Your embroidery journey begins here
Embroidery offers a timeless and durable way to add a premium touch to your products. It’s a versatile method that creates high-quality, long-lasting designs. However, achieving the best results with embroidery requires careful planning and design choices.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the key aspects of creating embroidery designs with Printify, selecting the right products, and making sure the final result meets professional standards.
When to use embroidery?
Embroidery is a popular choice for creating high-quality, signature items that enhance a brand’s credibility. It works best on thicker fabrics and lighter shades, making it ideal for hats, jackets, polos, and button-down shirts.
One of embroidery’s biggest advantages is its durability. Polyester or rayon threads hold up well over time, making embroidery far more resilient than other methods and perfect for simple designs with few colors.
Since embroidery offers a premium, long-lasting finish, it is generally more expensive – especially for detailed or multicolored designs. Embroidery remains the best choice for a high-end, durable product. However, for projects with intricate details or a tight budget, options like screen printing or direct-to-garment (DTG) printing might be more suitable.
Check out our design guide for tips and techniques.
Embroidery design requirements
Creating the perfect embroidery design requires attention to detail and an understanding of the method’s limitations.
Follow these important guidelines so your designs translate well onto garments. From thread color choices to design simplicity, keeping these key points in mind will help you achieve high-quality, professional results.
Check our article on how to make embroidery designs for Print on Demand and our Help Center guide on embroidery design requirements.
Embroidery design do’s
- Choose from 15 available thread colors
We offer 15 rich thread colors and select the closest match for your design if exact shades are unavailable. Note that you can only use six colors per design.
Embroidery thread colors
| Needle | Color | HEX Code | Madeira Color Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White | #FFFFFF | 1801 |
| 2 | Black | #000000 | 6800 |
| 3 | Grey | #96A1A8 | 1718 |
| 4 | Navy | #333366 | 1966 |
| 5 | Aqua/Teal | #3399FF | 1695 |
| 6 | Purple | #6B5294 | 1832 |
| 7 | Maroon | #660000 | 1784 |
| 8 | Red | #CC3333 | 1839 |
| 9 | Flamingo | #CC3366 | 1910 |
| 10 | Orange | #E25C27 | 1987 |
| 11 | Gold | #FFCC00 | 1951 |
| 12 | Old Gold | #A67843 | 1672 |
| 13 | Kiwi Green | #7BA35A | 1848 |
| 14 | Kelly Green | #01784E | 1751 |
| 15 | Royal | #005397 | 1842 |
- Use high-resolution images
Upload a PNG (with a transparent background) or a JPEG file with a resolution of at least 1200 × 720 pixels (for standard hat areas) or 1200 × 1200 pixels (for most standard apparel placements). Larger embroidery areas may benefit from higher-resolution files. - Keep your design simple
Simple designs work best to maintain detail and clarity. Overly complex designs can lose their sharpness during embroidery. - Use the correct text size
Lowercase text should start at 0.25” (6.4 mm or 18pt) and uppercase at 0.3” (7.6 mm). Measure text with varying thickness at its thinnest point to meet these guidelines. Avoid using small letters – we will resize or omit text smaller than 0.18” (4.57 mm). - Consider the embroidery area
The embroidery area varies by product, so make sure your design fits within these boundaries for optimal results.
See examples of suitable embroidery designs.
Embroidery design dont’s
- Avoid small details and thin lines
Don’t use thin lines in your artwork – the minimum line thickness should be 0.05” (1.27 mm) for optimal clarity. Shapes should have a thickness between 0.05” (1.3 mm) and 0.5” (12.7 mm) to maintain detail and consistency.
- Don’t use gradients
Gradients don’t translate well in embroidery. Stick to bold, solid colors with clear lines between elements.
- No photos, please
Photographs do not convert well during digitization and often result in unclear designs. Stick to clean graphics with no gradients.
- Be aware of small gaps and negative spaces
The digitization process may fill small gaps in your design, which is especially important to consider when adding text. To prevent unwanted filling, use a transparent background or fill any small gaps yourself with a color that complements your design for a clean result.
Explore our embroidery catalog now
When to use an outline or border
Some embroidery designs may require an outline or border to ensure a clean final result. This is especially true for designs with solid backgrounds, flags (like the American flag), or bold shapes that might otherwise produce unwanted gaps or fuzzy edges during stitching.
