Artwork Preparation Guide for All-Over Print Bags

All-over print bags are printed before they are sewn. That single fact changes everything about how your artwork needs to be built. A file that looks perfect on screen can still come back with a logo sliced in half by a zipper, a gradient broken into visible bands, or a colour that shifted two shades on polyester. None of that is a printing mistake — it is a file that was built for a flat rectangle instead of a bag.

This guide covers what our production team actually needs from you, the traps that cause the most re-work, and how to check your own file before you send it.

Start Here — What to Send

Send the highest-quality version you have. We would rather reduce a file than try to rebuild one.

If you only have a JPG. Send it anyway, at the largest size you have. We will tell you honestly whether it will hold up at bag size or whether it needs to be redrawn. We will not quietly print a file we know will look soft.

Understand the Process Before You Design

All-over print on our line means dye sublimation onto polyester. The ink turns to gas and bonds into the fibre, so the print does not sit on top of the fabric — it becomes part of it. That gives you unlimited colours, edge-to-edge coverage, no cracking and no peeling, at no extra cost per colour.

It also comes with three hard limits worth knowing before you design:

• Polyester only. Sublimation bonds to polyester and high-polyester blends. It does not work on cotton or canvas. If your design has to be on cotton, we would use a different decoration method — tell us and we will advise.
• There is no white ink. White in your artwork means unprinted fabric. Because the base fabric is white, every colour you see is ink laid onto white. This is why sublimation works beautifully on light bases and cannot print a light design onto a dark one.
• Ink cannot lighten fabric. You cannot sublimate a pale logo onto a dark navy body. If you want a dark bag with a light logo, the dark area has to be printed as part of the artwork, with the logo left as bare fabric.

Printed first, cut second. Fabric is printed as flat panels, then cut and sewn into a bag. Sections 7 and 8 exist entirely because of this.

Size and Resolution

Bag panels are much larger than most people assume, and a file built at photo size will not survive the scale-up.

The most common file problem we see: a 72 dpi web image scaled up to panel size. It looks acceptable on a laptop and soft on the finished bag. Enlarging a small file does not add detail — it only makes the missing detail bigger.

Colour — Read This Before You Approve Anything

Your screen emits light. A bag reflects it. They will never match exactly, and a design approved on an uncalibrated monitor is the single most common source of colour disappointment.

What actually happens: RGB has a wider colour range than CMYK ink can reproduce. Bright neon greens, electric blues and vivid oranges are the usual casualties — they will print duller than they appear on screen. Convert your file to CMYK yourself so you see the shift and can correct it, rather than letting the conversion happen at our end where you cannot see it.

Pantone on sublimation. Give us Pantone coated codes as your target and we will match as closely as the process allows. Understand that sublimation reproduces Pantone as a close match, not an exact one — the same code will also read slightly differently on a smooth polyester versus a textured one. If a colour is critical to your brand, ask for a printed swatch before bulk. That is the only reliable check.

Deep blacks. A single-channel black prints as a washed grey on polyester. For rich blacks in large areas, build with a rich black mix rather than 100% K alone.

Screenshots and photos of colour are not references. Camera white balance and phone screens both distort colour. A Pantone code or a physical sample is a reference; a photo of a screen is not.

Seams, Zippers and Edges

This is where good artwork most often goes wrong, and it has nothing to do with print quality.

A bag is assembled from separate panels. Anything crossing a seam is interrupted. Anything sitting under a zipper tape, a binding, a strap anchor or a stitch line is partially covered.

• Keep logos and text away from edges. Anything closer than 20 mm to a trim line risks being caught in a seam or binding.
• Do not centre a logo on a curved panel. Curvature stretches the print slightly during assembly. Symmetrical marks show this most.
• Expect 2–3 mm of movement. Cutting and sewing tolerance means a design that requires perfect alignment across a seam will not hold. If two halves of a graphic must meet across a zipper, tell us — we will advise whether the style can carry it, or suggest moving the graphic.
• Overall patterns are forgiving; single centred graphics are not. If your design is a repeating pattern, seam interruption is invisible. If it is one large logo across the front, placement needs to be planned around the panel, not the flat file.

Tell us the bag style before you start designing. We will confirm the panel layout and the printable area for that style, so you are designing to the actual shape rather than to a blank rectangle. Ask Anna — it takes one message and saves a round of corrections.

Repeating Patterns

For all-over patterns, send the single repeat tile, not a screenshot of the tiled result.

