Don't have proper artwork? Send what you have anyway. A photo of the school crest on a blazer, a screenshot from the website, a hand-drawn sketch — we'll redraw it properly at no charge. This is genuinely the most common situation and it is not a problem.
What works best
| File type | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| .AI / .EPS / .SVG | Perfect | Vector. Scales to any size with no quality loss. If your school or club has a designer, ask them for this. |
| .PDF (vector) | Perfect | Often what a designer sends. Usually works beautifully. |
| .PNG with transparent background | Very good | At least 1500px wide. Transparent background saves us work. |
| .JPG | Workable | Fine if it's large and sharp. We'll cut the background out. |
| Photo from your phone | Workable | We redraw it. Shoot it flat, straight on, in good light. |
| Screenshot from a website | Last resort | Usually too small, but it gives us something to redraw from. |
Print sizes we recommend
| Position | Typical size | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Left chest | 8–10 cm wide | Logos, crests, club badges. The standard for golf shirts and staff wear. |
| Full front | 25–30 cm wide | Big statement designs, event names, matric year |
| Full back | 28–33 cm wide | Sponsor names, big designs, team lists |
| Back — individual name | 20–25 cm wide | The matric hoodie standard. Name across the shoulders. |
| Sleeve | 6–8 cm wide | Small logo, initials, year, flag |
Not sure? Say what you want it to look like and we'll propose sizes in the mockup. You approve before anything prints.
Colours
Getting your colours right
If your school or club has official colours, send us the Pantone or hex code if you have it. If you don't, send a photo of an existing garment or blazer and we'll match as closely as the printing process allows.
Honest limitation: screens emit light and fabric reflects it, so a colour will never look 100% identical on a garment and on your phone. We get close, and we'll tell you upfront if a specific colour is going to be difficult rather than printing it and hoping you don't notice.
Printing on dark garments
Printing light designs on dark fabric requires a white underbase, which makes colours sit slightly differently to the same design on white. It's still excellent — just be aware the two aren't identical. This is why we recommend a physical sample on big orders.
Individual names — the matric standard
Send names as a simple list. A spreadsheet, a WhatsApp message, a typed list — any of these are fine.
Thandi Mokoena — L Sipho Dlamini — XL Jessica van der Merwe — M Ahmed Patel — 2XL
Check the spelling yourself, twice. We print names exactly as you send them. A misspelled name on a matric hoodie is the one mistake nobody forgets, and once you've approved the mockup a reprint is charged. Send the list to the group and let people check their own name before you approve.
Using someone else's logo
School crests, club badges, university logos, sports federation marks and brand logos are usually protected. Before we print, make sure you have permission from whoever owns it — usually the school, the club committee, or the university.
We will decline any job where we believe the artwork infringes somebody's rights. That includes cartoon characters, sports team logos, brand marks and music or film artwork. We would rather lose the order than print it, because a takedown is far more expensive for both of us than a lost sale.
How the mockup works
- Send us your artwork, or a photo of it, or a description
- We come back within one working day with a digital mockup — your design on the actual garment, in the actual colour
- You get two rounds of changes included, free
- You approve in writing, and only then does anything get printed
Additional revisions beyond two are charged at cost, but in practice two is almost always enough.
The physical sample
On orders over 50 units we post you one finished garment before we print the rest. You hold it, check the print, check the colour, check the size. Only then do we run the balance.
This adds 3–5 working days. Take them. It is the difference between finding a problem on one garment and finding it on eighty.
Send your artwork to hello@kitroom.co.za or WhatsApp 062 786 5555. If the file is large, a Google Drive or WeTransfer link is perfect.