What size should a hoodie design be? Hoodie and sweatshirt print sizes in inches, centimetres and pixels

A pullover hoodie’s front design is usually 12 × 9 in (30.5 × 22.9 cm), which is 3600 × 2700 pixels at 300 DPI: as wide as a t-shirt’s, but shorter, because it has to end above the pouch pocket. A crewneck sweatshirt has no pocket and takes a full 12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm) front (3600 × 4200 pixels), and the back of either takes 12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm) (3600 × 4200 pixels). Make the file at 300 DPI at the size it will be printed: its width and height in inches times 300 are its pixels.

There is no single standard. Every printer, press and blank has its own print area, and the sizes below are what printers publish, checked against several of them (listed at the end). Your printer’s own limits always win, so read them before you design.

Hoodie and sweatshirt design sizes by placement

Placement	Design size	Pixels at 300 DPI	Printers publish	Where it goes
Pullover hoodie front	12 × 9 in (30.5 × 22.9 cm)	3600 × 2700 pixels	10–14 in (25.4–35.6 cm) wide	Top about 2 in (5.1 cm) below the neckline, above the pouch pocket
Crewneck sweatshirt front	12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm)	3600 × 4200 pixels	12–14 in (30.5–35.6 cm) wide	Centred, as on a t-shirt: no pocket in the way
Left chest	4 × 4 in (10.2 × 10.2 cm)	1200 × 1200 pixels	3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) wide	On the wearer’s left, on hoodies and sweatshirts alike
Zip hoodie chest (each side)	4 × 4 in (10.2 × 10.2 cm)	1200 × 1200 pixels	3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) wide	One side of the zip, or both as a pair
Full back	12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm)	3600 × 4200 pixels	10–14 in (25.4–35.6 cm) wide	Top about 3 in (7.6 cm) below the neck seam
Long sleeve	3 × 12 in (7.6 × 30.5 cm)	900 × 3600 pixels	11.25–14 in (28.6–35.6 cm) long	Down the outside of the sleeve
Youth hoodie front	8 × 8 in (20.3 × 20.3 cm)	2400 × 2400 pixels	5–10 in (12.7–25.4 cm) wide	Above the pocket, scaled to the child’s size

The design size is the box the artwork fits in, not the garment. A design that is wider than it is tall fills the width and leaves the height empty, which is normal. “Printers publish” is the range of widths the printers listed at the end give for the placement, or of lengths for a sleeve.

Hoodie front: above the pocket

The front of a pullover hoodie is the one place where it differs from a t-shirt. The print sits between the neckline and the top of the pouch pocket, and on most hoodies that gap is about 8 to 10 inches tall, so a hoodie front is wide and short: 12 × 9 in (30.5 × 22.9 cm), its top about 2 in (5.1 cm) below the neckline. The widths printers publish run 10–14 in (25.4–35.6 cm) wide; the heights depend on where the pocket sits on that blank, which is why some printers give a square area and others a short one.

Two things to check on your own blank, in the smallest size you sell:

• The gap to the pocket. Measure from the neckline to the top of the pocket and leave a margin above the pocket’s seam. A print pressed over the seam is uneven.
• The drawstrings. They can hang over the top of the print, so keep small text and faces away from its top edge.

A design that has to be tall, such as a poster-style print, belongs on the back or on a crewneck sweatshirt.

Sweatshirt front

A crewneck sweatshirt prints like a t-shirt: no pocket and no drawstrings, so its front is a full 12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm), 3600 × 4200 pixels at 300 DPI. Printers publish fronts 12–14 in (30.5–35.6 cm) wide. A design made for a t-shirt’s full front usually fits a sweatshirt’s as it is; check its height against your printer’s limit. For every t-shirt placement, see what size a t-shirt design should be.

Hoodie back print size

The back is the largest area on a hoodie or sweatshirt: 12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm), 3600 × 4200 pixels at 300 DPI, its top about 3 in (7.6 cm) below the neck seam, so that the hood does not cover it when it hangs down. Printers publish backs 10–14 in (25.4–35.6 cm) wide. Check the print against the hood lying flat on your smallest size: on a small hoodie a tall back print runs low.

Left chest and zip hoodies

A left chest logo is 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) wide, at most about 4 × 4 in (10.2 × 10.2 cm) (1200 × 1200 pixels), on the wearer’s left, the same as on a t-shirt. On a zip hoodie the zip runs through the middle of the front, so the front print becomes a chest print on one side, or a pair, one on each side: 4 × 4 in (10.2 × 10.2 cm) each (1200 × 1200 pixels). A design split across the zip has to line up when the zip is closed; most shops keep each side a design of its own.