• The tile must be genuinely seamless. Test it by tiling it 3×3 in your own software and looking for a visible grid, a repeated blemish, or a bright element landing in an obvious row.
• Scale matters more than you expect. A motif that reads well on a 20 cm swatch may become visual noise on a full bag body, or may only show two or three motifs. Tell us the intended motif size in centimetres, or send a mock-up showing the scale you want.
• Directional patterns need a marked "up". Panels are nested during cutting to save fabric. If your pattern has a top and a bottom, label it clearly or it may be placed sideways on a side panel.
• Watch the busy-pattern trap. A dense pattern that hides seams beautifully will also swallow a logo printed on top of it. If your logo must stay legible, leave a calmer area for it in the pattern itself.

Why Files Get Sent Back

We check every file before printing. These are the issues we return most often, and all of them are avoidable.

We will not print a file we believe will disappoint you. If something in your artwork will not survive production, we tell you before the sample, not after the bulk order.

What Happens After You Send Files

1. File review. We open your file, check resolution, colour mode, bleed and placement against the die-line, and come back to you with anything that needs fixing.
2. Layout. We position your artwork onto the panel template for your chosen style and send a layout for your approval.
3. Sampling — 7–15 days. You receive a physical sample. This is the moment to check colour, print scale and placement in your hands.
4. Your approval. Any adjustment is made and confirmed before bulk.
5. Bulk production — 15–30 days.

Approve colour on the physical sample, never on the screen layout. The layout confirms placement; the sample confirms colour.

Pre-Send Checklist

• [ ] Built at final size, 150 dpi minimum
• [ ] Designed on the die-line template for the chosen style
• [ ] 15 mm bleed on every edge
• [ ] Critical content 20 mm inside all trim lines
• [ ] All text converted to outlines
• [ ] Converted to CMYK and visually checked
• [ ] Pantone coated codes supplied for brand colours
• [ ] Repeat tile tested 3×3 for seams
• [ ] Directional pattern marked with an "up" arrow
• [ ] Layered working file included, not just a flattened preview

FAQ

What file format should I send for an all-over print bag? Send a layered working file — AI, EPS, PSD or PDF — together with a flattened JPG or PNG preview. Supply your logo as vector artwork and convert all text to outlines. If you only have a JPG, send the largest version you have and we will tell you honestly whether it will hold up at bag size.

What resolution does my artwork need to be? 150 dpi at final print size is the minimum, and 300 dpi is better. Build the file at the actual panel size, or at a stated fraction such as 50%. A web image enlarged to panel size will not gain detail — it will only show its limitations more clearly.

Will the printed colour match what I see on screen? Not exactly. Screens emit light and fabric reflects it, and RGB reproduces colours that CMYK ink cannot. Bright neons shift the most. Send Pantone coated codes as your target and check colour on the physical sample rather than on a screen layout.

Can you print an all-over design on a dark or coloured bag? Sublimation ink cannot lighten fabric and there is no white ink, so a pale design cannot be printed onto a dark base. The dark area is printed as part of your artwork instead, with any light elements left as bare fabric. Send us your design and we will confirm what is achievable.

Can I use cotton or canvas for all-over print? All-over print by dye sublimation bonds to polyester and high-polyester blends only. It does not work on cotton or canvas. If your project requires cotton, tell us and we will advise on a different decoration method.

How do I stop my logo being cut by a seam or zipper? Design on the die-line template for your chosen style and keep critical content at least 20 mm inside every trim line. Ask Anna for the correct template before you start. Cutting and sewing carry 2–3 mm of natural movement, so avoid designs that depend on perfect alignment across a seam.

How do I make sure my repeating pattern is seamless? Send the single repeat tile rather than a tiled screenshot, and test it yourself by tiling it 3×3 and looking for a visible grid or a repeated blemish. Tell us the motif size you want in centimetres, and mark an "up" direction if the pattern is directional.

Do you charge extra for more colours in an all-over print? No. Dye sublimation prints full colour in a single pass, so a photographic design costs no more per piece than a two-colour one. This is the main advantage of all-over print over screen printing.

Can you fix or redraw my artwork? We review every file and tell you what needs correcting. If your file needs rebuilding, tell us what you need and Anna will confirm what is possible in your quotation.

Project Enquiry

Minimum Order Quantity: from 50 pcs Sampling: 7–15 days · Bulk production: 15–30 days Sample fee: 1,000+ refundable · 500–1,000 negotiable Print method: All-over print / dye sublimation — full colour, no per-colour charge. Pricing: Contact us for best price — inquiry only, no fixed list price. OEM / ODM · Private Label · Wholesale welcome. Final MOQ depends on style, fabric and logo method. Anna will confirm in your quotation. Contact Anna Wei: Email annawei@nameerbag.com · WhatsApp +86 151 0224 9548 · WeChat 15102249548

Send us your artwork — we will review it and tell you what needs adjusting before anything goes to print.