CANVA TO PRINT-READY FILE
Canva is where a lot of DTF artwork starts, and most of the problems a shop sees in customer files start there too: a white box behind the design, a file too small for the print size, or a sheet arranged by eye. This is the workflow that avoids all three.
Fill My Film creates the gang sheet file for your own printer or RIP workflow. It does not print or ship DTF transfers.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Design each piece in Canva at a pixel size large enough for its final print width (300 pixels per printed inch), download it as a PNG with the Transparent background option switched on, which Canva provides on its paid plans, then arrange the PNGs on a canvas the width of your film. Arranging inside Canva works for a few pieces; for a full sheet, drop the PNGs into a nesting tool so the layout is packed rather than eyeballed.
STEP 1 · SIZE THE ARTWORK
Canva has no idea how wide the design will print, so the pixel size you create decides the resolution. For a 300 DPI print the artwork needs 300 pixels for every inch: a 4 inch left-chest logo needs 1,200 pixels across, a 12 inch full back needs 3,600.
Create the design at that size or larger from the start. Enlarging a small Canva export later only spreads the same pixels over more inches. Check any file with the DPI checker before it goes on a sheet.
STEP 2 · EXPORT A REAL TRANSPARENT PNG
Set the design background to white or delete it, then download as PNG with the Transparent background toggle switched on. Canva's own help page states that this option is available on its Pro, Teams, Business, Education and Nonprofits plans and that the file type must be PNG. On the free plan the download arrives with an opaque background, and that background prints as a white rectangle around the design.
If you receive Canva files from customers, this is the single most common defect. A JPG, or a PNG downloaded without the toggle, places a solid box on the sheet. Fill My Film removes a connected solid background when it decodes the file, but a clean transparent export is still the right starting point.
STEP 3 · ARRANGE THE SHEET
For two or three designs, a Canva canvas set to your film width in pixels (22 inches at 300 DPI is 6,600 pixels wide) is enough: place each PNG at its exact pixel size, leave a gap for cutting, and download the whole canvas as one transparent PNG.
For a full order, hand placement is the slow part and the wasteful part. Drop the individual PNGs into Fill My Film instead, set each print width and quantity, pick the roll width, and export the packed sheet. Basic packs rectangles; MAX packs the real silhouettes so round and irregular designs share the space between them.
QUESTIONS PRINTERS ASK
You can design on the free plan, but Canva's help page lists transparent-background PNG download as a paid-plan feature. Without it, every design downloads with an opaque background. Use a paid plan for the export step, or use a tool that removes the background after the fact.
6,600 pixels wide for 300 DPI, with the height set to the sheet length you intend to print times 300. The canvas size only matters if you arrange the sheet inside Canva; if you nest in Fill My Film, export each design on its own and let the tool set the sheet.
The pixel size was too small for the print width. A design made 1,000 pixels wide prints at 83 DPI when stretched to 12 inches. Recreate it at the pixel size the print needs, or use a vector export if your plan offers one.
MORE PRINTS · LESS FILM
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