When download png from artwork background isn’t transparent!

[CarolineBM]

I am busy making cover photos from a lot of products. But I have the problem that the background from the artwork when downloaded has a color. I can’t use it in place it.net because it need to be transparent. 

could you give us the artwork with transparent background please!

best Regards, Caroline 

[jennifer22]

I use placeit.net by downloading the artwork... go to more options --> download artwork.

[CarolineBM]

Yes, thanks this is what I do. But I have a solid background behind my artwork instead of transparent one. Now I can’t place it in a mockup, because you see a white square. 

[ColsCreations]

The background is part of the artwork, it's part of the design as you published it. So when you "download artwork" that's exactly what you get. If you published with a transparent background, you get a png with trans background. If you published with a solid blue background, the png will have a solid blue background.
If you published with a solid background a mock-up should reflect that so as to accurately represent the published design.

[CrazyMermaid]

I actually noticed yesterday when I was making gobs of cover photos that some artwork downloads had a background and others didn't. This was in the same product category and I had made the background on all of them white. About 80 percent just showed the design on a transparent background. The rest showed the white background and it looked like the product. Not a problem for me. I just  photoshopped what I needed into the cover photo. I can see why this would be a problem for some though. 

I was a little surprised by this, I was assuming what you described in your post. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about why this was happening. I have thousands of cover photos ahead of me, so I will probably figure it out during the process!

[ColsCreations]

Huh. I tried it last night with these two glasses (so product itself is actually trans) to compare and the trans design gave me a trans png, the one with a black background gave me a black png.

[Irish Friends] St. Patricks Day Toast - Clear -

[Irish Friends] St. Patricks Day Toast - Black -

I just tried it with this t-shirt, which has a trans design so the background color is determined by the product color, and the png downloaded does indeed have a purple background.

[About My Dog] Show Dog Brag T-Shirt

It seems like if you've left the background transparent, the artwork downloaded reflects the product background color (as evidenced by the clear shot glass and purple shirt). Which would be why putting her design on a transparent wall decal works. But if you've set a background color (as she said she did), you get that color on the download.

This was in the same product category and I had made the background on all of them white. About 80 percent just showed the design on a transparent background. The rest showed the white background and it looked like the product.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the option to set white as transparent in the design tool. And/Or perhaps because with the new Instant Downloads, those in-situs are using white to represent trans areas. Maybe when the system produces the artwork to download, it's just getting confused on white vs trans now.

I have a couple of products (pillows, disposable cups) where I set the background as solid white even though my design over it was trans and those downloaded correctly with a solid white background. However, I just tried it with a paper product,

[Paint Splatter] Modern Abstract Artist White Business Card

[Paint Splatter] Modern Abstract Artist Black Business Card

and in this case, the white version, where I do have white set as a solid background color, the png downloads as transparent. (The black version downloads with black background.)

I don't have the right kind of products & designs in my store to test more but so far it seem like the issue is only with white vs transparent, and only on paper products. (I'm kind of assuming most of the products you were working on yesterday were paper products.)

[ColsCreations]

After seeing the new comments above after posting, I tried with an old t-shirt in a now abandoned store of mine. (For @Scott , PID #235103218970983978). The design is transparent but I published it on a white t-shirt. When I download the artwork, I get the white background. If I choose a different shirt color on the product page, I get that color as the artwork background. This is inline with my above post, that with a trans back the downloaded artwork background reflects the product color.

[jamies]

I noticed this too, it's a mix but I have 90% backgrounds not transparent, 10% transparent. 
It doesn't bother me one way or the other but yes, it's easier when it's transparent. 

[CarolineBM]

Unfortunately, some products do and some the don't. My t-shirts show a white background instead of transparent...

[ColsCreations]

 If you published with a transparent background, you get a png with trans background.

I need to amend that to

If you published with a transparent background, the artwork background reflects the actual product color under your design, so if the product is trans (like with a glass or decal) then the artwork background is also trans.

