A transparent PNG allows your design to be printed without a white box around it. This is the preferred file format for most t-shirt, hoodie and garment printing projects.

Step 1: Create Your Canva Design At The Correct Size

For the best print quality, create your Canva design using pixels (px) rather than centimetres.

Artwork Size Guide

Print Category	Maximum Print Size	Create Your Canva Design At
Small Logo	Up to 12 × 12 cm	1417 × 1417 px
Standard Print	Up to 28 × 35 cm	3307 × 4134 px
Large Print	Up to 34 × 45 cm	4016 × 5315 px
Oversized Print	Over 34 cm wide or 45 cm tall	Contact us for advice

1 cm ≈ 118 pixels

How To Set A Custom Size In Canva

Click Create a Design
Select Custom Size
Change the unit to Pixels (px)
Enter the dimensions from the table above
Create your artwork inside the correctly sized canvas

Step 2: Create Your Artwork

Create your artwork inside the correctly sized Canva design making sure that your artwork fills the canvas.

Incorrect (Top): The canvas is sized correctly for a 21 cm print, but the artwork only occupies a small portion of the canvas. The empty transparent space around the design will be included in the exported PNG, causing the printed artwork to appear smaller than intended.

Correct (Bottom): The artwork has been scaled appropriately to fill the canvas. When printed at 21 cm wide, the design will appear at the intended size.

Step 3: Remove The Background

If your design has a coloured background, delete it or make it transparent so that only the artwork you want printed remains visible.

Before exporting, zoom in and inspect the edges of your artwork carefully. Automatic background removal tools and AI-generated artwork can sometimes leave behind rough edges, halos, stray pixels, hidden backgrounds or transparency effects that may become visible when printed.

If your artwork requires cleaning up or further preparation, our graphic design team can help. Simply email your file to designteam@missiclothing.com and we'll be happy to review it and advise on any artwork preparation costs.

Step 4: Export As A Transparent PNG

Click Share
Click Download
Select PNG as the file type
Enable Transparent Background (Canva Pro feature)
Click Download

Select PNG and enable transparent background before downloading your artwork

Example of a correctly exported transparent PNG ready for garment printing

Step 5: Check Your File Before Sending

Before sending your artwork:

✅ Text and logos remain sharp when zoomed in

✅ No part of the design is cropped

✅ The background is transparent

✅ The artwork is centred correctly

✅ The file has been exported as PNG, not JPG

Common Mistakes To Avoid

❌ Exporting as JPG instead of PNG

❌ Uploading screenshots of artwork

❌ Using photographs of printed garments instead of the original artwork

❌ Creating artwork at a very small size and enlarging it later

❌ Leaving a white background behind the artwork

❌ Stretching artwork out of proportion

❌ Creating a correctly sized canvas but leaving large empty spaces around the artwork

Need Help With Your Artwork?

Not sure if your artwork is print-ready?

Send your file to designteam@missiclothing.com and we'll carry out a free artwork suitability check before production.

If any changes are required, our in-house designers can assist with artwork preparation, logo redraws, background removal, file corrections, print-ready artwork setup and bespoke graphic design services.

Have an idea but no finished artwork? We can also create custom designs from scratch and help refine, upscale and prepare AI-generated artwork for professional garment printing.

How To Export A Transparent PNG From Canva