Tips For Personalising Your Items

The quality of your images is key to achieving the best results. Using high-resolution images ensures all the details are sharp and clear, giving your items a polished, professional look.

Low-resolution images may appear pixelated or blurry, which can negatively affect the final product. Be cautious with images from social media, messaging apps such as WhatsApp, or screenshots, as these often do not meet the resolution requirements for high-quality printing. For the best outcome, always use original, high-quality images whenever possible.

Lighting also plays an important role; images taken in natural daylight typically produce the best results with balanced and true-to-life colours.

Additionally, pay attention to your image’s aspect ratio. Matching the orientation and dimensions of your image to the item helps maintain visual integrity and ensures nothing important gets cropped or distorted.

If you are unsure about an image’s quality, there are online tools that can help you check resolution, and of course, you can contact us — we are happy to assess your images and provide guidance.

Colours can look different on various devices due to differences in screens, web browsers, and display settings. Brightness, contrast, and colour temperature can all affect how an image appears on screen, so the colours you see on your device may not exactly match the printed product.

Subtle variations can occur even with high-quality photos, scans, or digital artwork due to lighting conditions and the equipment used to capture the image.

Very pale colours, such as creams, beiges, and pale yellows, are particularly challenging to reproduce accurately on items such as wooden or cardboard products. For the best results, using brighter, more saturated colours will give more vibrant prints that closely match what you see on screen.

If you want to ensure your colours look just right, our team is happy to provide guidance and advice.

Most of our blank items are white, so any white areas in your design will remain white when printed. Glass items will show a slight blue-green tint, and wooden products can turn slightly off-white due to heat. Items that are not originally white, such as stainless steel mugs or natural tote bags, will retain their original colour in blank/white areas of the design.

We offer three different ways to personalise your items depending on the product, allowing you to create something truly unique.

Method 1 – Simple Customisation
For certain products with straightforward options, you can choose things like colour, size, font, and sometimes upload a photo. Then, simply add a name or text if you’d like. This quick and easy process lets you personalise your item in just a few steps.

Method 2 – Upload or Use Our Design Software
For some products, you can either use our advanced design software or upload a pre-made design or image. Our design software gives you the tools to get creative, while uploading a ready-made design makes personalisation effortless.

Method 3 – Full Control
This method is used for many of our products and lets you take full control. You can precisely place images, add text, clipart, and other design elements. Experiment with colours, fonts, and layouts to make your item truly one-of-a-kind.

We know that designing can sometimes feel tricky. If you need extra help or have specific requests, our team is here to support you. Whether it’s choosing the right design, picking colours, or making adjustments, we’ll ensure your customisation process is smooth and enjoyable.

When adding photos or designs, it is important to consider the shape of the item. Placing a landscape or portrait photo onto a square item without adjusting it could lead to unwanted cropping, distortion, or blank areas. It is recommended to crop or proportionally resize your image so it fits perfectly within the item’s print area.

Our design programme makes this easy, allowing you to resize images by dragging the corner dots and reposition them anywhere within the design space. The tool also provides visual cues for the item’s boundaries, ensuring your design fills the area as intended, while any white space inside these boundaries will show the product’s original colour. Product edges are usually represented by a black dashed line or visual representation of the product border.

Most of our personalised items start as plain white, so any blank areas in your design will remain white or show the product’s original colour. For glass items, white areas may show a subtle greenish-blue tint. If you want to add a background colour or pattern, you have three options.

1. Upload a Photo or Design
Upload a photo or design with your chosen colour or pattern and fill the design area. This lets you create a truly unique and customised piece.

2. Use the Clipart Toolbar
Our design programme includes a clipart toolbar with a “Background” option. Choose from block colours or patterns, organised by colour, then resize using the corner dots to cover the whole design area.

3. Use the Elements Tab
Go to the Elements tab and select “Draw.” Set the brush size to 100, pick your colour, and draw directly onto the design area to fill it with a custom background.

These options make it easy to add colour and personality to any item and ensure your design looks exactly how you envision it.

You can use any images you have taken yourself or ones for which you have permission or the appropriate licence to reproduce.

