#pre-press
7 posts tagged pre-press.
Transparent PNG for DTF from Canva: export and alpha cleanup
How to export a transparent PNG from Canva without inventing controls, inspect low-alpha residue and hidden RGB, and preflight the artwork before building a DTF gang sheet.
DTF spot channels explained: white, varnish, names, and RIP handoff
A technical guide to colour, alpha, white and varnish planes; TIFF and PSD/PSB representation; channel naming; polarity; and what to verify in the target RIP.
DTF file requirements: resolution, transparency, colour, and export
A practical artwork-intake specification for DTF shops: containers, effective PPI, clean alpha, colour-space handling, spot-channel boundaries, and a repeatable preflight checklist.
Reading your RIP's white channel preview — grey map
Every DTF RIP shows a preview of the white under-base as a greyscale thumbnail before you send the job. Most operators glance at it and click Print. Here is how to read that preview like a pre-press engineer — and what a bad white preview looks like before it becomes a bad print.
TIFF vs PNG for DTF gang sheets — when to use what
Send TIFF when the file has to carry a separate white or spot channel and an embedded CMYK-side ICC profile; PNG with clean alpha is fine when your RIP generates its own white from transparency. That is the whole rule — the rest of this post is the reasoning and the edge cases.
White halo on DTF prints: diagnose alpha, choke, or registration first
A white outline is not one defect. Use its shape to separate low-alpha debris, underbase geometry, intentional soft artwork, and directional colour-to-white registration before changing choke.
ICC profiles for DTF — RIP default vs yours
Stay on your RIP's default ICC profile if you print mostly logos and text on the vendor's recommended film — it is genuinely fine. Calibrate your own the day you switch film brands, chase a customer's brand colour, or charge a premium for colour fidelity. Here is how to tell which shop you are.