User guide

Installing the plugin

Requirements: Adobe Photoshop 2023 (version 24.2) or newer, on Windows or macOS, with the Creative Cloud desktop app installed and signed in to your Adobe account.

1. Download the .ccx file from the Download page.
2. Double-click it. The Creative Cloud app opens and asks you to confirm: click Install. Creative Cloud may warn that the plugin does not come from the Adobe Marketplace: this is normal for a plugin sold directly by its publisher.
3. In Photoshop, open the Plugins → DTFForge menu. The panel opens; you can dock it wherever you like, just like any other panel in Photoshop.

On first launch, a welcome card sums up how the plugin works. The ? button at the top of the panel shows help for the open tab at any time, with a Full online guide ↗ link that opens this guide at the right section.

The panel has eight tabs: Prepare (checking and preparing the file), Halftone, Vector, Names, Effects and Proof (one module per tab), Gang sheet (gang sheets and finishing for the RIP) and Export (batch processing and checking a TIFF).

Update

Download the new version and double-click it: it replaces the old one. Your licence and settings are kept.

Uninstall

In the Creative Cloud app, go to plugin management, then open the … menu next to DTFForge → Uninstall.

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Licence and free trial

Everything is done from the gear icon at the top of the panel (Settings), in the Licence section.

7-day free trial

Click Free trial (7 days), enter your e-mail, then click Start the trial. Every module is unlocked for 7 days, no credit card needed. One trial per computer, and at most two computers per e-mail address. When the trial ends, only the Checker (free) and the modules you have bought stay active.

Activate your key

After payment, your key (format ISD-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) is shown on screen and sent to you by e-mail. Paste it into the field in the Licence section and click Activate. Lower-case letters and spaces are accepted.

Two computers per licence

A licence can be active on two computers at the same time, for example a desktop and a laptop. To switch computers, click Release this computer on the old one, then activate the key on the new one. If the old computer is no longer available, write to us at contact@dtfforge.com.

Offline use and checks

An internet connection is needed to activate the licence or the trial. After that, the plugin works offline for up to 30 days; it checks the licence in the background, at most once a day. The Check now button forces a check.

Buy another module

Pay with the same e-mail address: the module is added to your existing key. In the plugin, click Check now to unlock it. Your key does not change.

Modules that are not activated stay visible but greyed out, with a bar saying so and a Modules button that opens the settings.

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Settings and panel language

The gear icon opens the settings shared by all modules:

• Print resolution (dpi): 300 by default. All designs are prepared at this resolution.
• Film width (cm): the width of your film roll (56 cm by default). It is used to check files and to build gang sheets.
• Panel language: Auto follows Photoshop's language (English if Photoshop is set to a language the panel does not offer). Choose FR, EN, ES, PT, DE or IT to override it; the change takes effect immediately.
• Output folder: the folder where DTFForge saves PNG and TIFF files. You are asked for it the first time; Change… lets you choose another one.
• Modules: the status of each module on this computer (free, activated, trial or not activated).

The names of generated files follow the panel language (for example SHEET_…_1of2_87cm.tif).

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Checker (free)

The Checker is included free of charge and works without a licence. It never modifies your file.

Check the open file

In the Prepare tab, on the Open file card:

• Check instantly inspects the colour mode (RGB expected), bit depth (8 bits), resolution compared with your setting, print size, whether the design fits the film width, any opaque background, whether the Spot_1 channel is present and the number of layers.
• Full analysis also reads the pixels: the proportion of semi-transparent pixels and of opaque white, and the ink coverage.

Each item is green (OK), orange (to review) or red (blocking), with an explanation underneath.

Check a TIFF before the RIP

In the Export tab, on the Check a TIFF before the RIP card, click Choose a TIFF…: DTFForge reads the file without opening it in Photoshop and shows its size, resolution, mode, compression, transparency and spot channels. It confirms that the channel your RIP expects, as named in Channel name (RIP), is present.

