Fabric design size in pixels: yard, fat quarter and panel charts

Fabric designers and quilters measure in yards, fat quarters and bolt widths. Image files are measured in pixels. This guide converts one into the other at 150 and 300 DPI, and shows what to do when your artwork is smaller than the chart says it should be.

The formula and which DPI to use

Pixels = inches × DPI. In metric, pixels = cm ÷ 2.54 × DPI. In a file the same number is called PPI (pixels per inch), and printers use the two words for the same thing.

Which DPI depends on the printer:

• 150 DPI: Spoonflower prints at 150 DPI and calls it the best resolution for its products. It reads your pixels and divides by 150 to set the print size.
• 300 DPI: some fabric printers and mills ask for 300. It shows fine line work a little crisper, and it doubles every number in the charts below.

Note: A 300 DPI file has four times the pixels of a 150 DPI file at the same size. A yard at 300 DPI runs past 130 megapixels, which is slow to open and send. Ask your printer before you work at 300.

The DPI for fabric printing guide explains the choice in more depth.

Yard, fat quarter and panel chart

Sizes are width × length, where width runs across the fabric (selvage to selvage) and length runs along it. Checked: Oct 2026.

Cut	Inches (cm)	150 DPI	MP	300 DPI	MP
Yard, 42 in fabric	42 × 36 (106.7 × 91.4)	6,300 × 5,400	34.0	12,600 × 10,800	136.1
Yard, 44 in fabric	44 × 36 (111.8 × 91.4)	6,600 × 5,400	35.6	13,200 × 10,800	142.6
Half yard, 42 in fabric	42 × 18 (106.7 × 45.7)	6,300 × 2,700	17.0	12,600 × 5,400	68.0
Fat quarter, 42 in fabric	21 × 18 (53.3 × 45.7)	3,150 × 2,700	8.5	6,300 × 5,400	34.0
Fat quarter, 44 in fabric	22 × 18 (55.9 × 45.7)	3,300 × 2,700	8.9	6,600 × 5,400	35.6
Fat eighth	21 × 9 (53.3 × 22.9)	3,150 × 1,350	4.3	6,300 × 2,700	17.0
Quilt panel	44 × 24 (111.8 × 61)	6,600 × 3,600	23.8	13,200 × 7,200	95.0
Large quilt panel	44 × 36 (111.8 × 91.4)	6,600 × 5,400	35.6	13,200 × 10,800	142.6

Where the sizes come from: quilting cotton comes on bolts 42 to 44 inches wide, so a fat quarter is 18 × 21 or 18 × 22 inches and a fat eighth is about 9 × 21 inches (High Country Quilts). Panels are often 24 × 44 inches, sometimes 36 inches long (Missouri Star Quilt Co.). Spoonflower defines a fat quarter as half the fabric width × 18 inches and a yard as the full width × 36 inches, and doesn't count the unprinted selvage in the width.

Example: A cheater quilt panel at 44 × 24 inches and 150 DPI: 44 × 150 = 6,600 px wide and 24 × 150 = 3,600 px long. That is 23.8 MP, which fits inside a free upscale result (up to 36 MP).

Spoonflower gives a rough guide from cameras and scanners too: a 10 megapixel photo fills a fat quarter, 40 megapixels fills a yard, and a letter-size scan at 300 dpi fills a fat quarter.

Bolt widths in pixels

If your design is a border print or a placed design that must span the full width, you need the width in pixels. Typical widths (FibreCalcs): quilting cotton 42 to 44 inches, home decor and drapery 54, upholstery 54 to 60, knits 58 to 60, and wide-back quilt cotton 108 to 110.

Bolt width	cm	150 DPI	300 DPI
42 in	106.7	6,300 px	12,600 px
44 in	111.8	6,600 px	13,200 px
54 in	137.2	8,100 px	16,200 px
58 in	147.3	8,700 px	17,400 px
60 in	152.4	9,000 px	18,000 px
108 in	274.3	16,200 px	32,400 px

Printable width is a little less than the bolt on most printers, and Spoonflower's fabrics range from 42 to 116 inches. Check the exact printable width for the fabric you pick.

For metric yardage and sizes not listed here, see 300 DPI in pixels, or enter any size in the fabric DPI calculator.

The repeat size quilters want

An allover print is usually one repeat tile that the printer copies across the fabric, so the file you make is the tile, not the yard. Pick the tile size first, then size the file.

Quilters often buy fat quarters, and a buyer who opens a fat quarter wants to see the whole pattern. Pattern Observer's advice is to make the repeat fit at least once inside a fat quarter. On 42 inch fabric, that means a repeat no wider than 21 inches and no taller than 18 inches.

Repeat	150 DPI	300 DPI	Full repeats in a 21 × 18 in fat quarter
4 × 4 in	600 × 600	1,200 × 1,200	5 across, 4 down
6 × 6 in	900 × 900	1,800 × 1,800	3 across, 3 down
8 × 8 in	1,200 × 1,200	2,400 × 2,400	2 across, 2 down
12 × 12 in	1,800 × 1,800	3,600 × 3,600	1 across, 1 down
18 × 18 in	2,700 × 2,700	5,400 × 5,400	1 across, 1 down

Tip: Save the tile at the exact pixels for its size, so a 6 inch repeat at 150 DPI is 900 × 900 px. Then the printer's scale shows the size you meant without any rescaling.

When your art is smaller than the chart

Divide the pixels you need by the pixels you have:

1. If the answer is 4 or less, upscale 4×. Between 4 and 8, upscale 8×.
2. Upload the design to the Image Upscaler. Free 4× and 8× results go up to 36 megapixels, so free 8× works for designs up to about 750 × 750 px.
3. Resize the PNG down to the exact pixels in Photoshop or GIMP.
4. Check the tile edges at 100% zoom and order a swatch before a full yard.

Example: A 600 × 600 px motif tile prints 4 inches at 150 DPI. You want an 8 inch repeat, so you need 1,200 px. 1,200 ÷ 600 = 2, so 4× is enough. That gives 2,400 × 2,400 px, which you resize to 1,200 × 1,200 px, or keep at 2,400 if your printer works at 300 DPI.

An AI upscale adds new edges and texture where a plain resize only blurs. The upscaler doesn't wrap the edges of a tile, though, so for a seamless repeat, tile it 3 × 3, upscale, then crop the center tile. The Spoonflower image too small guide walks through that step.

Colorways for a quilting line

Fabric lines usually come in several colorways (UK designers write "colourway"). Color Variation is free with an account: upload one design and get light, dusty and dark colorways. Each one changes the ground (background) color, with the color name and hex code, while the motif keeps its colors exactly.

Downloads keep the original's pixel size and DPI, so a tile sized from the chart above stays print-ready. "Download chart" puts every colorway on one sheet for your files or your printer. See what is a colorway for how a line is usually built.

What to do next

Find your cut in the chart, or enter the size in the fabric DPI calculator at your printer's DPI. If your tile is short of the pixels, upload it to the Image Upscaler, choose 4× or 8× for free and resize to the exact size before you order a swatch.