InfiniStitch™ embroidery: Tips for quality products.

Like everything at CafePress, InfiniStitch is easy to set up and use. For the most-striking results, here are a few tips to keep in mind when prepping designs for this process:

Designing images for InfiniStitch
Understanding how images reproduce with InfiniStitch will help you in prepping your images for quality products. How do you know what the final product will look like with your design? Take a look at some of the examples we've provided for you, and take note of the tips we're offering.

Working with available space
Using Text
Positioning within the Available Area
Extra Tips

Working with Available Space
The area available for design can be small on InfiniStitch products - hats and garments may offer areas approximately two inches or less in any given dimension. Consider the size of the canvas when applying designs to these products. A small quantity of large bold text may work better than a large quantity of small text - example below:

The images below show how these hats will read from a distance:

The example below is a photograph of a single rose. It is a good example of a design for a small area - several roses would have each become very small when packed into an area of around two inches.

Keep in mind that the InfiniStitch threads are not smooth like paper or the surface of a T shirt; your image may lose some resolution on the finished InfiniStitch product. Keeping the design elements bold and clear will improve the final results.

With InfiniStitch there are small shifts in color and texture as the image goes from the original design to a product preview version, and finally to the finished product. Images will become slightly simplified in the final product, due to the coarse surface offered by InfiniStitch threads.

Using Text
Text reproduces well with InfiniStitch. The more your text fills the available space, the more legible it will be at a distance. InfiniStitch; can handle small details that traditional embroidery cannot, so if you wish to pack more text into the design, you can. It's recommended that your text size be at least 20 points at 200 dpi. Anything smaller may become difficult to read. The example below features bold text, and makes for an effective, readable design.

Positioning within the Available Area
Before you finish your product creation, take a final look at the size of the image on the product. The CafePress product design tool will allow you to adjust the size of the image on the product, with "full bleed." as the largest size. Keep in mind that the product preview may not show the effect of very small size errors. If you select full bleed sizing and your image is smaller than our specified full bleed measurement, a warning will appear. [see example below]. In such cases the product preview might look fine, but the red warning tells you that there could be a problem with the finished product. You may need to make a larger image. For a proper fit, we recommend using our product templates. This will ensure your image fills up both the height and width of the available area.

Extra Tips
As an extra tip, we strongly recommend your design does not include a line border thinner than ¼" (or about 40 pixels wide at 200 dpi) along the perimeter. A border which is narrower may not reproduce well for two reasons:

• It will exaggerate any mis-sizing of the design within the template
• While embroidery is very visually appealing, it can't provide shapes with perfectly straight or curved edges. These slight inaccuracies become noticeable when thin lines are placed around the perimeter of a design.

InfiniStitch opens up a new world of design possibilities, To learn more about how InfiniStitch compares to traditional embroidery, and see our line of InfiniStich-ready products check out or FAQ.