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    • Web

    Knock out the shirt color and halftone the fade for DTF film. Your artwork is processed in this browser and never uploaded.

    Opens PNG, JPG, and WebP.

    Knockout color

    Set this to the shirt color. Anything that matches it drops out, and colors near it fade into open dots.

    Clean up
    Remove colors
    Then click it in the preview.

    How close a pixel must be to a removed color. Raise it for JPG artwork.

    Shaves the outer edge of the art to remove a leftover line of the old background.

    Eraser

    Press [ and ] to change the brush size.

    Halftone screen
    LPI presets
    °
    Fade

    How far from the knockout color the dots extend before the ink goes solid.

    Lower opens the dots up for a softer hand. Higher lays down more ink.

    Dots below this size are removed and holes below it are filled, so nothing too small to hold powder reaches the film.

    Semi-transparent pixels

    Pixels this close to solid ink print solid, so the soft edges of text and linework don't break into dots.

    Removes the shirt color from each dot so the fade prints brighter. At 0% the dots keep the colors in the file.

    Print size
    in at 300 DPI

    Loading sample art

    Halftone knockout for DTF printing, in your browser

    DTF-TONES Web turns any full-color image into a print-ready transparent PNG for DTF and DTG. It senses your background color, knocks it out, and converts every fade and shadow into clean halftone dots. No semi-transparent pixels, no white halo, no heavy ink in the dark areas. Upload a PNG, JPG, or WebP and export in seconds. Nothing is uploaded to a server; the whole thing runs on your own computer.

    Why semi-transparent pixels ruin DTF prints

    A DTF printer lays white ink under every pixel that isn't fully transparent. Soft edges, drop shadows, and gradients in a normal PNG are made of partially transparent pixels, and the printer puts a full white underbase behind all of them. The result is a stiff, boxy print with a visible halo where the fade should have been. DTF-TONES replaces those partial pixels with solid dots and open space. Where a dot prints, it prints at full strength. Where there is no dot, the shirt shows through. The fade comes from dot size, not transparency, which is how screen printers have done it for a century.

    How it works

    1. Open your image. PNG, JPG, and WebP all work. Transparent PNGs too.
    2. Pick the knockout color, or let the tool sense it. Black for black shirts, white for white shirts, or any color your art sits on.
    3. Set your print width. Up to 24 inches at 300 DPI.
    4. Choose a halftone pattern, frequency, and angle. Round at 35 LPI and 22.5 degrees is the standard for DTF; everything else is yours to explore.
    5. Preview on your shirt color, erase anything you don't want, and export a transparent PNG.

    What's in it

    • Automatic knockout sensing. Click the color that should disappear, or let DTF-TONES find the background.
    • Seven halftone patterns. Round, ellipse, square, diamond, line, wavy lines, and wavy dots. Round, ellipse, and square are matched to Photoshop's own halftone screens.
    • Any angle. 0 to 360 degrees with presets for 0, 15, 22.5, 45, and 75. Dots snap to whole pixels so moiré stays out of the print.
    • 15 to 65 LPI. Fine enough for photos, coarse enough for a bold look.
    • Restore ink color in the fade. Dark gradients normally fall toward the shirt color. Restore keeps the ink color in the dots so a red fade stays red.
    • Eraser and undo. Clean up stray dots with an adjustable eraser. Bracket keys change the size.
    • Shirt color preview. See the print on black, white, or any garment color before you export.
    • Large prints. Up to 24 inches wide at 300 DPI, bigger than the Photoshop and Affinity templates.
    • Private. Your artwork never leaves your computer.

    Free trial

    The free trial is the full tool with round dots, and a DTF-TONES watermark is knocked out of every export. It's enough to see exactly what your print will look like. The full version removes the watermark and opens all seven patterns. One-time purchase, no subscription.

    Get DTF-TONES Web

    Questions

    What file types can I upload?

    PNG, JPG, and WebP. For best results start with an image at least 300 pixels per inch at your print size; the tool warns you if your image is lower resolution than that.

    What does it export?

    A transparent PNG at 300 DPI, ready for your RIP or gang sheet builder.

    Does it work on an iPad or Chromebook?

    Yes. Anything that runs Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox. Very large prints need memory, so a desktop will be faster at 24 inches.

    Does it upload my files?

    No. The image is processed in your browser. Close the tab and it's gone.

    How is this different from the Photoshop and Affinity versions?

    Same knockout method, same dot curve, but with no software to open, more patterns, any angle, bigger prints, and the Restore and eraser tools. If you already own either template, the web version is included.

    Is it a subscription?

    No. One payment, and it's tied to your thevectorlab.com account. Sign in on any device.

    Can I use it with Corel Draw, Illustrator, or Procreate?

    Yes. Export a PNG or JPG from your program, run it through DTF-TONES Web, and bring the transparent PNG back.

    What LPI should I use for DTF?

    35 LPI at 22.5 degrees is a safe default for most DTF printers. Go to 45 for photographic detail on a good printer, or 25 for a bolder, more visible dot.

    DTF-TONES Web is licensed to one user. No redistribution, no reverse engineering. © TheVectorLab.