Designer Jeanetta Gonzales is back on the blog to share her five go-to tips for designing on Spoonflower! If you missed the first installment of her three-part design series, be sure to take a peek here.
Jeanetta: When designing on Spoonflower you may have noticed that there are certain technical steps to take to ensure your designs look perfect. From the minute you start designing there are several things to keep in mind. Here are my five go-to tips to help you design on Spoonflower with ease:
1. Size Matters
Did you know that Spoonflower has a default DPI of 150? If you upload a file that isn’t set at 150 dpi it can cause some unexpected changes in scale.
When we talk about the size of a digital image, we talk about pixels per inch, or ppi. (You’ll also see this described as dots per inch, or dpi on our site, but the clearest term is pixels per inch.) The ppi is the number of pixels in a linear inch and is also referred to as the resolution of the image.
To prevent a change in scale, create your design in your program of choice at 150 dpi or adjust the resolution once you’ve uploaded your design to Spoonflower.
To adjust your design on Spoonflower, use the Smaller/Bigger buttons or enter in a specific dpi by clicking on the “Change DPI” link. Once you make an adjustment, don’t forget to click on “Save this Layout” to make the change stick.
You can always make your design smaller on Spoonflower but you can not make it larger than the original size uploaded to your account. Interested in learning more about how resolution works? Here is a guide that explains how it affects your image. (Note: Spoonflower no longer sells its products on gift wrap.)
If you upload an image at 300 DPI you will have the ability to make the resolution and scale of the design smaller. If you do not change the resolution of your 300 DPI image and have it printed you will see a significant difference. Below you can see my design printed at 300 DPI image and 150 DPI.
2. Working with Color
Unlike traditional paper printers, Spoonflower designs are printed in RGB so when creating your design, remember to work and save your file in RGB mode. If your files are saved in CMYK you will see a significant color difference when you upload to your Spoonflower account.
But what about getting the right color? We’re so glad you asked!
If you would like a particular color or colors in your design, assign hex codes to each color.
Hex codes are web-based formulaic codes that represent individual colors. They are six digit codes that make up the RGB values of the color.
Design tools like the Spoonflower Color Map and Sample Pack feature printed color chips with their specific hex codes so you can see how they print on all of Spoonflower’s fabric and wallpaper. Ordering a color map and sample pack can help take out the guess work of finding the right colors for your designs.
Just like a photo printed on matte computer paper and glossy photo paper, color varies when printed on different fabrics. Some fabrics are more delicate and thinner which means they absorb less ink during the printing process while other fabrics are printed with a dye sublimation process that results in designs printing more vibrantly.
3. Designing for Products
Now that you’re a resolution expert, it’s important think about how Spoonflower shoppers will be using your design or if it’s just for personal use, how you’ll be using the design. Scaling your design properly creates a sense of balance and harmony when paired with other designs or fits in the room you are designing it for. Want to learn more about scaling your designs for products? See my post “How to Scale Designs For Wallpaper and Home Decor!”
4. Saving Your File
When you’re ready to save your file to upload to Spoonflower, remember to save as a JPG or PNG file. Files from Photoshop and Illustrator or PDFs are not accepted.
5. Previewing Your Design on Spoonflower
The design preview on Spoonflower is your friend. Once your design is uploaded to your account, you can see your design in the scale it will be printed. If the design is getting cut off on the preview screen (very important for engineered designs), it’ll get cut off when printed if you do not adjust the scale (see tip #1 if you need a refresher!) or fabric size.
For artists who will be selling their designs in the Spoonflower Marketplace, you can set the preview image for the customer to be a specific fabric size and substrate. For example, if your design is intended to be made into a Linen Cotton Canvas calendar tea towel, you should save the layout to preview as a fat quarter on Linen Cotton Canvas.
You can also set the thumbnail to a fat quarter, crop or swatch preview to ensure the customer sees the design as accurately as possible when searching the Marketplace.
Keep these tips in mind each time you set up your files for a consistent and stress-free design process! For even more tips for being successful on Spoonflower, be sure to read the Spoonflower Seller Handbook.
About the Guest Blogger
Jeanetta Gonzales is a Los-Angeles based artist and designer. Her multidisciplinary studio specializes in surface pattern design, apparel design, illustration and graphic design.
Jeanetta finds joy in creating art for her own products and sharing her art through licensing it on apparel, greeting cards and home decor. Jeanetta also provides coaching and accountability to artists bringing out their true self-expression and helping them achieve their business goals.
“Design tools like the Spoonflower Color Map and Sample Pack (just $3 and it ships for free!) feature printed color chips with their specific hex codes so you can see how they print on all of Spoonflower’s fabrics, wallpaper and gift wrap.” A reply to an earlier comment says this reference to the wildly inaccurate price was removed in November 2022, but that sentence is still showing up on Dec. 5, 2022. The price is actually $19.00.
Thanks for letting me know, Jac!
And while I did previously go back and delete the text, it looks like I didn’t hit update, oops! Thanks to your note, I went back and deleted the price (and most importantly, hit update!) just now.
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
Do you ever do private or group tutorials?
Hi Catriona!
I’m afraid we don’t, but we do offer events like the Design Symposium (2022 videos to be added for soon and here’s the link to the 2021 Symposium post, which has videos you can watch) and Craft Friday, which is happening next week, (see past Craft Friday content at this link). Those events offer starting points for artists and also sometimes instructors have listed in their bios where they offer their own courses at places like Skillshare and via their own individual courses… including Jeanetta Gonzales who wrote this post! You can learn more about how to work with Jeanetta and her video lessons here: https://www.jeanettagonzales.com/.
We also have heaps of design tutorials for you to check out at this link: https://blog.spoonflower.com/category/tutorials/design-tutorials/
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
In Nov of 2022 “Sample Pack (just $3 and it ships for free!)” is now $19 and one of the options is free shipping. Just thought you may want to update this as it’s a pretty big difference!
Thanks so much for letting us know!
I’ve updated the post and taken out reference to the price! 🙂
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
Dears,
I am looking for someone to provide me by fabric designs..
Hi there,
Click here for information on how to design your own fabric, from repeating pattern tutorials to upload requirements– or you can explore the Spoonflower Marketplace with millions of designs to choose from!
Happy designing,
Anna
Spoonflower
Do we have to reorder a swatch if we just change the scale of a print?
Hi Maria, Please contact our help team here and they will be happy to assist.
Best,
Amy
Spoonflower
This really detailed and very informative blog post
I have read . Thank you so much. I have been on spoonflower for more than 6 months now and still learning the process. These tips will help me when uploading my designs. Thank you so much for great information:)
Wow this is by far the most detailed blog with tips in regards with Spoonflower. Have been with them over a year now and thanks for this tips!
We’re so glad you found the post helpful Vicky! We were thrilled that Jeanetta shared these tips.
Happy designing!
Amy
Spoonflower
Great Article
Really great article…thanks so much!!
Whoa, this was so helpful. Have been so confused about all the details you included. Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much! This is very helpful 🙂