Guide For AI To Produce Print-Ready Art For Your Decals

AI can be really helpful in brainstorming for logo or ideas but can also be a problem for our team when logos are not created properly for our needs.  This page shows you some helpful prompts and tips that will produce the most print ready artwork you can get from AI.

Choosing an AI Tool

Most common AI tools are those like ChatGPT or Gemini (Google).  But there are so many others that we can't explain how to use them all here. So we will start with the basics that should be relevant to most AI models

• Within the ChatGPT website or on the app you can simply type in a prompt asking for it to draw what you need.  It will do it's thing and spit out an image.  Don't like what you see on the image it creates?...explain what you like and don't like about it.  It wil keep trying as long as you give it prompts on what needs to be changed.
• If you don't use ChatGPT, you are probably still familiar with Google.  Right from Google's home page in the search bar you can go into "AI Mode" (also known as Gemini) and it will work as your AI artist using Nano-Banana to create the logo.  While all AI models work better for different things, we have found that Gemini works best when trying to recreate something (from another image) that contains letters.  
• If possibly you may want to use a few different AI models to see which one will produce the best result for your application.
• Different AI does certain tasks better than others. Below are some of the more popular ones:
  • ChatGPT → creative concepts
  • Gemini → recreating existing logos/text
  • Adobe Illustrator AI → vector cleanup
  • Midjourney → artistic inspiration
  • BigJPG → upscaling existing images

Helpful Prompt Tips

• Always be as descriptive as possible.  The more information you feed it the better it will understand what you are looking for.  Don't be afraid to write a paragraph explaining how you envision the art to look.
• Explain how you plan to use the image.  If you state you want it to be "print ready" as the art will be used on a decal it will produce results better for your needs.
• Ask for a transparent background. If you want your decal to be cut to a specific shape ask it to be on a transparent background as a PNG file. Many times AI will think you want a "simulated" transparent background so it will put the artwork on a light colored checkerboard background.  We do not want that as the art can blend into the background in may cases making it hard to remove the checkerboard pattern. So tell it: "make this on a transparent background as a PNG file.  Do not simulate a transparent background with a checkerboard pattern. The background should be completely clear". *Note that at the time of writing this article Gemini/Nano-Banana always includes this checkboard in which case it will be best to ask for a "high contrast background from the design".  So if the edge of your design is black you will want it on a white background.  Or if the edge is white you will want the background to be black.
• Keep refining until it gets it right. Always ask until it is exactly as you want. You can keep explaining what is wrong and AI will fix based on your input. We can not edit the design no matter how small the change is so make sure AI fixes any issues before sending the artwork to us.
• Use other images for reference. You can upload images if you like a style you want to replicate. You can say "create a logo in this style but for my industry (whatever that is). "Change the name to (your company name)" or similar prompts that are relative to what you are wanting to create.
• Use AI to recreate bad artwork of an old logo. You can also upload bad artwork and have AI recreate it to be print ready.  Say you have an old shirt that has a logo that you can no longer find an image of anywhere.  You can upload a picture of the shirt (try to take the picture as straight on as possible and in good light) then use a prompt that says: "recreate this logo to be print ready for a decal. It should not have any fabric effects or wrinkles. Take out any perspective distortion."
• Do not include a simulated look for your art. If you want us to print on a specialty material like chrome, holographic, etc. do not send us artwork with that simulated effect as this simulated effect will print on top of the vinyl.  Anything you want to have the special effects of the material should be white as we do not print white so it will let the specialty properties show through any white areas.  Darker inks will block out most of the properties of specialty material while lighter colors will let it show through.
• Do not ask AI to recreate copyrighted logos or trademarked brands unless you own the rights to use them. Many times AI may recognize the logo and refuse to redraw it.
• Do not send sreenshots of the artwork.  If you are doing this on your phone do not send a screenshot.  Actually download the artwork to your phone and then send that to us.  This produces much better images and we don't need to see all your phone information in the artwork as we print what the image you send us shows.

Understanding AI Limitations

• Most AI currently creates raster images instead of true vector artwork. Raster artwork works great for many decals, especially smaller designs, but large decals and detailed lettering may still require vector conversion or manual cleanup. This means that artwork will not look great at larger sizes.  Normally the art it produces will best be for decals under 10-20 inches and to be printed on a background possibly cut to shape. You can use a free AI image upscaler like BigJPG.com but this can only do so much.  AI artifacts will still be seen when viewing up close.  What looks good on your phone will not necessarily blow up to look good as a giant logo for a wall or the side of a van.
• If you do have Adobe Illustrator it can produce high quality vector graphics using AI.  Vector graphics are required for detailed designs and custom lettering, etc.

If you prefer this information in video form: