Prepping Customer Artwork

This guide walks you through the most common artwork prep scenario: a customer sends you a file that isn't print-ready, and you need to clean it up before production.

The typical situation

A customer sends you:

• A JPEG with a white background (needs removal)
• A low-resolution file from their phone (needs upscaling)
• A design with colors that need knockout for white ink

Let's fix all of that in PrepOS.

Step 1: Open PrepOS

Click PrepOS in your sidebar. You'll see the artwork prep workspace.

Step 2: Upload the artwork

Drag the customer's file onto the canvas, or click Upload to browse.

PressOS immediately shows you the Artwork Analysis:

• Current DPI (is it print-quality?)
• Detected background color
• Transparency status
• Color space

This tells you exactly what needs fixing.

Step 3: Remove the background

If the analysis shows a solid background:

1. Click Remove Background
2. AI processes the image (takes a few seconds)
3. The background disappears — you see a checkerboard pattern where it was removed
4. Check the edges — they should be clean with no white fringing

That's it. One click. No pen tool, no manual selection.

Step 4: Upscale (if needed)

If the DPI analysis shows the file is too low-resolution:

1. Click Upscale
2. Choose your scale — 2x or 4x
3. AI upscales while preserving detail (no blurry enlargement)
4. Check the new DPI — it should now be print-quality (150+ DPI at print size)

Step 5: Edge cleanup (if needed)

After background removal, you might see faint semi-transparent pixels around the edges:

1. Click Edge Cleanup
2. Adjust the threshold if needed
3. Semi-transparent pixels snap to fully opaque or fully transparent
4. No more halos when printed on dark garments

Step 6: Color knockout (if needed)

If the design has a color that needs to be removed for white ink:

1. Click Color Knockout
2. Pick the color to remove (click it on the image, or enter a hex value)
3. Adjust tolerance and feather
4. That color becomes transparent

Common use: knocking out white from a design that will print on white garments (so white ink isn't wasted).

Step 7: Save

Click Save and the prepped artwork is stored in PressOS. From here it can:

• Go into MockOS for mockup placement
• Flow into GangOS for gang sheet arrangement
• Attach to a quote with proper dimensions

The original file is preserved too — you can always go back.

The before/after

Tips

• Batch your prep — if you have multiple files to prep, do them all at once. PrepOS keeps your session.
• Customer self-serve — you can enable PrepOS tools in the customer portal so they prep their own files before submitting. Less work for you.
• DPI matters — always check the analysis first. If a file is 72 DPI but will print at 12" wide, upscale it. If it's already 300 DPI at print size, skip it.
• Halftones — if you need a halftone pattern for white underbase, use the Halftone Generator. Set your LPI, dot shape, and angle, then apply.