Printees · Photoshop guide

Create your gang sheet in Photoshop

Prepare sharp artwork on a transparent canvas, sized in centimetres. Smart Objects keep your designs safe while you size and arrange them.

Download PSD template

Back to the gang sheet guide

5 steps
About 15 minutes
300 pixels/inch

1Set up the canvas 2Place as Smart Objects 3Size and arrange 4Save the PNG 5Check the file ✓Checklist

Open the template or make a document

The canvas is the sheet: your sheet size in centimetres, 300 pixels per inch, transparent.

Open our template
Pick your size in the template box on this page and download it. Sheets from 2 m are .psb files, Photoshop’s format for very large documents: they open and save just like a PSD. Save a working copy.
Or make a new document
File → New, units Centimeters, then type the width and height from the Canvas sizes card. Resolution 300 Pixels/Inch (not Pixels/Centimeter).
RGB, 8 bit, transparent
Color Mode RGB Color, 8 bit. Background Contents Transparent. You should see the checkerboard straight away.
Check the canvas
With nothing selected, the Properties panel shows the canvas: 300 pixels/inch, RGB, Transparent. Changing the resolution later doesn’t add detail, so get it right now.

File → New. RGB Color · 8 bit · Transparent

Properties panel. 300 pixels/inch · RGB · Transparent

Canvas 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
Resolution300 Pixels/Inch
Colour modeRGB Color, 8 bit
BackgroundTransparent

File → New

Place each design as a Smart Object

Smart Objects keep the original quality, so you can resize without damage. They can’t add detail that isn’t in the source, though.

File → Place Embedded
Pick your design and click Place. It arrives as a Smart Object with a box around it: press Enter to drop it in.
Check the source is big enough
Open the original, Image → Image Size, untick Resample and type 300 Pixels/Inch. The width in cm it shows is the biggest it prints sharp.
Remove any background
Use Select → Subject or a layer mask, or supply a transparent PNG. A white box behind a logo prints white.
Keep effects solid
Skip drop shadows, outer glows and soft feathered edges. Solid edges print clean.

Photoshop Place Embedded dialog with the CREEPIN IT CUTE design selected — **File → Place Embedded.** Pick your design, then Place.

Size, rotate and arrange

Set each design to its real print size, turn it if that fits better, and leave room to cut round it.

Set the size in cm
Select the layer and open Window → Properties: with the link on, type the width in cm, for example 25 cm or 9 cm. Or Ctrl / Cmd + T and type a percentage in W and H.
Rotate to fit
In Free Transform, the bar under the design has Rotate buttons (90° left and right). Press Done or Enter when it’s placed.
Duplicate
Ctrl / Cmd + J duplicates the layer. Move copies with the Move tool; hold Shift to keep them lined up.
1 cm gaps, inside the canvas
View → Guides → New Guide Layout makes an even grid. Keep 1 cm between designs and 5 mm from the edge; anything past the edge is cut off.

Photoshop Free Transform on the CREEPIN IT CUTE layer: W and H percentages linked, the rotate bar under the design, and the layer selected in the Layers panel — **Free Transform.** W / H linked · rotate 90° · Done

A sheet with 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.

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.

Save the full sheet as a PNG

Hide anything that shouldn’t print, then save a PNG with transparency. Don’t flatten, trim or resize.

Hide the GUIDES layer
Click its eye icon. Hide any notes, mock-ups or sample artwork too. Whatever is visible is what prints.
File → Save a Copy → PNG
Keep Transparency ticked. This keeps your 300 pixels/inch and the full canvas.
Or File → Export → Export As
Format PNG, Transparency ticked, Scale 1x. Don’t use Save for Web (Legacy), which limits size and quality.
Keep your PSD / PSB
Save your layered file as well so you can edit it next time. Don’t trim away empty sheet space, and never save a JPG.

MenuFile → Save a Copy
FormatPNG
TransparencyTicked
SizeFull canvas, unchanged
NotJPG · Save for Web · flattened

Save a Copy → PNG

Check the saved PNG

Open the PNG and confirm the size, transparency and sharpness.

Open the PNG
A checkerboard behind the artwork means it’s transparent. A white field means a background slipped through.
Check the size
Image → Image Size, units cm: it should be your sheet size at 300 pixels/inch.
Zoom to 100%
Edges should be crisp. Soft, blocky edges mean the source image was too small for the print size.
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 Photoshop: 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.

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