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Custom Print and Artwork Design for Clothing: Your Options Explained

Design, Prints

Custom Print and Artwork Design for Clothing: Your Options Explained

A print can be the thing that makes your range recognisable on a rack. It can also be the thing that holds production up for weeks, usually because the artwork was never built the way a factory needs it.

Custom artwork covers far more than a graphic on the front of a tee. Repeat prints, embroidery, applique and laser cutting each need different files, different suppliers and different lead times. Here is what is actually possible, and how to choose the right approach for your brand.

What counts as custom artwork?

Custom artwork is any original design created specifically for your brand and supplied to your manufacturer as a production ready file. It covers fabric prints, embroidery, dimensional detailing such as applique and laser cutting, and branded hardware and trims.

Every one of these techniques has its own file requirements, and the artwork is what your clothing manufacturer quotes from, so it needs to be right before sampling starts.

Surface prints, also called repeat prints

A surface print is artwork built to tile seamlessly so it can be printed across a full roll of fabric. It is what you want for dresses, shirting, swimwear, resort wear and linings, anywhere the pattern runs across the whole garment.

The artwork has to be constructed as a true repeat. A single motif or a photograph will not work, because the joins will show at every tile. You also need to settle the scale of the repeat and the colourways early, because both change how a print reads once the fabric is cut and sewn.

Placement prints

A placement print sits in one defined position on the garment: a chest print, a back print, a sleeve hit or a hem detail. It is sized to the garment rather than the fabric roll, which means it needs to be graded so it stays in proportion from an XS through to an XL.

Hand painted and illustrated artwork

Hand painted artwork starts on paper, in watercolour, gouache, ink or pencil, then gets scanned at high resolution and rebuilt digitally for production. Hand drawn florals, botanicals and abstract washes all sit here. It is the hardest look to copy, which is why it suits brands that want a signature print rather than something a customer might recognise from a stock library.

Embroidery

Embroidery artwork has to be digitised before it can be stitched. Digitising converts your design into a stitch file that tells the machine the stitch type, direction, density and thread colours, and it is usually supplied as a DST.

It works best on logos, small motifs and text. Very fine detail tends to fill in once stitched, and cost is driven by stitch count rather than the size of the design, so a dense fill is dearer than a clean outline.

Applique, laser cutting and dimensional detail

Applique is fabric shapes stitched onto the garment, giving texture and depth a flat print cannot. Laser cutting cuts shapes or perforated patterns into the fabric itself.

Both need cut lines, tolerances and placement supplied as vector artwork, and both depend heavily on the fabric. Synthetics seal at the edge when laser cut, while natural fibres fray and usually need a finished edge instead.

Custom trims and hardware

Branding does not stop at the print. Custom buttons, buckles, zip pulls, woven labels, swing tags and packaging can all be designed to match through our branding design services, and they are often what makes a range feel finished rather than sampled.

Custom artwork or a ready made print?

Custom design gives you artwork that belongs to your brand, developed around your concept and your colour palette. It takes longer and costs more, and it is the right call when the print is the product.

Ready made print files are faster and cheaper. Our print shop stocks designs as either licensed files, which more than one brand can use, or exclusive files, which are sold once and then retired. If you are testing a category or building a first drop on a tight budget, a ready made file is a sensible place to start.

Getting the files production ready

Whichever route you take, factories need editable artwork in Adobe formats, so AI, PSD or EPS. Use vector wherever the design allows it, 300dpi or higher for anything raster, and specify colours against Pantone references rather than describing them in words.

Files built in Canva, and low resolution AI generated images, cannot be used for production. They have no editable layers, no true repeat and no reliable colour data, so a factory either rejects them or guesses. Once the artwork is right, it belongs in your tech pack with placement, scale and colourway details, so nothing is left open to interpretation. If you are still deciding how the print will actually be produced, our guide to fabric print methods compares digital, screen, discharge and sublimation printing and which fabrics suit each one.

All artworks need spec sheets as well as print-ready files

This is the part that most people don’t realise, that every artwork needs both a print-ready file and a spec sheet.

Artwork is what your branding (or your print) looks like. It’s the logo, the label design, the swing tag graphic, the placement print or repeat pattern: the creative file your designer produces in Illustrator or Photoshop.

A spec sheet is what tells a manufacturer exactly how to make it or apply it. It’s a technical production document that sits alongside the artwork and defines every detail a factory needs to reproduce it correctly. Read more here: The Difference Between an Artwork File and a Spec Sheet?

Where to start

If you know the look you are after but not the technique, a design consultation is the quickest way to work out which method suits your fabric, your budget and your minimums. If you already have the concept and just need the artwork built properly, our custom print design service picks it up from there. And if you are right at the beginning, the Fashion Framework Program maps out the whole process from concept to production.

Tell us about your range and we will point you to the right option.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can you design a custom print for my clothing brand?

Yes. Our design team creates original print and digital artwork ready for production, including hand painted prints, surface prints, placement prints, embroidery, laser cutting and applique.

What is a repeat print?

A repeat print is artwork built so that it tiles seamlessly in every direction, which allows it to be printed continuously across a roll of fabric with no visible joins.

What file format do manufacturers need for print artwork?

Manufacturers need editable Adobe files, usually AI, PSD or EPS, with vector artwork where possible, a minimum of 300dpi for raster elements and Pantone colour references for every colourway.

Can I use a Canva file or an AI generated image as a print?

No. Canva files and AI generated images are not production ready, because they have no editable layers, no true repeat and no reliable colour data. They can still be useful as reference for a designer to rebuild the artwork properly.

How much does custom print design cost?

Custom print design is quoted per project, based on the complexity of the artwork, the number of colourways and whether the design needs to be built as a repeat. Ready made print files are priced individually in the print shop.

What is the difference between digital printing and screen printing?

Digital printing suits complex, multi coloured artwork and lower minimums, while screen printing is more cost effective at volume for bold designs with a limited colour count. Our fabric print methods guide compares both in detail.