Artwork Setup for Custom Denim Jackets
By The Velocity Wear Team
Send vector artwork with the fonts outlined, drawn at the size it will appear on the jacket, with the placement and decoration method stated. That is the version production can use directly. A high-resolution raster file works for printing if it holds up at full print size, but anything pulled from a website or a slide deck will need redrawing before the job can start.
Which file formats does production need?
Vector formats first: AI, EPS, PDF or SVG, with type converted to outlines so a missing font cannot substitute itself for something else. Vector scales without losing an edge, which matters when the same logo goes on a chest at eighty millimetres and a back panel at three hundred. If only a raster file exists, it needs to be at high resolution at the actual print dimensions rather than at screen size, on a transparent background, with no compression artefacts around the edges. What each format is good for is covered in our artwork preparation guide, and the product specification sits on the wholesale denim jackets page.
How is a logo turned into stitches?
Through digitising, which is a redrawing rather than a conversion. Somebody decides the direction of every stitch, the order the machine works in, the underlay that stabilises the fabric and how each shape connects to the next. A logo is not simply traced. That process is why very fine detail disappears: a hairline that a printer reproduces easily is narrower than a single stitch can hold, so it either thickens or drops out. Send the logo early enough for the stitch file to be built and reviewed, and expect small simplifications in the smallest elements. They are what keep the result legible at chest size. If the logo has a version already simplified for small applications, send that alongside the full one, because it usually converts to thread better than the detailed original.
What does an indigo base do to your colours?
It darkens everything placed on it. A mid-tone thread or ink over dark denim loses contrast and can read almost as a shadow, which is why so many denim jackets carry white, cream or a strong single colour rather than a subtle palette. If the brand colour is mid-toned, two options work: build an underbase so the colour sits on a neutral ground, or apply the design as a patch where the background is yours to control. Judging any of this from a screen is unreliable, and our note on AI-generated artwork and print reality explains how far a rendered mockup can drift from a produced garment.
Who checks the artwork before the run?
The file is reviewed against the garment, the method and the placement before anything is cut, and the version you approve is the version that runs. Approve the production file rather than a presentation mockup, and make sure the person approving it is the person who can actually decide. That approval is what starts the ten to fifteen working day production window, so treat it as a commitment rather than a checkpoint. If any of it is uncertain, a sample at £150, credited against the bulk order, puts the decoration on real fabric before fifty pieces commit to it. Current tier positions are on the pricing page.
Keep a copy of everything that was approved. The production-ready vector, the built stitch file, the placement measurements and the approved colour references belong in one folder with the order number on it. A year later, when the jacket is repeated or the logo goes onto a different garment, that folder is the difference between a short conversation and starting the whole preparation process again from a screenshot. Name the folder after the order and the date, because in two years nobody will remember which version was the approved one.
