Does someone actually look at my file?

Yes. An automated DPI check runs the moment you upload, and a person reviews the file before it goes on the roll. The automated check catches numbers; the person catches the things that are technically valid but will still print badly.

Will you change my artwork?

No. Your file is stored and printed exactly as uploaded. If the review finds a problem we tell you and let you decide — we do not silently auto-crop, strip backgrounds or resample. If you order the artwork service you receive a separate print-ready file and the original stays untouched.

What does the review actually catch?

Most commonly: halo edges left by automatic background removers, near-white pixels that will print as a visible fringe on dark garments, hairlines and small text that will break up at the ordered size, and designs scaled wrong for the garment they are going on.

Does the check slow my order down?

No. It is part of normal production, not a separate queue. It only costs time when the review finds something worth telling you about — which is the point.

What happens if my file has a problem?

You hear about it before it prints rather than after. From there you can send a better file, print it smaller, or add the artwork service. The decision stays yours.

Is there a charge for the file check?

No. The DPI check and the human review are part of every order. The artwork service — upscaling, vectorising, background removal — is separate and optional at a flat fee per file.

Guide · Artwork

Why a Person Checks Every File Before It Prints

An automated check tells you whether a file has enough pixels. It cannot tell you that the background remover left a halo that will glow on a black shirt, or that the hairlines in a logo will break up at four inches wide. Those need eyes, and a file that passes every automated test can still print badly.

Upload and get it checked →Artwork requirements

Two layers

What happens to your file.

The automated check is instant and catches numbers. The human review catches judgement calls. Neither one changes your file — if something is wrong, you get told.

The automated layer runs the moment a file lands: resolution against the ordered size, file type, dimensions. It is fast, it is objective, and it catches the single most common problem — a file that simply does not have the pixels for the size you asked for.

The second layer is a person looking at the file before it goes on the roll. That is where the judgement calls happen, and they are the ones software is genuinely bad at.

The gap

What automated checks cannot see.

Objective

Automated check catches

Resolution against the ordered print size.
File type and whether it opens correctly.
Pixel dimensions and aspect ratio.
Whether an alpha channel exists at all.
Fast, consistent and never tired.

Judgement

A person catches

Halo fringes left by one-click background removers.
Near-white pixels that read as a glow on dark garments.
Hairlines and small text that will break up at the ordered size.
A design scaled wrong for the garment it is going on.
White that is deliberate versus white that is a leftover background.
Artwork that is technically fine but obviously not what you meant.

Everything in the right-hand column is a file that passes every automated test and still prints wrong. That is the entire reason the second layer exists.

In practice

The five things it catches most.

Problems that pass an automated check and fail on the shirt
What is wrong	Why software misses it	What it looks like printed
Halo edge from background removal	The pixels are technically semi-transparent, so no rule is broken.	A faint glowing outline around the whole design on a black shirt.
Near-white fringe	Not pure white, so a "has transparency" test passes.	A visible pale rim, invisible on a white screen.
Hairlines too thin for the size	Resolution is fine — the strokes are just very thin.	Broken, patchy lines where the design should be crisp.
Text below the practical floor	The file has plenty of pixels.	Filled-in letter counters; small type reads as a smudge.
Design scaled wrong for the garment	Software has no idea what garment it is going on.	A left chest logo ordered at nine inches, or a full front at three.

The last row is the one customers are most grateful for. Nothing about a 9" × 9" file is invalid — but if the order notes say “left chest”, something has gone wrong, and it is far cheaper to ask than to print it.

The policy that goes with it

We tell you. We do not fix it silently.

A review is only useful if it comes with a firm rule about what happens next, because plenty of printers “helpfully” process incoming files — auto-cropping to what they judge to be the artwork bounds, stripping what looks like a white background, resampling to a preferred resolution. Each is well-intentioned. Each can silently destroy a design where the white was deliberate or the surrounding space was part of the composition.

Your file is stored and printed exactly as you uploaded it. If the review finds something, you get told and you decide: send a better file, print it smaller, or add the artwork service at a flat $12.00 per file — and even then the result comes back as a separate print-ready file with your original untouched.

That combination is the point. A review without the policy is just a printer changing your artwork with extra steps.

Your side

How to make the review find nothing.

The fastest orders are the ones where the check passes silently. Five things get you there:

• PNG with genuine transparency, checked against a dark background rather than assumed.

• Around 300 DPI at final print size — print width in inches × 300 = pixels needed.

• Cropped tight to the artwork, not to a comfortable square.

• Line weights above about 1 point and text above roughly a quarter inch at final size.

• The right size ordered for the garment and placement you have in mind.

Full pre-flight checklist → · Which file format to send →

Why it is worth the step

A caught file costs a message. A missed one costs a run.

The asymmetry is the whole argument. Flagging a problem before printing costs one email and maybe a day. Missing it costs the transfers, the blanks they were pressed onto, the labour that went into pressing them, and the conversation with whoever was expecting the shirts.

It is also the failure mode you cannot recover from later. A print that is soft because the file was soft looks exactly as bad after pressing as it did in the file — and by then it is on fifty garments.

FAQ

File check questions

Does someone actually look at my file?: Yes. An automated DPI check runs the moment you upload, and a person reviews the file before it goes on the roll. The automated check catches numbers; the person catches the things that are technically valid but will still print badly.
Will you change my artwork?: No. Your file is stored and printed exactly as uploaded. If the review finds a problem we tell you and let you decide — we do not silently auto-crop, strip backgrounds or resample. If you order the artwork service you receive a separate print-ready file and the original stays untouched.
What does the review actually catch?: Most commonly: halo edges left by automatic background removers, near-white pixels that will print as a visible fringe on dark garments, hairlines and small text that will break up at the ordered size, and designs scaled wrong for the garment they are going on.
Does the check slow my order down?: No. It is part of normal production, not a separate queue. It only costs time when the review finds something worth telling you about — which is the point.
What happens if my file has a problem?: You hear about it before it prints rather than after. From there you can send a better file, print it smaller, or add the artwork service. The decision stays yours.
Is there a charge for the file check?: No. The DPI check and the human review are part of every order. The artwork service — upscaling, vectorising, background removal — is separate and optional at a flat fee per file.

Keep reading

What direct-to-film actually is, how the process works step by step, what it prints well on, and what it costs in Canada.

How to Press DTF Transfers (Settings That Actually Work)

Exact temperatures, times and pressures by fabric, why the second press is not optional, and the four mistakes behind most failed prints.

Best File Format for DTF Printing: PNG, PDF or JPG

Why PNG is the safe default, when a PDF is genuinely better, and the reason a JPG prints a white box on a black shirt.

DTF Artwork Requirements — The Complete Checklist

Resolution, transparency, edges, colour mode and sizing, with the pixel maths and a pre-flight checklist you can run in a minute.

Upload it and let the check do the work.

You do not have to verify any of this yourself. Upload the file and you will hear about a problem before anything goes on the roll — and nothing gets changed without you saying so.

Upload and check your file →Artwork services

Free file check · Original never altered · You decide what happens next