Hoodie sleeve print size

A sleeve print runs down the outside of the sleeve: about 3 × 12 in (7.6 × 30.5 cm), 900 × 3600 pixels at 300 DPI. Printers publish lengths of 11.25–14 in (28.6–35.6 cm) long. Keep it narrow: a sleeve is a tube, and a wide print runs round towards its seam.

Youth hoodies

Children’s hoodies are smaller, and the pocket takes the same share of the front. Printers publish youth fronts 5–10 in (12.7–25.4 cm) wide, small for ages 3 to 8 and larger for ages 9 to 14; 8 × 8 in (20.3 × 20.3 cm) (2400 × 2400 pixels) fits most of them. If you sell one design on adult and youth hoodies, make one file per size, or one at the adult size that the printer scales down.

What DPI should a hoodie design be?

300 DPI at the printed size, as for a t-shirt. The pixels follow from the size:

pixels = inches × 300, or centimetres ÷ 2.54 × 300

150 DPI is the lowest that still looks sharp at a normal viewing distance. To see how large an image you already have can print, use the image print size calculator.

How to set up a hoodie design file

1. Measure the smallest hoodie you sell. Lay it flat and measure from the neckline to the top of the pouch pocket, and across the front, leaving a margin above the pocket’s seam. Ask your printer for its largest area at each placement.
2. Choose the design size. Take the size for the placement, within that area: 12 × 9 in (30.5 × 22.9 cm) for a pullover front, 12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm) for a crewneck sweatshirt front, 12 × 14 in (30.5 × 35.6 cm) for a full back.
3. Work out the pixels. Multiply the inches by 300, or divide the centimetres by 2.54 and multiply by 300: a 12 × 9 in (30.5 × 22.9 cm) front is 3600 × 2700 pixels.
4. Make the canvas that size. Create the document at those pixels, or in inches at 300 pixels per inch, before you start.
5. Export a PNG with a transparent background. Keep the background transparent so that only the design is printed, and export at the full size, one file per placement.

For the file itself (format, transparency and colour), see print-ready t-shirt files: a hoodie’s file is made the same way. Many shops press hoodies with DTF transfers, which suit heavy and blended fleece; DTF print file requirements covers what those files need.

When customers design the hoodie in your shop

PrintBlob prints on its bundled t-shirt. PrintBlob Pro adds your own products on your own photos, a hoodie among them: in its mockup editor you draw each side’s print area on the photo (front above the pocket, back, each sleeve) and enter its real print size, and while a customer places an image the designer shows its resolution at that size and warns below 150 DPI. When the design is added to the cart, each printed side becomes a transparent PNG at 300 DPI at exactly that size, so a 12 × 9 in (30.5 × 22.9 cm) front arrives as 3600 × 2700 pixels. Pro is $69 a year or $99 once (limited-time offer until 31 December 2026) (Free and Pro compared). Setting up a hoodie next to your t-shirts is in sell custom hoodies, mugs, tote bags and caps, and measuring a print area and entering it in print areas and print sizes.

Questions about hoodie design sizes

Sources

The sizes in the table were compiled on 20 October 2026 from these printers’ published limits:

• Printful, Hoodie logo placement guide: front widths and left chest sizes for print and embroidery.
• 4over4, 21 hoodie design ideas: front above the pouch, back, sleeve and left chest, and how far below the neck seam each starts.
• Fulfill Engine, Max decoration sizing: hoodie front and back, unisex and youth fronts, long sleeve.
• Cloudprinter, Hoodie and Sweatshirt print areas.
• Tradeprint, printed hoodies, sweatshirt printing, kids’ hoodies and zipped hoodies: front, back, left chest and youth areas in centimetres.
• Bonfire, How we size our prints: the pullover hoodie front.
• TPOP, unisex sweatshirt and child hoodie print areas.
• Garment Printing, Hoodie logo placement guide: DTG front, left chest and sleeve sizes.
• Ninja Transfers, DTF transfer placement guide, and Transfer Express, Finding design sizes and transfer placement: hoodie front, sleeves and youth sizes.
• 4imprint, full-zip hoodie, and Quality Logo Products, full-zip hoodie: the chest either side of the zip.
• RushOrderTees, logo placement on cropped apparel, and ScreenPrinting.com, 4 hoodie print placements: how far below the neckline the front starts, back width, sleeve length.