Reprint requests are not a quality problem — they are usually a print-file problem. Our QC team has been logging the root cause of every reprint ticket for two years. Below is the resulting checklist. Run your artwork through these eight items before you upload and you will eliminate roughly 90% of the issues we see.
The eight checks
- Resolution at print size: minimum 300 DPI at the final printed dimensions, not the design canvas.
- Color mode: CMYK for screen print and DTF, sRGB for DTG. Mismatched profiles cause color shifts.
- Transparent background: PNG with a true alpha channel, not a white fill that looks transparent.
- Bleed: extend artwork 3 mm past every edge that goes to the print boundary.
- Black: use 100% K for one-color jobs, not rich black (which prints as muddy charcoal on DTG).
- Hairlines: lines under 1.5 pt drop out on DTF and screen print. Bump them to at least 2 pt.
- Embedded fonts: convert all text to outlines before exporting.
- Layer flattening: flatten layered effects like drop shadows; live effects often print incorrectly.
What our preflight does — and what it cannot
The Printory preflight catches resolution, bleed, and transparency issues automatically before your order enters production. What it cannot catch are intent issues: a hairline that you meant to be thin, a color shift you might actually want. The checklist above is your filter for those.
