PNG

Set up the working document from the production template or confirmed output dimensions. Use the correct orientation and keep guides for trim, bleed, safe area, center lines, and product features separate from the artwork.

Pixel dimensions are the dependable measure of how much raster image information a PNG contains. Physical output size is determined by distributing those pixels across the requested width and height.

Calculate required pixels with: physical dimension in inches multiplied by the required pixels per inch. For example, 10 inches at 300 pixels per inch requires 3000 pixels in that direction. The correct target is set by the production provider, not by a universal PNG rule.

Resolution must be evaluated at the final production size. Changing only a PPI or DPI metadata value does not add pixels or recover missing detail. Resampling can create new pixels mathematically, but it cannot recreate information that was never captured or drawn.

PNG supports grayscale, indexed-color, and RGB-based truecolor images. It does not define a standard CMYK image color type. Many production workflows accept RGB PNG files and perform device-specific conversion later.

Use the color space requested by the maker. When no production profile is supplied, an embedded sRGB profile is often the most predictable general-purpose handoff, but it cannot guarantee that ink, substrate, coating, lighting, and machine output will match a screen.

A standard PNG export represents the rendered image rather than the editable layer structure of the source document. Hidden layers, adjustment logic, editable effects, and object relationships are not a substitute for a layered source file.

PNG can store full opacity, full transparency, and intermediate alpha values. A checkerboard in an editor usually represents transparency; it is not part of the image unless it has been rasterized into the artwork.

Inspect transparent artwork against light, dark, and contrasting backgrounds. This reveals white boxes, dark halos, stray pixels, and soft edge colors that may be difficult to see in the working application.

PNG stores pixels, not editable paths or manufacturing geometry. Shapes that look geometric are still rasterized at export and become dependent on the file's pixel dimensions.

Text becomes raster pixels in the exported PNG. The maker does not need the font to render the PNG, but the creator also loses the ability to edit that text within the PNG.

Bleed is extra artwork extending beyond the intended trim or visible boundary so small production and cutting variations do not create an unprinted edge. PNG does not define bleed as a special property; bleed must be built into the image dimensions according to the template.

A safe area keeps essential content away from trim lines, seams, folds, curves, and placement tolerances. Like bleed, it is a design rule supplied by the product template rather than metadata stored by PNG.