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New to Affinity Designer and want to put my designs onto products; I need help with import and export settings.


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Hi,

I'm brand new to affinity designer and designing with in depth options like affinity has.  I'm trying to create designs in order to put onto products like pillows, mugs, shirts, canvases, etc...on sites like Redbubble and Teespring.  I think I need some more clarification on the specific settings I should select on importing and exporting.  

 

1)  When creating the document should I select "print" or "print-press ready" when making designs from scratch (or "Photo" if I'm importing a photo) if it will be on products?

2) How do i safely import and export my photo without messing up it's pixels accidentally or having it change the coloring so I can add a little text on it?

I don't want my products to appear blurry or have any color problems.  One site says I can upload rgb as well as cmyk; the other says I can make it in cmyk and save it as srgb after editing tones and saturation.  

3) How do I safely edit tones and saturation without messing it up for printing?

4) If my photo was an "HDR" photo, do I import and export it with the HDR options?   Do I need to convert my photos to cmyk or can I keep them as they were when captured?

5) What rgb setting should I use for my designs for products/what is the difference between rgb 8, rgb 16, and rgb 32,  png 24 or png 8 dithered, cmyk u.s. web coated swap v2 or a different option, bilinear and bicubic etc... 

6) I have one design I made in rgb colors- which I am trying to edit to look the same in cmyk.  Do I need to use the soft proof feature or just add adjustments to get the colors looking bright and correct like the rgb?  It turned it yellowish and pale.

7) Do I need to set up margins and bleeds if it will be on products or paper?

 

Anything I'm missing that I need to adjust would be great to know as well!  Thank you everyone in advance for your help!!  I LOVE affinity designer for what it can do; I just need to learn what settings to use and more about how to use it to it's full potential! :D 

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17 hours ago, Love2Design said:

6) I have one design I made in rgb colors- which I am trying to edit to look the same in cmyk.  Do I need to use the soft proof feature or just add adjustments to get the colors looking bright and correct like the rgb?  It turned it yellowish and pale.

 

 You don't say what colour/s look yellowish and pale?

Check the colour profile?

 RGB and CMYK just aren't the same thing so trying to get CMYK to look like RGB is not doable. You can get a close approximation but because RGB is based on light and hence much brighter, CMYK will always be a more muted representation. CMYK is based on pigment.

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
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Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

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I'd check with the sites you are going to be uploading to and find out what file format and colour profiles they prefer. Once you have that information you can then start creating your designs from scratch with the right settings. 

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Hi, thank you for responding firstdefence  and Lee D!  

 

Yes, it does still seem a bit paler, but I've changed the document setup "colour format" to cmyk8 as well as changing it to the "Generic CMYK Profile" (which Redbubble said should be fine for printing :/ instead of the web swop one it selected), and I've added "adjustments."  I just hope it prints correctly.  In addition, I added the "Soft Proof", and it looks like it should be fine in the gamut check for the generic cmyk profile.  

 

If it looks fine in the gamut check, does that mean 100% it will print correctly? :D

 

I heard about a printer total ink limit or total ink area coverage in a video discussing rgb converting to cmyk printing- does that apply only to printing paper?  Or does it apply to printing on products as well?

 

Redbubble also said to use png-8 not 24 to make it easier on their server.  Is that good quality; there won't be a white outline like I saw on the internet?

 

I still have a lot of the questions from my original post, but some of the most important ones are in this post as well.

As far as I can see on the internet so far, affinity's "print" option is for your home printer and "print press ready" is for commercial printing on paper and other products like pillows or phone cases?  Is that correct?  :1_grinning:

 

I'm really wondering about this:  If I want to print a photo on a product like a computer bag or pillow with my logo over it, importing the photo into affinity designer and creating the text then exporting the text and photo, will it effect my photo and how do I import and export it properly?  Also, will it apply cmyk colors to it and will that be bad for the quality of the photo or products?

 

Thank you again in advance so much for your help with this!  I truly appreciate it!  It's always good to get the basics first and then go from there!  

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1 hour ago, Love2Design said:

Redbubble also said to use png-8 not 24 to make it easier on their server.  Is that good quality; there won't be a white outline like I saw on the internet?

Png8 is fine for the web or simple small palette logos's etc but if the images you are creating have gradients or are photoesque then png24 is the one to use. Depending on the dimensions of the file a png24 a little larger (KB) than a png8 try it out on one of your images, its better to understand the mechanics by applying knowledge in a practical way how else would you know what works best for your work?

 

 

Quote

If it looks fine in the gamut check, does that mean 100% it will print correctly? :D

If it fits within the gamut then it should be fine.

 

Quote

As far as I can see on the internet so far, affinity's "print" option is for your home printer and "print press ready" is for commercial printing on paper and other products like pillows or phone cases?  Is that correct?  :1_grinning:

Use Print Ready, if they tell you that's a bit over the top or just accept it fine else just use Print

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

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