What size should a seamless pattern be for Spoonflower & Etsy?
Short answer: 3600 × 3600 pixels at 300 DPI covers almost everything. Here's the reasoning, and the exceptions worth knowing about.
DPI is a label, size is the truth
A digital file has no physical size — only pixels. DPI (dots per inch) is a piece of metadata written inside the file that tells a printer how big to make each pixel. The same 3600px file prints as:
| Declared DPI | Printed size |
|---|---|
| 300 DPI | 12 × 12 inches |
| 150 DPI | 24 × 24 inches (visibly softer) |
| missing | whatever the print service guesses 🎲 |
That last row is the classic disaster: many tools export PNGs without any DPI metadata at all, and the print service guesses 72 DPI — suddenly your elegant ditsy floral prints at sofa scale. Check your exports: the DPI must be physically present in the file, not just in your editor's export dialog. (Repeachy writes it into the PNG bytes and verifies it in automated tests.)
What the platforms expect
- Spoonflower prints at 150 DPI natively but recommends uploading at the size you want printed; a 3600px tile gives a crisp 12-inch repeat with headroom. Files up to 40MB, PNG or JPG.
- Etsy digital listings: buyers expect a bundle of sizes. The de-facto standard listing contains a 3600px tile at 300 DPI, often with 2048px web versions and several colorways.
- POD services (Printful, Redbubble, Society6): requirements vary per product, but 300 DPI at the product's print area is the safe rule; a 4500–6000px tile covers large products like duvets.
Why PNG and not JPG?
JPEG compression creates tiny artifacts at high-contrast edges — including the edges of your tile. When tiles sit side by side, those artifacts can show up as a faint repeating seam even on a mathematically perfect repeat. Export lossless PNG by default; offer JPG only where a platform demands it.
The sizes worth exporting
- 2048px — web previews, shop thumbnails.
- 3600px / 300 DPI — the 12-inch industry default. If you export one size, export this.
- 4500px / 300 DPI — 15-inch repeat, for larger products.
- 6000px / 300 DPI — 20-inch repeat, large-format wallpaper and bedding.
Repeachy's pattern pack ZIP exports all of the above (plus six colorways and a license file) in one click — try it free.