How to Prep Your Artwork in Canva Before You Send It to Us

We love when customers come in fired up about a shirt idea. And honestly? Half the battle is getting that artwork ready before you even hit send. We see a lot of files come through — blurry JPGs, tiny logos, designs that look great on a phone screen but fall apart at print size. So let's fix that. Here's how to set up your design in Canva so it comes out clean, sharp, and exactly how you pictured it.

Step 1: Start Big

When you open a new design in Canva, set your canvas to at least 4500 x 5400 pixels. That might sound huge, but print is very different from a phone screen. A design that's 300 pixels wide looks fine on Instagram — it'll look like a postage stamp on a shirt. Starting big gives us room to work and keeps everything crisp.

Step 2: Export as PNG — Transparent Background is Gold

When you're ready to download, choose PNG and — this is the big one — turn on the transparent background option. A white background might look fine on a white shirt, but it'll show up as a white box on anything else. Transparent PNG lets us drop your design onto any garment color without weird borders. Skip the JPG. Always PNG.

Step 3: Keep Your Text Readable

If someone's going to have to squint to read it, it's too small. Text under about a half-inch tall on the final print tends to get muddy, especially on screen print. If your design has a website, phone number, or tagline in small print, bump it up. Readability always beats fitting everything in.

Step 4: Know Your Print Method — It Changes Things

This is where it gets a little technical, but stay with us:

• Screen print: Use solid, bold colors. Gradients that fade to white or transparency don't translate well here — they require extra screens and can get expensive or just won't look right.

• DTF (Direct-to-Film): Full color, no problem. Gradients, shadows, photos — DTF can handle it all. If you want that super detailed, multi-color look without a minimum order, DTF is your friend. And yeah, we have no minimums on DTF.

Step 5: Download at Highest Quality

Canva will give you a quality slider when you download. Crank it up. Always. A bigger file is a better file when it comes to print. While you're at it — if you've got access to AI, PSD, or SVG files, we take those too. But a high-res PNG from Canva works great and we use it all the time.

Not Sure? Just Send It.

Here's the thing — we've been doing this for 20 years right here in St. Joseph, MO. We can usually tell you exactly what'll work and what needs a little adjusting. So if you're second-guessing your file, don't stress about it. Send it over and we'll let you know what we can do with it. Our whole goal is to make you look good.

Ready to order? Hit us up at (816) 83-SHIRT, order at bdshirts.com, or DM us on Facebook @bdshirtsstj. We'd love to see what you're working on.