Customize your next project by uploading personal designs for printing on fabric and wallpaper! Keep in mind that each of our fabric and wallpaper bases will present color a bit differently. If a very specific printed color is important for your project, it can take some testing to get your design to print exactly how you’re hoping. We always recommend starting with a swatch for every project and, if needed, learn more about making adjustments to the colors in your file in this article.
Correcting Specific Areas of Color
Correcting the Overall Design
Revising your Design and Re-ordering
Correcting Specific Areas of Color
If you are working with a design file with large blocks of color or one that still has its original layers (so that you have the ability to edit separate design elements individually), the best way to achieve an exact color is to use a color map.
- First, you would order our extensive color map to be printed on the fabric type you would eventually like to have your design(s) printed on. Color maps can be ordered here.
- Once you’ve received your color map, find the exact color on the printed map that you’d like to recreate in your design and take note of the hex code.
- You would then edit the design element in your file that you wish to print that exact color and use the hex code you chose.
Check out “How to Use Color Maps to Improve Your Designs” written by Spoonflower Artist Danika Herrick for more details on getting your colors just right using color maps.
Correcting the Overall Design
If you’ve scanned in multicolored artwork or are working with a design that features gradients, textures, or watercolor elements, it might be a bit trickier to edit individual colors. This is often true for photographs as well. However, you can certainly make some adjustments to the overall file to meet your project needs a bit better if you are not completely satisfied with the printed colors in your initial swatch. In the examples below, we are making edits in a free program called Canva, but similar editing options are available in most design editing software programs.
Temperature
You might consider adjusting the overall color balance of an image to make it appear either warmer (more orange/yellow) or cooler (more blue). If your artwork is printing warmer than you’d prefer (so, yellow or orange toned), you may need to decrease the “temperature” of the design so that it’s a bit cooler. And vice versa – if a design is printing too cool (so, blue toned) you could increase the “temperature” to warm it back up.
In the example below, we’ve taken our design and increased the temperature 50% and decreased it 50%. Check out the image below to see how this type of edit may affect printed color.
Saturation
You might also need to adjust the saturation of your design, or how dull or vibrant the colors are. If your design is printing too bright, you can tone it down by decreasing the overall saturation. Or if your design is printing too dull, you might increase the saturation so that it results in a more vibrant print.
In the example below, we’ve taken our design and increased the saturation 50% and decreased it 50%. Check out the image below to see how this type of edit may affect printed color.
Revising Your Design and Re-ordering
All edits to color in your personal designs need to be made in external design software programs. Once you’ve made your preferred edits, you can re-upload the edited file to Spoonflower and order another swatch. Due to the nature of digital printing, multiple rounds of swatching can sometimes be required, especially when printing from photographs or scans. Learn more about uploading revisions, here.