saved from social media — heavily compressed and usually too small
- Low-resolution PNGs enlarged to fit
- Photos of a printed logo taken on a phone
- PDFs where the logo is an embedded low-res image rather than vector
- Files with the artwork on a white box rather than a transparent background
None of these are dealbreakers. If a usable file genuinely does not exist, our design team will redraw your logo as vector artwork — it just needs to happen before production rather than being discovered halfway through.
Requirements by Method
Each decoration process has its own constraints. These are the ones that change what your file needs to be.
Sublimation
How it works →Sublimation rewards good source files. Because the design is printed at full garment scale, a low-resolution logo that looks fine on a website will look soft across a chest panel.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preferred format | Vector — AI, EPS or PDF |
| Raster minimum | 300 dpi at final printed size |
| Colour space | CMYK, with Pantone references for brand colours |
| Fonts | Outlined or supplied with the file |
| Bleed | We add it — supply artwork to the trim line |
| What we cannot use | Screenshots, JPEGs from social media, low-res PNGs |
Embroidery
How it works →Embroidery is a reductive process — thread cannot resolve detail as finely as ink. The best embroidered logos are usually slightly simplified versions of the print original, and we will propose that where it helps.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preferred format | Vector — AI, EPS or PDF |
| Also accepted | High-resolution PNG with clean edges |
| Colour | Pantone references for thread matching |
| Minimum detail | Lines no finer than about 1 mm at final size |
| Minimum text | About 5 mm letter height |
| What we will flag | Gradients, drop shadows and hairline detail — none of which stitch |
DTF resolves fine detail well, but it is printing at final size onto film — so the file needs to be sharp at that size, not merely sharp on screen.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preferred format | Vector — AI, EPS, PDF or SVG |
| Raster minimum | 300 dpi at final printed size |
| Background | Transparent PNG if supplying raster |
| Colour space | CMYK, with Pantone references where colour is critical |
| Fine detail | Lines above about 0.5 mm at final size |
| What we will flag | Very large solid areas — better suited to screen printing |
Screen
How it works →Screen printing needs artwork that can be separated into flat colour layers. Anything with soft edges, transparency or a photographic blend has to be reinterpreted, and we would rather do that with you than guess.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preferred format | Vector with separated flat colours |
| Colours | Specified as Pantone references |
| Minimum line width | About 0.5 mm at final size |
| Avoid | Drop shadows, soft glows and transparency effects |
| Gradients | Tell us if essential — we will halftone them or advise DTF |
| What we will flag | Colour counts that make the job uneconomic versus DTF |
DTG prints exactly what you supply, at final size, so file quality shows directly in the result. This is the method where a low-resolution file is most obviously exposed.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preferred format | PNG with transparent background, or vector |
| Resolution | 300 dpi at final printed size, minimum |
| Colour space | sRGB — DTG is closer to screen colour than print colour |
| Transparency | Fully supported, unlike screen printing |
| Avoid | Neon and metallic colours — inkjet cannot reproduce them |
| Dark garments | Tell us — the white underbase changes how colours render |
How to Send Them
Anything over about 20 MB will not survive email — use a file link instead.
With your quote request
Attach the file to the quote form. Best for a single logo or a compact tech pack.
Request a quoteBy email or file link
For large tech packs or multiple garments, send a WeTransfer, Drive or Dropbox link to info@addaharenterprises.com.
Not sure if your files will work?
Send them over before you commit to anything. We will tell you what is usable, what needs redrawing, and what it will cost — at no charge.