The quality of your apparel starts before any ink or thread touches a garment. It starts with the file you send.
A clean, production-ready logo means a sharp print and a crisp stitch. A blurry screenshot pulled off a website means we have to stop, ask questions, and sometimes rebuild your art before we can produce anything. Send the right file and you save yourself time, back-and-forth, and a fuzzy final result.
Here is how to get it right.
Vector vs. raster, in plain English
There are two families of image files, and the difference matters a lot for apparel.
- Vector files are built from math, not pixels. They can scale to any size, from a hat patch to a full back print, and stay perfectly sharp. This is the gold standard for logos.
- Raster files are built from pixels. Blow them up past their native size and they get blurry and jagged. Fine for photos, risky for logos.
If you only remember one thing: a true vector logo can be resized forever without losing quality. That is exactly what production wants.
The file types we accept
We work with SVG, PNG, JPG, and PDF for design art, plus DST for embroidery. Here is what each one is best for.
- SVG — A vector format. If your designer can send an SVG, send it. It scales cleanly and is ideal for both print and the digitizing that embroidery needs.
- PDF — Often vector, especially if it came from a designer. A vector PDF is excellent. Just know that a PDF can also be a wrapper around a low-resolution image, so vector is what makes it valuable.
- PNG — A raster format, but a good one for logos because it supports transparent backgrounds. If you send a PNG, send the largest, highest-resolution version you have.
- JPG — A raster format with no transparency and some compression. Workable in a pinch, but usually the weakest of the four for a logo. Avoid sending a small JPG pulled from a webpage.
When in doubt, vector first (SVG or a vector PDF), then the biggest PNG you can find.
What DST is, and why embroidery is different
Embroidery does not "print" your logo. It stitches it. To do that, your design has to be converted into a stitch file that tells the machine exactly where every needle drop goes, in what direction, with which thread color. That file format is DST.
If you already have a DST file from a past order, send it. If you do not, that is normal. Turning your logo into a stitch-ready DST is called digitizing, and it is a one-time setup we can handle for a fee. Once your logo is digitized, that file is reusable for future embroidery runs.
Digitizing is also where a logo sometimes gets gently simplified. Very thin lines, tiny text, and subtle gradients do not always translate to thread at small sizes. A good digitizer adjusts the art so it stitches clean and reads sharp on the chest or hat, instead of turning to mush.
How to send a print-ready logo
A few habits make your file production-ready:
- Send the original, not a screenshot. Pull the logo from your designer or brand folder, not from your website or a text message.
- Bigger is better for raster. If it is a PNG or JPG, send the largest version you have. You can always size a big file down. You cannot add detail to a small one.
- Transparent background helps. A PNG with a transparent background lets us place your logo cleanly without a white box around it.
- Know your colors. If your brand has specific colors, tell us. Naming them up front keeps your print on-brand.
- Flag the fine print. Tiny taglines or thin outlines may need to be bumped up in size to print or stitch well. Point them out so we can advise.
No clean file? We can build one.
If all you have is an old business card scan or a logo someone made years ago, do not stress. In-house graphic design is part of what we do. We can clean up, recreate, or build art from scratch so your apparel looks the way your brand deserves.
The goal is simple: a file that produces a sharp result the first time. Get the file right and everything downstream, print or stitch, gets easier.
Have a logo and you are not sure if it is ready? Send what you have. We will tell you if it is good to go or what we need to make it production-ready.