Should I flatten the PSD before using it on a gang sheet?
Not required. Fill My Film flattens the visible layers at the document's size when it decodes the file. Flatten only if you want to send the file somewhere that cannot read layers.
PHOTOSHOP PREP · FROM A WORKING SIGN SHOP
Prep DTF Artwork In Photoshop, Once
Photoshop is still where most shop artwork gets fixed before it prints. This is the prep sequence Zero Degree Signs runs on customer files before they go on a sheet: size, transparency, edges, trim, export. It takes a few minutes per file and prevents the reprint that costs an hour.
Fill My Film creates the gang sheet file for your own printer or RIP workflow. It does not print or ship DTF transfers.
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THE SHORT ANSWER
Prepare DTF Artwork in Photoshop
Open or create the document at the final print size with the resolution set to 300 pixels per inch, put the design on a transparent background, remove any halo left by a cut-out, trim the canvas to the transparent pixels, and export a PNG with transparency. Or skip the export and drop the PSD into Fill My Film, which reads it at its stated size.
DOCUMENT SIZE
Set inches and 300 ppi first, then judge the artwork
Image > Image Size with Resample off shows what the pixels you have are worth in inches at 300 ppi. If a customer's 1,500 pixel logo needs to print 12 inches wide, that dialog tells you it is 125 ppi at that size before you spend any time on it, and the honest answer is to ask for a bigger file or a vector.
For new artwork, create the document at the print size in inches at 300 ppi from the start. Everything you place into it is then judged at the size it will actually print.
- Image Size, Resample off, read the ppi
- New documents: inches at 300 ppi
- Under 150 ppi at print size: ask for the source
TRANSPARENCY AND EDGES
Delete the background, then kill the halo it leaves behind
A design cut out of a white or coloured background usually keeps a one or two pixel fringe of that colour along its edge, and on dark garments that fringe prints as a visible outline. After removing the background, run Layer > Matting > Defringe at one or two pixels, or Remove White Matte if the background was white, and check the edge against a dark layer underneath.
Stray pixels outside the design matter more than they look. A silhouette nester packs by the printable shape, so a few dots of haze an inch away from the logo make its shape an inch bigger.
- Layer > Matting > Defringe after any cut-out
- Inspect edges over a dark fill layer
- Delete stray pixels; they enlarge the silhouette
TRIM AND EXPORT
Trim to the pixels, then export or just drop the PSD
Image > Trim with Transparent Pixels selected crops the canvas to the design so the file's bounds match the art. Export with File > Export > Export As, format PNG, Transparency on, at the document's pixel size, and do not let the exporter resample it smaller.
If the file is staying in-house, skip the export. Fill My Film reads PSD directly and flattens it at the document's stated size, so the layered working file can go straight onto the sheet.
- Image > Trim > Transparent Pixels
- Export As: PNG, Transparency on, no resampling
- Or drop the PSD in as-is
QUESTIONS PRINTERS ASK
Prepare DTF Artwork in Photoshop questions
What colour mode should DTF artwork be in?
RGB. DTF RIPs convert to the printer's inks themselves, and most expect RGB input. A CMYK PSD will decode, but colour can shift if the RIP's conversion assumes RGB.
How do I add a white underbase in Photoshop?
For most DTF RIPs you do not. The RIP generates the white ink channel from the artwork's alpha, which is another reason the transparency has to be clean. Check your RIP's documentation before building a manual white layer.
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