Important Design Review Information

We realize not everyone is a pro when it comes to designing apparel and promotional products! That’s why we instituted the Hotcards Design Review for Apparel and Promotional Products orders. Please carefully review the information below to understand what we check for, and what we don’t. If we find any issues, they will be brought to your attention with a digital proof via email - and an explanation of the issues we found. You’ll be required to approve the changes before we start printing. Please note, issues discovered in the Design Review could extend your turnaround time. The best way to keep your timeline on track is to be responsive to our emails.

What we check for:

  • Alignment issues: If it looks like you were trying to center your design, Hotcards will automatically do it for you and ask for your approval with a digital proof via email. If it doesn't, we'll always contact you to double check and make sure your design is aligned on your shirts exactly the way you want it.


  • Image Layering Issues: We'll always add a thin transparent outline to your overlapping design elements when appropriate in order to distinguish the layers of your design. If you have several overlapping elements, we'll contact you to confirm exactly how they should be layered. As always, we'll send you a digital proof for approval before printing!

  • Line Thickness: Don’t worry about the lines in your text or clipart being too thin or too thick to print or embroider… we’ll check for you! We'll always make sure that the lines in your design are at the appropriate thickness for the best possible print and send you a digital proof for approval before printing!

  • Design Size Issues: If your design is too big for the shirts you've chosen, or if we think your design should be sized up for a better print result, we'll take care of sizing the design for the best print possible. We'll always send you a digital proof for approval before printing!

  • Uploaded Designs: Want to upload your own art or logo, but you’re worried it won't print correctly? Don’t worry! Our team of artists will automatically recreate and clean up uploaded images to make sure that they print perfectly. We'll always send you a digital proof for approval before printing!


  • Matching Ink Color to Apparel Trim Color: If your shirt has a different color trim - like one of our ringer or raglan styles - and you're using an ink color similar to it, we will suggest matching that ink color to the trim. Additionally, if you're ordering deep red sweat pants and grey t-shirts featuring red or cardinal ink, we'll contact you to see if you would like that t-shirt ink color to match your red pants for a cohesive look!



* Image Redraw and Recreation: Sometimes we have to recreate or redraw your image so our printers can print it. Read more about this process here!

What we DON’T check for:

  • Spelling errors: We process so many orders each day, it’s even easy for spelling errors to get past our pros. In addition to that, some people just prefer a different spelling than your common dictionary would suggest! If we see something glaring, we’ll email you a digital proof outlining the suggested changes. But, always plan on taking responsibility for your speling! Did you catch that? ;)
  • Alphabetical Order: As with spelling, we cannot fully determine if you meant to alphabetize certain things, or not. Please always double check this before approving your order!

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