Frequently asked questions and help information

What is Pixel Based Artwork?

Last Updated: Monday 4th December 2017 By Admin

The definition of Bitmap Images

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A Bitmap image (also known as raster or pixel based graphic types) is one of two commonly used 2D graphic types. The other type is Vector Images

(Vector images are the preferred file format for t-shirt printing as vectors can be converted to bitmaps very easily (known as rasterising) for DTG Digital printing, however, vectoring a pixel based image for T-shirt Screen Printing requires specialised software and a skilled artist that can re-produce an image.

A design restoration service can help with this.

Bitmap images are made up of pixels in a grid, like the image shown above. Pixels are picture elements; tiny dots of individual colour that make up what you see on your screen.

Resolution is the number of these dots per inch (DPI) or the number of pixels per inch (PPI).

This is why pixel based images are resolution dependent. The resolution depends on your DPI (Dot Per Inch) settings. We recommend a minimum of 300DPI for DTG digital t-shirt printing.

Because bitmaps are resolution dependent, it's difficult to increase or decrease their size without affecting some degree of image quality. When you reduce the image size, you must throw away pixels.

When you increase the size of the image the software has to create new pixels.

This means it must estimate the colour values of the new pixels based on the other pixels around it. This could make the image look blurry or pixelated.

Scanners, printers, digital cameras, monitors and more etc all generally use or create pixel graphics. The most common raster programs include (Adobe Photoshop), (Corel Photo-Paint), (Corel Paint Shop Pro), (Microsoft Paint)

Some common bitmap formats are: We recommend using PSD (Adobe Photoshop) or .GIF, .PNG which support transparent backgrounds. Others formats include .BMP, .JPEG, .JPG, .PICT (Macintosh), .PCX, .TIFF

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