Sides and output files

Front, back, sleeves, mugs that wrap — how sides work, how to set up the print document and print files in Output Settings, and how files are named.

A T-shirt has a front and a back. A mug wraps. A jersey has chest, sleeve, and a name on the back. Pixel Wrangler handles multi-sided products with sides — separate canvases inside one template — and renders them into print files you define in Output Settings.

Adding sides

In the template builder, the Sides list sits at the top of the right-hand panel. Click + (Add side) and name it after the print location — "Front", "Back", "Left sleeve", "Wrap". The … menu on a side offers Rename, Duplicate and Delete.

Each side gets its own:

  • Canvas size and base image
  • Up to 3 layers of placeholders (text, image, sticker, background, mask)
  • A place on one print file (below)

Customers switch between sides with a side selector in the customizer. The live preview updates per side, and a side that carries a surcharge shows its price on the selector.

Duplicate copies a side with its layers, elements and print-file placement — the fastest way to make a back that mirrors the front.

Output Settings — the print files

Open the Output Settings tool. It walks three steps, top to bottom.

1. Print document

The page your printer receives. Set these once per template — every print file uses them:

  • File Type — PDF, PNG or JPEG. Only PNG keeps a transparent background; PDF and JPEG are flattened onto white. Choose PNG for DTG and DTF.
  • Output Quality (DPI) — Screen (72 DPI), Standard (150 DPI), Professional (300 DPI) or Fine Art (600 DPI). 300 suits DTG and DTF. Ask your printer if you're unsure.
  • Page Size — pick a Print Preset (10×12" to 18×20"), a Paper Preset (A5 to A0), or type a Width and Height in px, in or mm. The line underneath always shows the result in pixels at your DPI.
  • File Name Prefix — optional text at the start of every file name (see naming).

Set the size before placing sides: changing it later moves the sides on the page.

For the pixel size of a front, back, sleeve or left chest at your DPI, see T-shirt print sizes in pixels for DTF and DTG.

2. Print files

Every order produces one file per print file listed here, in the format above. Most templates need just one. Click Add print file when a side must print separately — a sleeve, a second colour pass — and name each file the way your fulfilment partner expects to read it ("Front", "Back", "Sleeve"). A template can have up to five print files.

3. Add a side to the print file

With a print file selected, click a side to place it on the page, then drag or resize it. A side can only be on one print file. Select a placed side to type its X, Y, Width, Height and Rotation, or click Fit to page. Snap page on the canvas toolbar resizes the page to the side's aspect ratio.

A side that isn't placed on any print file renders nothing. The tool shows a red dot and a banner — "Final artwork won't be generated" — naming the file with no sides. Fix it before you go live; if a side is missing from an order's files, this is the first thing to check.

How files are named

{prefix}-{variant identifier}-{print file name}-{id}.png

For example: CUST-TEE-M-Front-a1b2c3d4.png

  • Prefix — the File Name Prefix from step 1. Defaults to CUSTOM if you leave it blank.
  • Variant identifier — an optional short code from one product option. Open Variant Identifier Settings, pick the Variant option (size or colour, not both), then give each value a code (M, BK). When set, filenames carry the size or colour with no manual matching against the order. When not set, this segment is left out.
  • Print file name — the name you gave the print file, with spaces turned into hyphens.
  • id — the first eight characters of the design's unique id, so files never collide.

The extension follows the File Type: .png, .pdf or .jpg.

If you edit a customer's design after purchase, the regenerated file gets an -edited-v2 suffix so it's unmistakable in downloads and exports.

Surcharges per print file

If a side adds cost to your fulfilment — a back print on top of a front print, an extra sleeve — open Surcharge Settings and click Add surcharge on that print file. Set an Amount and an optional Message ("Add on", "Premium"). A side counts as customised when the shopper adds an image or text to it; stickers and backgrounds alone don't trigger it. The amount is added to the item's unit price at checkout, in your store currency.

Surcharges run on Shopify's cart transform function, which Shopify only offers to Shopify Plus stores. On other plans the section shows a Shopify Plus only badge and Add surcharge is disabled. See Surcharges and discounts.

Leave surcharges off if your fulfilment cost is flat per garment regardless of sides printed. Plenty of brands run it that way.

How you get the files

Once a customized order is paid, the print files render and become available on the order. Download them from the order (More actions → Download Artwork), from Orders → Order files in the app, or pull them three ways:

  • Order tags — Shopify Flow or your own automation can watch for px-artwork-ready, then fetch the files from the metafield or the API
  • Order metafields — the file URLs live on the order under the px_customization.artwork_files metafield
  • The Artwork Export API — pull files in bulk by date range or order number (Growth and Scale)

Full lifecycle in Order flow; specs and hand-off in Print-ready files; for tees and hoodies, see Shopify t-shirt designer for apparel brands.