Two teams upload logos. One store looks like licensed pro merchandise; the other looks like a bake-sale flyer. The difference is almost never talent — it's a handful of technical details anyone can get right.
The big four
1. Transparent background (PNG)
The #1 issue we see: a logo saved as a JPG with a white box around it. On a white shirt you get away with it; on navy or heather grey, the white box prints too. Export as a PNG with a transparent background and your logo sits directly on the fabric like it belongs there.
2. Resolution: bigger than you think
A logo that looks fine as a 200-pixel avatar turns to mush at chest-print size. Aim for at least 1500 pixels on the longest side — more is better. If your only copy is tiny, whoever made it can usually re-export it large in minutes.
3. Contrast against fabric
Navy logo on a navy hoodie: invisible. Think about the garment colors your members will pick and make sure your logo has an outline or fill that survives them. This is exactly why we let admins preview every color combination in the editor before anything prints.
4. Detail that survives distance
Hairline strokes and 6-point text disappear at bleacher distance. The best team logos read clearly from thirty feet: bold shapes, chunky outlines, one or two strong colors. Squint at your logo — whatever vanishes, simplify.
Things that quietly ruin prints
- Drop shadows and soft glows — often print as faint gray halos around the art
- Screenshots of logos — compression artifacts get printed in full fidelity
- Watermarked draft files — yes, the watermark prints too
- Pure-white detail on light shirts — invisible on white and natural garments
What our system does for you
Upload your logo and Stella & Sage handles a lot automatically: we trim stray transparent padding so placement is exact, classify your logo's shape to auto-place it correctly per garment, and show you print-accurate mockups so you approve what will actually ship. The editor lets you drag, resize, and preview against every garment color — here's how the whole flow works.
Don't have a logo yet?
Our Resources page walks you through getting a store-ready logo, and support is happy to sanity-check your file before you build. Then put it on a store and see it on twelve products at once.