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File preparation

Use the Prepare tab. Open the customer's artwork in Photoshop, set the background and size, then click Prepare for DTF. A single Ctrl+Z undoes everything.

① Background

• Keep: the background is left untouched.
• Remove background: removes the background colour, starting from the edges of the image. Areas of the same colour inside the design are kept.
• Remove everywhere: removes that colour everywhere, including inside letters or the design.

Background colour:

• Auto reads the four corners of the image; it can detect several colours (for example a fake grey and white checkerboard).
• White and Black for a plain background.
• Eyedropper: pick the Eyedropper tool (I key) and click the image background; the foreground colour is used.
• Selection: select part of the background (rectangle, lasso, magic wand…); all its colours are removed.
• Hex #: enter the hex code, for example #1F2A44.

Under Background options you will find Tolerance (%), set to 8% by default (increase it if traces of the background remain), Clean the fringe around the design and Only within the active selection. Show detected colour shows the colours found; Remove background now removes the background from the active layer without flattening the document.

② Print size

Enter the Width (cm) you want on the garment. If left empty, the design keeps its current size. The file is resampled to the resolution set in the settings; if the source image is too small (an actual resolution below 150 dpi), the report warns you that the print may be blurry.

Under Preparation options:

• Convert to 8-bit RGB: recommended, as this is the format DTF expects.
• Clean semi-transparency, threshold (%): 50% by default. Pixels more transparent than the threshold are deleted, the others become opaque. Semi-transparent pixels print poorly in DTF (shadows, soft edges).
• Trim transparent edges: the canvas is trimmed to fit the design.

Prepare and save

Prepare for DTF converts to 8-bit RGB, flattens the layers, removes the background, trims, resizes and cleans up semi-transparency, all in a single history step. The report details what was done, then the Checker inspects the result.

Save as PNG… saves a PNG copy to your output folder, with its size in the name (for example logo_10-0x6-4cm.png).

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Gang sheet builder

Use the Gang sheet tab. DTFForge nests your designs across the film width to use as little film as possible.

① Designs

Add files with + Files… (PNG, PSD, JPG, TIF…) or the open document with + Open document. For each design, set the quantity (Qty) and, if needed, the print width (Width cm); if left empty, the size is read from the file.

The list shows the size and actual resolution of each design (in orange below 200 dpi). A design wider than the film will be rotated 90°; if it does not fit either way, enter a smaller width. The estimate underneath gives the number of prints, the metres of film and the number of sheets, with “n different ones to build” when sheets repeat. After a first build, it starts from the actual size of each design, transparent edges removed.

② Settings

• Edge margin (mm) and Gap between designs (mm): 5 mm by default.
• Max sheet length (cm): 100 cm by default; beyond that, a new sheet is created.
• Rotate designs to save film: allows designs to be rotated for a better fill.
• Merge identical sheets (one “×12” tab instead of 12): when several sheets are exactly the same (large batches of repeated designs), only one is built, in a tab named “DTF gang sheet 1 ×19” to be printed 19 times. The label and the exported file name (…_1of2_x19_98cm.png) say so too. Untick it to get one tab per sheet.
• Clean semi-transparency: the same clean-up as in Prepare.
• Also remove the background (Prepare settings): also removes the background of each design (requires the File preparation module).
• Label in the margin (optional): a line of text (for example the customer's name) printed in the top margin, along with the date and the sheet number.

Build

Build gang sheet creates the sheet or sheets in Photoshop, at the film width, then crops them to the length actually used. Sheets are built one at a time, each checked and cropped before the next; if Photoshop stops midway (out of memory), the finished sheets stay open and complete, and the message says where it stopped. The report shows the length of each sheet, “print ×n” for merged sheets, the total film used and the fill rate. If the calculation comes to more than three sheets, or finds a design that is too large, DTFForge asks you to confirm: check the widths, or click again within 30 seconds.

Export as PNG… saves the sheets as PNG; Close sheets closes the built sheets without saving them. To print, move on to step ③ below.

