Selling T-Shirts Online — What’s the Difference Between DPI & PPI?

A freelancer’s easy guide including websites, canvas sizes, and useful links

Photo by Rahul from Pexels

One of my recent projects has been diving into the super-competitive world of print on demand (POD) merchandising — otherwise known as selling t-shirts online.

One of the more confusing parts of the whole thing has been trying to wrap my head around the terms DPI and PPI — as these are very important in the POD marketplace.

The main reason for the confusion is people often use the terms DPI and PPI interchangeably — even though they are different concepts.

I sat down to write an easy to use reference guide for people venturing into the fun world of t-shirt printing.

I’ve arranged this article in order of usefulness — feel free to stop at whatever section satisfies your curiosity!

Index

1. TLDR for Newbies
2. General Guidelines for POD Websites
3. Definitions
4. What is DPI?
5. What is PPI?
6. How Do I Change My PPI?
7. POD Website Minimum Requirements for T-shirts
8. Useful Tools