Artwork & Logo Guidelines
Getting your artwork ready for print
We want your club, community or organisation’s clothing to look its best.
The quality of the finished print starts with the quality of the artwork you provide. The better the original artwork, the cleaner and sharper the finished garment will be.
Before sending your logo or design to us, please use the guidelines below.
The ideal artwork
For the best possible DTF print, we recommend providing your artwork in a high-quality digital format.
Preferred file types:
- PNG — high resolution with a transparent background
- PDF — vector artwork preferred
- SVG — vector artwork
- AI / EPS — vector artwork
Avoid where possible:
- Screenshots
- Images copied from social media
- Low-resolution JPEGs
- Photos of printed logos
- Images taken from websites
- Images with visible backgrounds that you don’t want printed
If you’re unsure whether your artwork is suitable, send it to us anyway. We’ll let you know.
Transparent backgrounds
If your design is intended to sit directly on the garment, your artwork should normally have a transparent background.
For example:
Correct
Your logo only, with no surrounding white box.
Not ideal
Your logo sitting inside a white square or coloured background that you don’t want printed.
A transparent PNG is often the easiest option if you don’t have vector artwork.
Resolution matters
For raster artwork such as PNG or JPEG files, we recommend providing the largest, highest-quality version you have.
As a guide, artwork should ideally be supplied at 300 DPI at the intended print size.
A small image cannot simply be enlarged without losing quality.
For example, a logo taken from a website may look fine on your phone but become blurry or pixelated when enlarged for printing.
The bigger and cleaner the original artwork, the better.
Vector artwork is best
If you have your logo as a vector file, that’s ideal.
Vector artwork can be scaled up or down without losing sharpness.
Preferred vector formats include:
SVG · PDF · AI · EPS
If you have a professionally designed club logo, your designer may already have these files available.
Colours
Please provide your artwork using the colours you want printed.
If your organisation has official brand colours, it can be helpful to provide:
- Pantone references
- CMYK values
- RGB values
- HEX codes
However, please be aware that colours displayed on a screen can look different from the final printed result.
The appearance of a colour can also vary depending on the garment colour and material.
White artwork
White is printable.
If your logo contains white elements, make sure those areas are actually part of the artwork and not simply the white background of the file.
Artwork with text
If your design contains text, please ensure that the wording, spelling and layout are correct before sending it to us.
Where possible, text within vector artwork should be converted to outlines/curves.
This prevents font substitutions and helps ensure the artwork appears exactly as intended.
Backgrounds & unwanted elements
Please check your artwork carefully before sending it.
Make sure it doesn’t contain:
- Unwanted backgrounds
- White boxes
- Extra text
- Guides or crop marks
- Low-resolution elements
- Old versions of your logo
- Unwanted borders
If you’re sending a PNG, check that the transparent areas are genuinely transparent.
What size should my logo be?
Don’t worry if you’re unsure about the exact size.
You can tell us where you want the logo to appear — for example:
Left chest
Centre chest
Full front
Back
Sleeve
We’ll advise on an appropriate print size based on the garment and design.
For bulk orders or new club collections, we’ll confirm the artwork and placement before production.
DTF printing
The Kit Lab uses Direct-to-Film (DTF) printing to apply your designs to garments.
DTF is particularly suited to detailed, colourful artwork and allows us to reproduce logos and designs across a wide range of casual clothing.
Your artwork is printed onto specialist film, transferred onto the garment and heat pressed to create the finished design.
What this means for you
You can provide artwork with:
- Multiple colours
- Fine details
- Gradients
- Logos
- Text
- Complex designs
We’ll review the artwork before production and let you know if anything needs changing.
We’ll check your artwork
You don’t need to be a graphic designer.
Once we receive your artwork, we’ll check it for obvious issues such as:
Resolution
Is it suitable for the intended print size?
Background
Is there anything that shouldn’t be printed?
Sizing
Will the design work at the requested size?
Placement
Will it work on the chosen garment?
Printability
Are there any technical issues that could affect the finished result?
If we think something needs attention, we’ll contact you before production.
Proofing & approval
For new designs, logos or significant artwork changes, we may provide an artwork proof before production.
This gives you the opportunity to check:
- Logo
- Colours
- Spelling
- Position
- Size
- Overall appearance
Once artwork has been approved, it will be sent to production.
Please check your proof carefully. We cannot be responsible for errors that were present in the approved artwork.
Copyright & permission
Please only provide artwork you have permission to use.
By submitting artwork to The Kit Lab, you confirm that you have the appropriate rights or permission to reproduce the logo, image, design, text or other artwork supplied.
This is particularly important where artwork includes:
- Club logos
- Company logos
- Sponsors
- Brand names
- Copyrighted artwork
- Images created by third parties
The Kit Lab may refuse to reproduce artwork where there is a reasonable concern about copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights.
Your logo doesn’t meet the guidelines?
Don’t worry.
Send it to us anyway.
We can assess what you’ve provided and let you know whether it’s suitable for print.
In some cases, we may be able to prepare or clean up artwork for you. If additional artwork preparation or design work is required, we’ll let you know before any chargeable work is carried out.
Quick checklist
Before sending your artwork, check:
☐ It’s the correct logo/design
☐ Spelling has been checked
☐ Backgrounds have been removed where appropriate
☐ PNGs are high resolution
☐ Vector artwork is supplied where available
☐ Colours are correct
☐ You have permission to use the artwork
☐ You’ve indicated the desired print position
☐ You’ve indicated the garment/product it is for
Not sure? Just ask.
It’s always better to send us the original artwork you have rather than trying to convert or resize it yourself.