Adding a border helps stabilize the design and maintain crisp edges during embroidery. While not required for every design, our Digitizing Team may recommend it on a case-by-case basis.
If this step is skipped, the order may be delayed or canceled, especially if visual changes like adding borders aren’t approved by the merchant in advance. To avoid surprises or production issues, we recommend reviewing your design carefully and adding a clear edge where needed.
Embroidery design areas
It’s important to consider the size and placement of your artwork. Different products have specific embroidery areas, and simple, bold designs tend to work best.
Below are the most common embroidery dimensions across product types:
Caps
Caps have a front embroidery area of 4 × 2.25 inches (101.6 × 57.15 mm). For optimal quality, use a resolution of 1200 × 720 pixels at 300 dpi. These dimensions work well for centered logos or short text.
Unstructured hats like dad caps may have size or placement limitations due to curvature.
Apparel (standard chest placements)
- Left or center chest: 4 × 4 inches (101.6 × 101.6 mm)
Ideal for small logos, icons, or minimal designs. - Wrist and sleeve embroidery: 2 × 3 inches (50.8 × 76.2 mm)
Best for initials, small badges, or vertical motifs. - Top left chest (e.g., denim jackets): 3 × 3 inches (76.2 × 76.2 mm)
Smaller area – be mindful of detail density in this zone.
For standard embroidery areas, a resolution of 1200 × 1200 pixels at 300 dpi works best.
Beanies
- Front embroidery area: 5 × 1.75 inches (127 × 44.45 mm)
Wider but short height – best suited for bold text or horizontal logos.
Bucket hats
- Front embroidery area: 5.5 × 2 inches (139.7 × 50.8 mm)
A slightly larger area with horizontal space for clean, simple graphics.
New: Large embroidery area (select products)
- Embroidery area: 10 × 6 inches (254 × 152.4 mm)
This larger area is available on select apparel items (e.g., some jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts). - It appears as an additional option in the Product Creator. Merchants can choose between this or the standard 4 × 4 inches during product setup.
Use the Product Creator to preview each item’s embroidery zone. Position and scale may differ based on garment style, so always double-check alignment and spacing.
The digitization process
Digitization is the process of converting your artwork into a stitch file that the embroidery machine can read. It’s an essential step in embroidery before any design can be applied to a garment.
It’s important to note that digitization is a separate step in the order process. Only after digitizing the artwork can your order be sent to the chosen Print Provider for production.The digitization process begins after you place an order and takes up to 36 hours. It’s a detailed, manual task that requires optimizing the design, ensuring it meets embroidery specifications to stitch perfectly onto the fabric.
Check out our Help Center article to learn more about Printify’s embroidery digitization.
Must-have quality check
Always order samples to see how the design holds up on the garment – look for clean stitching, accurate colors, and precise details. Embroidery is more intricate than printing, so small tweaks can make a big difference.
Watch our detailed guide on how to order samples on our YouTube channel.
Make sure the final result is high-quality and meets your standards before selling embroidered products to customers.
Embroidery specifics – in short
Embroidery works very differently from print-based methods like DTG or DTF. Instead of applying ink to the fabric, it stitches thread directly into the material – creating a raised, textured finish with its own set of rules.
Here’s what makes embroidery unique:
- Thread limitations: You can use up to six thread colors per design, chosen from a fixed palette of 15 colors – custom color codes aren’t possible.
- No gradients or ultra-fine detail: Embroidery can’t recreate shading, photo effects, or small gaps. All elements need to be bold, solid, and clearly separated.
- Digitization is required: Each design must be manually converted into a stitch path. This process starts after an order is placed and can take up to 36 hours.
- Large embroidery areas now available: Jackets, hoodies, and sweatshirts support embroidery areas up to 10 × 6 inches, offering more design space than ever.
- Built-in text editor: You can now create text-based embroidery designs directly inside the Product Creator – no need to upload a separate design file.
Keep these specifics in mind when creating or adapting designs for embroidery. What works for print might need adjustments to stitch cleanly and look professional on fabric.
Discover how to sell high-profit embroidery designs with Printify on our YouTube channel.