Please do not use images found on Google or other search engines unless you have explicit permission from the copyright holder. Many images are protected by copyright, including but not limited to sports team logos, Disney characters, food brands, and restaurant logos.

If your photo happens to include you wearing a team logo or branded item etc., that is perfectly fine — the restriction applies to reproducing copyrighted material directly from the internet.

If we notice any copyrighted material in your design, our team will contact you before proceeding with your order.

For inspiration, free or affordable stock images are available online, and our design tool includes royalty-free clipart and photos from trusted sources such as Pixabay.

We also reserve the right not to print any designs that contain offensive material, including content related to violence, death, racism, hatred, injury, cruelty, weapons, or illegal substances, or designs that include swear words, obscenity, nudity, profanity, or content that constitutes or encourages illegal or infringing conduct.

We accept most standard file types for your designs, including JPEG and PNG. If your file type is not supported by our design tool, don’t worry — you can easily convert it using free online converters. Alternatively, our team is usually happy to help convert your file so it can be used for your personalised item.

Our design programme works on both desktop and mobile devices. For the best experience, we recommend using a desktop or a larger mobile device. This allows for easier navigation, a clearer view of your design, and more precise control over your creative area.

To add text to your personalised item, open the design programme and select the Text tab.

You can choose the simple options, such as “Add a Heading,” and then customise the text, font, size, colour, and shape to suit your design.

Alternatively, you can use one of the preset text styles, which include a variety of preset fonts, shapes, and designs. Make sure to update these presets with your preferred text and remove any elements you don’t want, as sometimes leftover parts from the presets are accidentally left in the design. You can also adjust the font type, colour, and size for any text, ensuring it fits perfectly within your layout and matches the overall style of your item.

To add clipart to your design, open the Cliparts tab and use the drop-down menu to browse different categories, such as Film & Music or Stars. Once you select a clipart item, you can resize and reposition it anywhere within your design. All clipart available in this tab has been uploaded and curated by our team.

Additionally, our design software provides its own vast selection of clipart. To access these, go to the Elements tab, select Icons, and use the drop-down menu to explore the available categories. This gives you even more options to personalise your item and create a unique design.

All product sizes are approximate due to differences in cutting, batch variations, and the manufacturing process. Slight discrepancies may occur because of material shrinkage or individual craftsmanship. If exact dimensions are important for your order, we recommend contacting our customer support team to confirm stock measurements and ensure your item meets your needs.

Bleed areas are extra spaces around your design to ensure the entire product is covered during printing and prevent unwanted white edges. Fabric items like towels and blankets require larger bleed areas due to their flexible shapes, while wooden, cardboard, and plastic products usually need smaller bleed areas. Maximum bleed areas vary by product type. For example:

Maximum bleed areas for each item:
Hanging Signs & Photo Panels – up to 3mm
Doormats – up to 30mm
Magnets – up to 3mm
Towels – up to 30mm
Glass, Wood & Rubber Coasters & Placemats – up to 3mm
Linen Coasters & Placemats – up to 10mm
Ceramic Tiles – up to 3mm
Bar Mats – up to 5mm
Blankets – up to 30mm
Photo Slates – up to 15mm
Chopping Boards – up to 5mm
Puzzles – up to 10mm
Laptop & Earphone Cases – up to 20mm
Mouse Mats – up to 5mm
Lens Cloths – up to 8mm
Aprons – up to 15mm
Pet Mats – up to 10mm
Pet Bandanas – up to 10mm
Pet Beds – up to 20mm
Sun Shade – up to 30mm
Passport Covers – up to 10mm
Lunch Bags – up to 10mm

If your item isn’t listed above, or if you have questions about bleed areas for your design, please contact us — we’ll be happy to help.

Before submitting your order, it is essential to review your design carefully. Make sure there are no unwanted clipart, text boxes, or images left in your design. Check spelling, grammar, and dates to ensure everything is correct. Verify that all elements are properly aligned and positioned exactly how you want them.

If you have special requests for your order, you can either add them in the “Order Notes” box at checkout or email us directly before or immediately after purchasing. We will do our best to accommodate your requests and ensure your personalised item meets your expectations.