A printer opens your file before it goes on the press
Print Assist is a pre-press check by someone who prints DTF every day. We look for the things that only show up once the ink is on the film, and we tell you before it costs you a sheet.
$15.00 per sheet · add it when you orderWhat we look at
Every file gets the same pass. These are the eight things that cause almost every bad print we have ever had to redo.
Real resolution
Not what the file says, but what it actually has at the size you are printing. A 300 DPI file scaled up to double is a 150 DPI file, and it presses soft.
A truly transparent background
DTF lays down white ink, so a white box behind your art gets printed as a white box. We also catch the near-transparent ones that look clean on screen.
Stray and hidden pixels
A leftover dot in a far corner, the ghost of an erased layer, a stray line at 4% opacity. They print, and on a gang sheet they force a wider cut around your design.
The physical size
We measure the design in inches, not pixels, and tell you if that chest print is going to come out at 6 inches when you were picturing 11.
Artwork running off the sheet
Anything past the printable width gets cut off at the edge. We check that your whole design fits inside it, including strokes and shadows that reach further than you think.
Spacing on a gang sheet
Designs need room between them to be cut apart, and clearance from the edge. Packed too tight and you end up trimming into the next design.
Color mode and risky colors
CMYK files come in duller than you expect. We flag that, plus neons and very dark tones on dark garments, so the result is not a surprise.
Lines and text too fine to hold
Hairline strokes and very small type can break up on film or lift at the peel. We tell you which parts are at risk and how much thicker they need to be.
What happens after you order
You pick Print Assist on the product page
It is the second option in the artwork box, right next to Print As Is. Add it before you check out; it cannot be added once the order is in production.
A printer opens your file
Before your sheet is queued, not after. The check is done by someone who runs the press, not by an automatic validator.
All clear: it prints
If nothing needs changing, your sheet goes straight into the run. You do not have to reply or approve anything.
Something is off: we email you first
You get what we found, why it matters and what to change, in plain language. Your order waits for your answer, so send the corrected file and we keep going.
The email pauses your order. If we find a problem and you reply the next morning, the sheet prints the next day. On a same-day order that means it can miss the cutoff, so send a file you believe is correct and treat the check as a safety net, not as a first draft.
What Print Assist is not
It is a review, not design work. We tell you what is wrong with the file. Fixing it is still yours.
- We do not redraw or rebuild your artwork. No vectorizing, no recoloring, no cleaning up edges, no rebuilding a logo from a photo.
- We do not remove backgrounds. If the background is white instead of transparent, we tell you; we do not cut it out for you.
- We do not resize anything. The size you upload is the size we print, with the check or without it.
- We do not rearrange your gang sheet. We can tell you the spacing is too tight, but the layout stays exactly as you built it.
- We do not proofread your text. If a name is misspelled the way you sent it, it prints that way. We will mention an obvious typo if we happen to see one, but reading your copy is not part of the check.
- A low-resolution file does not become a good one. Nothing adds detail that was never captured. We will tell you it is going to look soft, and that is honest information, not a fix.
If you need actual design work, tell us what you have and what you need before you order. That is a different conversation and we will tell you straight whether it is something we can do.
Print As Is or Print Assist
Same printer, same press, same sheet. The only difference is whether someone looks at your file before it runs.
We print exactly what you upload, with no review and no edits. The fastest route through the shop.
- Goes straight into the print queue
- Nothing to wait for, no emails
- You are confirming the file is ready
A printer checks the eight points above before your file is queued, and emails you if something needs fixing.
- Catches the problems before they cost you a sheet
- You hear from a person, with specifics
- Can add time if the file needs changes
The free reprint guarantee applies either way. If a sheet arrives with a printing defect on our side, we reprint it at no cost. What neither option covers is a reprint because the file was uploaded blurry, misspelled or at the wrong size, since that is what we were asked to print. Print Assist exists to catch exactly that, before it is printed.
When to add it, and when to skip it
We would rather you spend the $15 on the orders where it changes something.
Add it
- It is your first DTF order. The file rules are not obvious until you have pressed one.
- A client sent you the artwork and you have not opened it in a design program.
- The image came from a phone, a website or a chat. That is where low resolution and hidden backgrounds live.
- It is a long or expensive sheet. On a 30 or 100 foot sheet, $15 against the cost of running it again is not a close call.
- You built a packed gang sheet with a lot of designs, where one spacing mistake repeats across the whole film.
Skip it
- You have printed this exact file with us before and it came out right.
- You built the layout in our gang sheet builder, which already sets the width, resolution and spacing for you.
- You are a designer with your export settings dialed in and you check the file before sending it.
- It is a same-day order and the cutoff is close. A review that finds something has nowhere to go before the press runs.
Most of what we check, you can check yourself
Print Assist is a second pair of eyes, not a substitute for a good file. The requirements page walks through everything a print-ready file needs, with the settings for each program.
Not sure whether your file needs it?
Ask us before you order. It takes us a minute to look and it can save you a sheet. We are a real shop in Miami and we answer in English and Spanish.
(305) 542-5752 · info@dtftransfersnow.com
Start my order