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White underbase TIFF: Finish for the RIP

The ③ Finish for the RIP card, at the bottom of the Gang sheet tab, turns the sheet into a TIFF with the white underbase channel your RIP expects.

Choose what to work on: Built sheets (those from the last build) or Open document (any document, for example a sheet laid out by hand).

• Channel name (RIP): the channel name your RIP expects, Spot_1 by default (some RIPs expect White: check your RIP's documentation).
• Contract selection by (px): 1 px by default. The white channel is shrunk slightly so that it does not stick out around the colours.
• Under Spot channel and TIFF options: Solidity (%), set to 100%, and TIFF LZW compression.

Then click the three steps, in order. Each one is ticked once done:

1. Flatten layers: the visible layers are merged into a single transparent layer. An opaque background must be hidden or deleted first.
2. Generate the “Spot_1” channel: DTFForge selects the visible pixels (like a Ctrl+click on the layer thumbnail), contracts the selection, creates the white spot channel and fills it. An existing channel with the same name is replaced. All channels remain visible and selected.
3. Export to TIFF: a TIFF copy (with no layers, but with the spot channel and transparency) is saved to your output folder, for example SHEET_Customer_2026-09-25_1of2_87cm_Spot_1.tif. DTFForge then reads the file back to confirm that the channel is present.

All that is left is to load the TIFF into your RIP.

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Export: batch processing

Prepare a whole folder

Choose a folder and start applies the Prepare tab settings (background, clean-up, resolution) to every image in a folder (PNG, JPG, PSD, TIF, WebP…) and saves them as PNG, with their size in the name, to your output folder. The originals are not modified and each image keeps its size: the width set in Prepare is not applied. Requires the File preparation module.

Export each layer as PNG

Creates one PNG per layer of the open document. Options: Visible layers only, Trim each PNG to the design and Add the size in cm to the name. Then click Export layers.

Check a TIFF before the RIP

See the Checker section.

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Halftone

Use the Halftone tab. The module turns the active layer into a halftone screen: gradients, shadows and transparency become 100% opaque dots, which print cleanly in DTF and give a softer transfer. The file stays in RGB and nothing is destroyed: the original is kept, hidden, right below the halftone layer.

① Effect

• Knockout: the chosen colour disappears (usually the shirt colour) and the rest becomes larger or smaller dots. Choose the Colour to remove: Background (read from the corners of the image), Black, White, Eyedropper (Photoshop's foreground colour) or Hex #.
• Fades: for a PNG that is already cut out. Only the semi-transparent areas (shadows, glows, gradients) become dots; the rest stays solid.

Levels work as in Photoshop: under the histogram (Input Levels), the black, grey and white triangles, with the 0 / 1.00 / 255 fields. White = printed, black = removed, grey = dots. Grey triangle to the left = lighter (more dots), to the right = darker. Reset restores the starting values.

② Screen

• Screen ruling (LPI): 25 to 30 for large dots and a vintage look, 35 for a good balance, 45 to 55 for a finer screen with more fragile dots.
• Angle and Shape (Dots or Lines).
• Shirt colour (preview, not printed): a colour layer is placed under the halftone so you can judge the result; it is never printed.
• Under Advanced options: Minimum dot (mm) (smaller dots are removed, as they would not hold the powder), No solid areas (vintage effect), White dots (instead of the image colours) and Only within the active selection.

Live preview

The preview starts as soon as you change a setting, or when you click Start live preview: the document switches to the print resolution and the image updates with every change. Apply keeps the halftone, Cancel puts everything back as it was; Back to original removes a halftone that has already been applied. Above 64 million pixels, the halftone is applied in one go, with no live preview.

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Vectorization

Use the Vector tab. For a customer logo that is blurry, pixelated or too small (screenshot, compressed JPG, scan): the active layer is traced into curves, then redrawn sharp at print size in a new document. The original is never modified.

