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Dropdtf guide

How do I remove the background from an image for DTF?

Taking the background out is half of it. For film the edge must also be hard and the haze around it gone, because a general background remover leaves soft edges that look fine on a screen and print as a pale rim.

Your artwork fileJPG, PNG or WebP · 24 MB at mostUpload a file

Free preview, no account. Pay only to download.

A ghost in a cap riding a skateboard, on a dark shirt color
A design made here from a prompt. The shirt is a drawing.

Before you start

You need
One sentence that describes the design.
You get
A transparent PNG with the edge cleaned for film, up to 2048 pixels.
Time
Usually under a minute.
Cost
The preview is free, five a day. The print file is one from a pack.

Step by step

  1. A ghost in a cap riding a skateboard
    01Remove the background.

    Upload the file to the upload tab, which is in beta. The box behind the art comes out.

  2. A crop of a raw cutout on black with a pale band along the edge
    02Zoom to 400 percent on black.

    A soft edge shows as a band of grey between the art and the black.

  3. A crop of the same file on black after the edge pass: the edge is hard
    03Compare with a cleaned edge.

    After the edge pass the art meets the black with one short step.

Why screen cutouts fail on film

They are built to blend into any page, so the edge fades out over several pixels. The printer puts white under every one of them.

Run a file through the upload beta and zoom in on black.

Your artwork fileJPG, PNG or WebP · 24 MB at mostUpload a file

Free preview, no account. Pay only to download.

More guides

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