What size should my embroidered artwork be?

For embroidery, our best advice is to consider Goldilocks. Too big? Your design may wear heavy on lightweight materials. Too small? Gaps will begin to close up. Details will get muddy. What we’re aiming for is just right, which, unfortunately, varies depending on the design and the garment you are embroidering. In any case, we really don’t want you to get eaten by a bear.

Hats

In this case, smaller is better. For that matter, simpler is better too. When it comes to thread, there can be too much of a good thing, particularly for a less structured item like a dad hat (which happens to be the most popular style). If your design has a ton of detail that you can’t possibly lose — or you are focused on a different style like a snapback, trucker hat, or sweatshirt — go ahead and max it out if it feels right. That said, we strongly recommend sticking with the default medium size or smaller for hats if at all possible.

Hat Artwork Sizes

Max: 5.5" wide by 2.25" tall

Large: 5.5" wide by 2" tall

Medium: 5.5" wide by 1.5" tall

Small: 5.5" wide by 1" tall

Extra Small: 5.5" wide by 0.5" tall

Custom: 0.25" – 5.5" wide by 0.25" – 2.25" tall

Beanies

The max width for a beanie is a little bit smaller than hats. Beanies are also even less structured than hats which can create bulging or puckering. We suggest avoiding too much negative space for beanies. Designs ideally are fully embroidered (like a patch).

Beanie Artwork Sizes

Max: 3.75" wide by 2.25" tall

Large: 3.75" wide by 2" tall

Medium: 3.75" wide by 1.5" tall

Small: 3.75" wide by 1" tall

Extra Small: 3.75" wide by 0.5" tall

Custom: 0.25" – 3.75" wide by 0.25" – 2.25" tall

Shirts

Our largest canvas for embroidery, shirts also give you the best chance to shoot yourself in the foot. Shirt materials can be very thin. Combined with the large pocket embroidery location (3.75"), you have a recipe for disaster. Think carefully before going big on t-shirts. For sweatshirts and other heavy materials, the biggest size may still be a problem visually, but you shouldn’t have much issue with distortion.

Shirt Artwork Sizes

Large: 3.75" wide by 3.75" tall

Medium: 2.5" wide by 2.5" tall

Small: 1.25" wide by 1.25" tall

Custom: 0.25" – 3.75" wide by 0.25" – 3.75" tall

Embroidery Specs + Details

Tiny details are difficult to render, and what you see is not always what you get since there’s a person on the other end of the line who needs to interpret pixels into patterns.

• The smallest details that can be stitched are about 0.04" (1mm).
• The smallest gaps that can be maintained are 0.01" (0.25mm).
• Rule of thumb: for 1.5" x 1.5" design, you have canvas that is roughly 75 x 75 pixels in a raster image.
• Text should be at least 0.25" in height.

It’s possible to get creative with running stitches and contrasting stitch directions to show subtle detail, but the safest embroidered products are going to avoid squishing too much detail into too small a space. When in doubt, err in favor of simplicity.

Please keep in mind it’s also not possible to mix and match artwork size or thread colors within a single product. Whatever design you upload, it will be the same size and colors for all variants of that product. You’re always welcome to create additional products if you need more sizes or colorways.