① Size and colours

• Print width (cm): the width you want on the garment. If left empty, the layer keeps its current size.
• Colours: they are found automatically; the slider keeps more or fewer of them and Auto goes back to the automatic choice. Click a colour in the palette to correct it (Eyedropper or a code), make it Transparent, merge it with another one (Merge with…) or restore it (Reset).
• Background: Removed (edges) (the default), Removed everywhere (also inside letters and closed shapes) or Kept.

② Tracing

• Smoothing: softens the curves.
• Corners: to the left, everything is rounded; to the right, corners stay sharp.
• Clean-up: removes specks and JPG compression leftovers.

Apply

Vectorize the active layer opens the result in a new document, which is redrawn with every change. Apply keeps it (remember to save it), Cancel closes it. Vectorization is mostly meant for small images: a very large image must be reduced first.

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Names and numbers

Use the Names tab. For team jerseys, event T-shirts or workwear: a list of names and numbers becomes every piece to print, laid out on the gang sheets.

① The list

Paste the columns from Excel (Name, Number, Size, Quantity), import a file with Import a CSV…, or type one line per person, for example SMITH 10 or JONES 7 kid x2. Kid sizes are recognised (kid, 8 years, 10Y…); S, M, L and XL are adult sizes. A summary gives the number of lines, pieces and transfers; an unusual number is flagged.

② Style

• Font: every font installed on the computer, with a search box.
• Names in capitals, Text colour, Outline 1 (mm) and Outline 2 (mm) (each with its own colour), Arched name.
• Jersey (preview, not printed): this colour is only used for the preview.

③ Pieces and sizes

Tick the pieces to produce: Back: name and number (with Name and number on the same transfer, or as two separate transfers), Front number and Shorts number. Under Sizes (cm), each piece has its Adult size and its Kid size; a name wider than the maximum is condensed.

Preview and gang sheets

Preview the 1st line shows the result on the jersey colour. Build the gang sheets nests every piece as tightly as possible across the film width, with one layer per piece. Finish in the Gang sheet tab, on the Finish for the RIP card.

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Effects

Use the Effects tab. Four effects to apply to the active layer. The effect is created on a new layer just above; the original stays underneath, hidden.

① Effect

• Distressed: a vintage look, with the ink worn away in places. Settings: Texture (Grunge, Cracked, Scratches or Grain), Strength, Pattern size and Worn edges.
• Explosion: the design breaks into shards on the arrow side. Settings: Shard shape, Part blown, Distance and Shard size.
• Glitch: shifted bands and split colours. Settings: Shift, RGB split and Lines.
• Outline: Outline 1 (mm) and Outline 2 (mm), each with its own colour, Gap from the design (mm) and the Outside only (not inside the holes of letters) option.

② Settings

The first setting you touch starts the live preview, just like the Apply to the active layer button. Another variant draws a new pattern with the same settings. Under Advanced options, Smallest speck (mm) removes pieces too small to survive the transfer. The canvas grows on its own if the effect goes past it.

Apply keeps the result, Cancel puts everything back as it was. Effects stack: apply one, then apply another to the result. Back to the original removes the last applied effect.

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Client proof

Use the Proof tab. The proof to send to your client before you start printing: an A4 page with the product mockup, the dimensions, the quantities and the approval box.

① Designs

Select the design layer in Photoshop, then click Add the active layer. You can add several designs, for example a left chest and a back. Each design is placed at its real print size; you can set another width and choose its placement.

② Product

Choose a product drawn by the plugin (T-shirt, hoodie, polo, tank top, tote bag or cap) and the Fabric colour.

To use your own photos, open My product photos: click 1. Choose a photo…, draw a selection in Photoshop around the print area, enter the Area name and the Real width of the area (cm), then click 2. Save the drawn area. Save one area per placement (the left chest on the front photo, the back on the back photo): the proof shows each photo used, side by side.

③ Client

Fill in Client, Order no., Quantities and, if needed, Note. Your logo and contact details are set once and for all under My shop (logo and contact details).

Create the proof

Create the proof (PDF + JPG) saves a PDF and a JPG to your output folder and opens the document in Photoshop. Its texts stay editable: correct them if needed, then Export the open document again rebuilds both files.

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