[KeegansCreation]

This 👆. The 'download artwork' background takes into account the color of the product.

This is actually invaluable when working with products that are themselves colored, such as the myriad colors of t shirts. If you take the downloaded artwork of a colored t shirt into a graphics program, you can use the eyedropper to find its' hex code. Then when you use a mockup that lets you change product color (such as PlaceIt), when you enter that hex code, the t shirt the model wears will be the exact same color as it is in Zazzle. I discovered this when doing some green St. Patrick's Day hoodies. (You do still need to remove that background color once you have the hex code).

So while it is often not possible to go straight from 'download artwork' to PlaceIt (or other mockups) without an intermediate stop in a graphics program, that background color is invaluable if you are mocking up anything that isn't black, white or transparent.
This is a feature, not a bug, and is the only way you will be able to get a truly accurate color for tops that aren't black or white.

[CarolineBM]

I found a work around, I transfer my artwork to a wall decal with a transparent background and here I download the artwork, which I can use in place it. But It would be nice to have the possibility to choose a download with transparent background. Thanks 

[AudreyJeanne]

Caroline, do you have a link to a product I can take a peek at to see how you've done the files.  I have an idea, but need to see if my thoughts are correct or not.  Thanks!  Audrey

[CarolineBM]

It’s with any t-shirt I make, other products like mugs and wall decal have an transparent png. But T-shirts not. I hope you can find out what I do wrong. Thanks for the care! https://www.zazzle.com/we_make_a_great_pair_custom_photo_valentines_day_t_shirt-256090772217193259 

[Scott]

This doesn't seem right. I've sent this along. Apologies.

[Scott]

So I do see this on shirts, but not on any other product types. I've checked about a dozen or so. If anyone sees this happening on a product type other than a shirt please let me know.

[KeegansCreation]

It's a good thing on shirts (and other potentially colored clothing). Please don't take it away. If the shirt (or hoody or sweatshirt) is anything other than black or white, having the product color as a background is invaluable in accurately replicating the clothing color in a mockup.

[CrazyMermaid]

I haven't had time to set up a rigorous comparison, but my first thought was this had something to do with the transfer this item to another product feature. My brain didn't get any further than that.

[VivianD117]

try just downloading the artwork . .. or is that what you did and it didn't work?

[CarolineBM]

Exactly, it happens with t-shirts to be precise! 

[isabelalfarrobi]

i have made some cover photos on placit but i don´t know how to place them on zazzle. Can you help me?

[Sara_H]

@isabelalfarrobi Cover photo upload feature is currently not working correctly. When it's working again, you go to your product page and Upload your promo from the Listing tools menu.

[CarolineBM]

Yes I know, so normally the artwork from t-shirts is transparent and just now not, is that what you saying? So I will be patient. 

[CarolineBM]

Yes, go to the product in your store back end, click on ‘add cover photo’ above the product. And follow the instructions. I hope this helps. 

[BevStuff]

For anyone needing to remove a background, there is an on-line tool called "photoscissors.com" that you can use to do that.

[Scott]

We're currently working on some better tools in this area, but I'm not quite sure when they'll be ready. In the mean time, you may need to use a photo editor, or website (like the one @BevStuff mentioned above) to complete this task.

I'll update this ticket when I have better information to share.

[CarolineBM]

Thanks Scott! 

[Dzaz]

This is absolutely ridiculous. But I found a workaround that will work for a strong color garment. This will not work for pure white as there is a pale stroke left behind.

I tried using a white background for designs to download transparent but transparent, white, and black will all download with a black square.  So the only option is to add a background color of high contrast to your native image and with no common colors in your image. I used aqua for this design and after selecting and deleting the aqua I got an almost clean image. You do have to check pixels resolution and clean up any minor detail which won't show if you chose the right color. It's insane this is necessary, never had this problem anywhere else but there it is.

[Dzaz]

OMG OMG OMG! This is now FIXED! Thank you Thank you Thank you! Sending kisses to IT. Pay them folks.