Print methods
Tell Customezo how each product is produced — DTF, laser, embroidery — so the designer enforces the right quality rules and print files export correctly.
A print method tells Customezo how a product is produced — DTF, laser engraving, embroidery and so on — so the designer enforces the right quality rules and your print files come out in the right format. It does two jobs:
- Constrains the designer — minimum DPI, allowed file formats, how many layers, whether gradients are allowed.
- Controls the export — file format, DPI, color mode, background and trimming of the print files you download.
Every product should have a print method. Without one, the designer has no quality rules and exports fall back to platform defaults.
Find them under Settings → Print methods.
Platform methods and your own
- Platform methods ship with Customezo (including DTF and laser engraving). They are read-only — you can apply them to products but not edit them. One is marked as the default.
- Your methods are the ones you create. Start from scratch when your process has requirements the platform methods do not cover.
Methods can be active or inactive. Inactive methods stay in your list but are not offered when configuring products.
Creating a method
Press Create and fill in:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Code | Unique identifier, auto-uppercased, for example CUSTOM_DTF. |
| Name | What your team sees, for example Custom DTF Transfer. |
| Description | A short line about the process. |
| Badge color | The color of the method’s badge in lists. |
| Sort order | Position in the list. |
Designer features
Switch off what the process cannot produce. For example, laser engraving is single-color, so gradients and full-color images rarely make sense.
- Image upload — whether customers may upload their own images at all.
- Shapes and clipart — whether those tools appear.
- No gradients allowed — hides gradient fills.
Constraints
Limits applied inside the designer. Leave a field empty for no limit.
| Constraint | Effect |
|---|---|
| Max text objects | Caps how many text items a design may contain. |
| Max image objects | Caps uploaded images. |
| Max total layers | Caps everything on the canvas. |
| Allowed image formats | Restricts uploads, for example PNG and SVG only. |
| Min image DPI | Buyers see a low-quality warning below this print resolution. Empty disables the check. |
| Below min DPI | Warn only (allow order) or Block checkout. |
Choosing a minimum DPI
300 DPI is the usual target for DTF and full-color printing; 150 DPI is often acceptable for large-format work viewed from a distance. Set Warn only if you are willing to review borderline orders yourself, and Block checkout if you would rather not receive them at all.
The DPI check is one of the highest-value settings in the app: it is what stops a 400 × 400 px phone screenshot from arriving as a 40 cm chest print.
Export settings
These decide what your print files look like.
| Setting | Notes |
|---|---|
| Export formats | PNG, PDF, or both. The primary format is the one your workflow uses first. |
| DPI | 72–1200. Must match what your printer or RIP expects. |
| Color mode | RGB, CMYK (PDF only) or Grayscale. |
| Background | Transparent, white, black or a custom color. |
| Minimum output size (px) | Longest-side floor for print files. 0 uses the platform default of 4000 px. |
| Trim transparent pixels | Generates an additional trimmed PNG (content bounding box only) next to the full-sheet file. |
PNG and PDF
- PNG output is the production raster.
- PDF output is packaged from the full-sheet print raster and is never trimmed.
- If the PNG raster is Grayscale, the PDF is locked to Grayscale too, because the PDF embeds that raster.
CMYK
CMYK requires PDF as the primary format — PNG cannot encode CMYK. CMYK (PDF/X-1a) does not support transparency, so the design is flattened onto the background color you selected. Pick that color deliberately: a design that expects a transparent background will come out on a white (or whatever you chose) field.
Check one real file before you go live
Export a test order through your actual RIP or cutter before you advertise a product. DPI, color mode and trimming interact with your own workflow in ways only a real file will reveal.
SVG uploads, QR codes and gallery images
Some content looks like vector artwork but reaches the print file as a high-resolution image. The Image upload and Min image DPI rules on this page apply to it like any other image.
- SVG uploads. When a customer uploads an SVG, Customezo checks it for unsafe content first — files with scripts or links to outside content are rejected. It then turns the SVG into a PNG copy, usually about 2,048 pixels on the longest side. The designer and the print file use that PNG copy, so the SVG is not printed as a vector and the DPI check applies.
- QR codes. A QR code is placed as a 2,048 × 2,048 pixel PNG. It is only offered when Image upload is allowed, and it keeps 300 DPI up to about 17 cm (6.8 in) wide.
- Gallery images. Clipart and backgrounds from the Design Gallery are images too, and the print file uses the original file you uploaded.
No SVG print files
Print files are always PNG and/or PDF, and the PDF is built from the PNG render. Customezo does not export SVG or other vector print files. If your process needs vector files — for example for a cutter — convert the artwork outside Customezo.
Applying a method to products
From a method’s page, press Apply to products:
- By category — apply to every product in a category at once, with a count of how many will be affected.
- By product — select individual products. Products that already use the method are marked.
The list shows how many products currently use each method.
You can also pick the print method while importing a product from Shopify or creating one from a template.
Which method for which process
| Process | Typical settings |
|---|---|
| DTF / transfers | PNG primary, 300 DPI, RGB, transparent background, trim on, min DPI 300 with warn or block. |
| Posters / large format | PNG or PDF, 150–300 DPI, RGB, white background, trim off. |
| Laser engraving | Grayscale or monochrome, gradients off, image upload possibly off, vector-friendly formats. |
| Embroidery | Low layer limits, no gradients, restricted formats — the digitizing happens outside Customezo. |
| Commercial print (CMYK) | PDF primary, CMYK, background color set explicitly, 300 DPI. |