Printify's DTF file guide asks for a PNG-24 with a 100% transparent background, 300 DPI at the printed size and sRGB, with no semi-transparent shadow or halo around the art (checked 2026-10-24). Choose your design here: the outer pixel of the edge takes the solid color just inside it, then every pixel at least half opaque becomes fully opaque and the rest fully clear.

1. Click Choose the design. A PNG that already has a transparent background goes straight to hardening; on a computer you can also drop it on the page.
2. If the design has no transparency, the card first clears a flat-color background or a painted-in checkerboard. Only when it is neither does it cut out the subject with the AI model, which is a 44 MB download the first time.
3. Read the card: Edges hardened, how many half-clear pixels were fixed and how many inches wide the image prints at 300 ppi. For the sample it reads 280,458 pixels and 3.4 inches. The pixels themselves were changed, with no mask; press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z on a Mac) to go back to the original.
4. Leave Transparent selected and click Download PNG. The file keeps its pixel size and is tagged 300 ppi.

Hardening can't keep a fade. A gradient that fades out, a glass effect or a soft glow becomes a hard edge. A drop shadow is cut at the halfway line: where it was more than half opaque it turns into a solid dark rim, elsewhere it disappears. In the sample the glow and the faint shadow were under half opaque, so both are gone. Remove a strong shadow before you start, or redraw soft effects as solid shapes or halftone dots. The pixel size doesn't change, so the print size is fixed by the original: the 1024-pixel sample prints 3.4 inches wide at 300 ppi. The card doesn't shrink the edge inward (choke) and doesn't convert colors.

Why do half-transparent pixels matter for DTF?

The DTF guide quoted above asks for no semi-transparent shadow or halo around the art, and Printful's print-file guide warns that semi-transparent areas can show small white speckles on dark garments (both checked 2026-10-24). Hardening removes the in-between pixels, so what prints is exactly the shape you see.

What resolution does a DTF file need?

Printify's DTF guide says 300 DPI at the actual print size. Printful's general print-file guide calls 150 DPI the sweet spot for most of its products and asks for 300 on small, detailed ones such as mugs and phone cases. The card tells you how wide your pixels print at 300 ppi; if that is smaller than your print, you need a larger original.

My file shows a checkerboard but the shop says it isn't transparent. Will this fix it?

Yes, if the squares form an even grid: the card clears painted-in squares before hardening, the same way the fake transparent PNG page does.

Will hardening keep a fade or a glass effect?

No. Every pixel ends up fully opaque or fully clear, so a fade becomes a hard edge. Draw the effect as dots or solid bands instead.

Updated 2026-10-24

More toolsFake transparent PNG fixTransparent backgroundResize image

Printify's DTF file guide asks for a PNG-24 with a 100% transparent background, 300 DPI at the printed size and sRGB, with no semi-transparent shadow or halo around the art (checked 2026-10-24). Choose your design here: the outer pixel of the edge takes the solid color just inside it, then every pixel at least half opaque becomes fully opaque and the rest fully clear.

1. Click Choose the design. A PNG that already has a transparent background goes straight to hardening; on a computer you can also drop it on the page.
2. If the design has no transparency, the card first clears a flat-color background or a painted-in checkerboard. Only when it is neither does it cut out the subject with the AI model, which is a 44 MB download the first time.
3. Read the card: Edges hardened, how many half-clear pixels were fixed and how many inches wide the image prints at 300 ppi. For the sample it reads 280,458 pixels and 3.4 inches. The pixels themselves were changed, with no mask; press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z on a Mac) to go back to the original.
4. Leave Transparent selected and click Download PNG. The file keeps its pixel size and is tagged 300 ppi.

Hardening can't keep a fade. A gradient that fades out, a glass effect or a soft glow becomes a hard edge. A drop shadow is cut at the halfway line: where it was more than half opaque it turns into a solid dark rim, elsewhere it disappears. In the sample the glow and the faint shadow were under half opaque, so both are gone. Remove a strong shadow before you start, or redraw soft effects as solid shapes or halftone dots. The pixel size doesn't change, so the print size is fixed by the original: the 1024-pixel sample prints 3.4 inches wide at 300 ppi. The card doesn't shrink the edge inward (choke) and doesn't convert colors.

Why do half-transparent pixels matter for DTF?

The DTF guide quoted above asks for no semi-transparent shadow or halo around the art, and Printful's print-file guide warns that semi-transparent areas can show small white speckles on dark garments (both checked 2026-10-24). Hardening removes the in-between pixels, so what prints is exactly the shape you see.

What resolution does a DTF file need?

Printify's DTF guide says 300 DPI at the actual print size. Printful's general print-file guide calls 150 DPI the sweet spot for most of its products and asks for 300 on small, detailed ones such as mugs and phone cases. The card tells you how wide your pixels print at 300 ppi; if that is smaller than your print, you need a larger original.

My file shows a checkerboard but the shop says it isn't transparent. Will this fix it?

Yes, if the squares form an even grid: the card clears painted-in squares before hardening, the same way the fake transparent PNG page does.

Will hardening keep a fade or a glass effect?

No. Every pixel ends up fully opaque or fully clear, so a fade becomes a hard edge. Draw the effect as dots or solid bands instead.

Updated 2026-10-24

More toolsFake transparent PNG fixTransparent backgroundResize image