Printees · Illustrator guide

Create your gang sheet in Illustrator

Keep your artwork sharp, sized in centimetres and ready to print. Vector artwork is ideal for DTF, so this is the best tool for logos and text.

Download AI template

Back to the gang sheet guide

5 steps
About 15 minutes
Vectors stay sharp

1Set up the artboard 2Place your artwork 3Set sizes and arrange 4Export your PNG 5Check the file ✓Checklist

Open the template or make the artboard

The artboard is the sheet. Keep its size exactly as it is; only the artwork on it should change.

Open our template
Pick your size in the template box on this page and download it. File → Save As a working copy, and keep the artboard size as it is.
Or make a new document
File → New, units Centimeters, then type the width and height from the Artboard sizes card. Portrait, 1 artboard, no bleed.
Transparent, RGB, 300 ppi
Background Contents Transparent. Under Advanced Options: Color Mode RGB (CMYK dulls bright colours) and Raster Effects High (300 ppi).
Save it as a preset
Click the save icon beside the preset name. Next time your sheet size is one click away under Saved.

Illustrator New Document preset details: 58 cm by 500 cm in Centimeters, transparent background, RGB colour, raster effects High 300 ppi — **File → New.** Size in cm · Transparent · RGB · 300 ppi · save it as a preset.

Artboard sizes width × height

UnitsCentimeters
A421 × 29.7 cm
A329.7 × 42 cm
Half metre58 × 50 cm
1 metre58 × 100 cm
2 metres58 × 200 cm
3 metres58 × 300 cm
4 metres58 × 400 cm
5 metres58 × 500 cm
BackgroundTransparent
Colour modeRGB
Raster effectsHigh (300 ppi)

File → New

Place and prepare your artwork

Vectors are ideal. If you’re placing photos or raster logos, check they’re big enough at the size you’ll print.

File → Place, untick Link
Pick your design and untick Link, so the image is embedded and travels with the file. Already placed? Click Embed in the control bar.
Check the PPI
Select a placed image: the control bar shows its PPI at the size it’s placed. Aim for 300. Around 150 looks soft; under 100 looks blurry.
Remove backgrounds
Delete any white or coloured box behind a logo. For a photo, try Remove Background in the control bar, or supply a transparent PNG.
Keep effects solid
Drop shadows, glows and feathered edges don’t print well. Use solid fills and strokes.

Illustrator Place dialog options with Link ticked — **File → Place.** Untick **Link** so the image is embedded.

Illustrator control bar for a placed image: Transparent RGB, PPI 119, Unembed — **Control bar.** The PPI of the selected image at its placed size: aim for 300.

Set print sizes and arrange

Size each design with the Transform panel, then duplicate and space them out with room to cut.

Set the size in cm
Window → Transform. Click the link icon so the proportions stay locked, then type the width or height, for example 25 cm for a front print or 9 cm for a left chest.
Duplicate after sizing
Alt / Option + drag or Ctrl / Cmd + C, Ctrl / Cmd + F. Object → Transform → Transform Again repeats a move.
1 cm gaps, 5 mm from the edge
Use Align → Distribute Spacing at 1 cm to keep the gaps even. Stay inside the safe area.
Outline the text
Save an editable copy first, then Type → Create Outlines so fonts can’t change on export.

Illustrator Transform panel: W 12 cm, H 15 cm, with the link icon for proportions — **Transform panel.** Width and height in cm; the link icon keeps the proportions.

Illustrator artboard: eight designs laid out with a gap around each one — **Do:** every design has its own space, with room to cut round it.Don’t: designs touching or on top of each other can’t be cut apart.

Illustrator artboard: the same designs crowded together and overlapping — **Do:** every design has its own space, with room to cut round it.Don’t: designs touching or on top of each other can’t be cut apart.

Export your gang sheet

Two ways, both a transparent PNG at 300 ppi: Export As saves the whole artboard; Export Selection saves only what you select.

Hide what shouldn’t print
Hide the template’s GUIDES (eye icon in Layers), and any notes or mock-ups. Anything visible exports.
File → Export → Export As
Name the file, for example A4 Gangsheet – date.
PNG, Use Artboards
Save as type PNG and tick Use Artboards (All). The whole artboard exports, empty space and all, so the sheet size is exact.
PNG Options
Resolution High (300 ppi), Background Color Transparent, Anti-aliasing Art Optimized, then OK.
Keep your .ai file
Save the layered .ai too, so you can edit it next time. We only need the PNG.

Illustrator Export As: file name, Save as type PNG, Use Artboards ticked, All — **Export As.** PNG · **Use Artboards** · All

Select the designs
Drag across them with the Selection tool, or Shift + click each one. Only what you select exports.
Right-click → Export Selection
Or File → Export → Export Selection. Export for Screens opens on the Assets tab.
Your selection is one asset
It shows as a single thumbnail under Assets, with All Assets ticked.
Scale 300 ppi, Format PNG
Under Formats, set Scale to 300 ppi and Format to PNG. The background stays transparent.
Choose a folder → Export Asset
Set Export to, then Export Asset. The PNG is the size of your selection, not the artboard: handy when you’ve only filled part of a long sheet. Keep it no wider than 58 cm and order the length it comes out at.

Select, then right-click. Export Selection saves just these designs.

Illustrator Export for Screens, Assets tab: the selection as one asset, Scale 300 ppi, Format PNG, Export Asset — **Export for Screens → Assets.** 300 ppi · PNG · Export to · Export Asset

Check the exported file

Open the PNG outside Illustrator and confirm it’s the right size, transparent and sharp.

Open the PNG
A checkerboard or dark grey behind the artwork means it’s transparent. A white field means a background slipped through.
Check the size
Right-click → Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac). Export As gives exactly your artboard; Export Selection gives the size of what you selected (no wider than 58 cm).
Zoom to 100%
Vector edges should be crisp. Placed images should look as sharp as their source.
Read it once more
Spelling, quantities, nothing mirrored, guides hidden.

A finished gang sheet: every design on a transparent background (the checkerboard)

MyGangSheet.pngA4 · PNG · transparent background

Checkerboard behind the artwork (transparent)
Full sheet size, nothing trimmed
Sharp when zoomed to 100%
Spelling and quantities checked

✓Preflight

Preflight checklist

Tick these off before you upload. It takes a minute and catches the usual problems.

Tick them off as you go

Nothing is saved or sent. It’s just a checklist to help you.

Upload finished gang sheet Artwork rules on the guide

Related guides

More helpful resources

Adobe Illustrator: the short version

Make the page or artboard the exact sheet size (half metre 58 × 50 cm, A4 21 × 29.7 cm, A3 29.7 × 42 cm, 1 metre 58 × 100 cm, 2 metres 58 × 200 cm), transparent background, 300 DPI. Place every design at its real print size with 1 cm between designs and 5 mm from the edge. Hide guides and notes, then export the whole sheet as a PNG with transparency on. Open the PNG and check the size, the checkerboard and the spelling before you upload.

Custom clothing

Our Store

DTF & UV DTF transfers

Webstores

Not far away — keep an eye out.

Help & support