Image Redraw and Recreation

Photographs are great additions to any design, but often they are not high enough resolution to be printed directly (learn more about image resolution and how to find it).

A simplified redraw is a great alternative to a photograph, as it maintains the original intent of the image while making it printable. Our expert artists will transform your photograph to a graphic, where shades and tones are solidified to flat colors. Since our expert artists are reworking the image, there are different directions that they can take. Even if your uploaded graphic is high resolution, these free services are still available to make your design the very best it can be!

1 Color Redraw 1-Color Redraws are great options for a clear, affordable print. Our expert artists will take the original image and convert it to be one ink color. This is an easy, attractive way of saving money and making a dramatic statement on the shirt. The color of the shirt showing through can function as a second color.

Multi-Color Redraw With more colors our artists can maintain more detail from the original photograph, giving the graphic a more realistic style. The number of colors we’ll use for your design will vary based on your budget and your requirements for your final printed product. If you know how many colors you’d like to use, please specify them in the Add Notes section of the Design Tool. If you’re unsure and would like to discuss your options with a Hotcards Customer Obsession Team member, please contact us!

Simplified Artwork for Promotional Products Due to the physical nature of the promotional products, they do require some special attention in regards to how art must be adjusted for them to ensure a perfect print.

Font Due to the various shapes, unique material and often times, small printing areas, your design will look its best if you select a simple font. Arial, Helvetica, Georgia are some example fonts we recommend that could potentially work if your text is sized large enough. To ensure your design looks its best, we recommend limiting the amount of text in your design, sizing your font as large as possible, and avoiding fonts that are very detailed, thin, and/or intricate.

Image Artwork also needs to be taken into consideration when designing for Promotional Products. Similar to your text, your design will look best with bold, clear, and simple pieces of art. Our artists can work to simplify art to an extent, but to ensure the best results try to select art from the Design Tool that is already clear, simple, and free of small details. If you have an upload you’d like to include on your promotional product, our artists will provide a simplified redraw in one color for best print. For full-color photographs or other multiple-color uploads, we have many promotional products that utilizes a sublimation print method instead of traditional screen-printing. This usually includes the “Multi-color Print” decoration option.

Color Choosing bright colors with high contrast will result in an outstanding print. Try to select an ink color that is tonally different from your promotional product color- for example, black ink on a pink item will provide a much better result than magenta ink on a pink item. Avoid dark ink colors on dark items and light ink colors on light items.

Simplified Artwork for Embroidery Designs for embroidered products require additional attention by our artwork team. Since the artwork is being stitched, not printed, onto the surface of the fabric, there are special restrictions that must be taken into consideration. Similar to printing on promotional products, embroidered products require small details and thin lines to be removed removed or bolded. When you select an embroidered product, our art team automatically adjusts your artwork for the best embroidery results. This involves removing small details, substituting text with a more simplified font, and removing any shading or gradients. As part of your digital proof process, we require approval of this adjusted artwork before moving forward with production which we’ll send you via email!

Maintain Hand-Drawn Look Our customers often have hand-drawn art to use in their designs. In order to move forward with printing, our art department has to take these images and process them for our printers. Since we are essentially redrawing your artwork, we have the ability to maintain or remove the hand-drawn look. Removing the hand-drawn look usually amounts to rounding out lines, solidifying colors (so you don't see pen or marker strokes) and fixing any small issues with composition. We can also trace your art exactly as provided if you wish to keep the hand-drawn look as-is.

As with all of these changes, we will send you a digital proof of the artwork via email and request approval before sending to print. Keep in mind, the more changes we need to make, the longer you turnaround time will be extended.

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