Saree design file size: pixels for body, border and pallu

To find the file size of a saree design, convert each measurement to inches and multiply by the DPI. One metre is 39.37 inches, so a 5.5 m saree is 216.54 inches long.

At 300 DPI that is 216.54 x 300 = 64,961 pixels. The tables below do this for every part of the saree at 150, 200 and 300 DPI.

Tip: Before you start, ask your printer three things: the fabric width, the total length and how long they want the pallu. These change from mill to mill and fabric to fabric, and every number below depends on them.

Real saree sizes

Part	Common size	Where it varies
Saree without blouse	About 5.5 m	5.5 to 5.7 m is a common range; handloom sarees can be 6, 8 or 9 yards (Color Saree, Wikipedia: Ilkal sari)
Saree with blouse piece	About 6.3 m	6.3 to 6.5 m, sometimes up to 7 m (House of Banaras, Kalyanja)
Width	44 to 48 inches	Some sarees are narrower, 42 to 44 inches (House of Banaras); the fabric roll width sets the limit
Blouse piece	0.8 to 1 m	1 m for full sleeves or a larger size (Kalyanja)
Pallu	No fixed size	Set by the design and the mill. Ilkal handloom pallus, for example, run 16 to 27 inches (Wikipedia)
Border	Varies widely	Ilkal borders are 4 to 6 inches (Wikipedia); Garad borders are 4 to 7 inches (Wikipedia); a "medium" Kanjivaram border is 15 to 20 cm (Panjavarnam)

Note: Some guides say about 2.5 m of a 5.5 m saree goes into the pallu side of the drape (Color Saree). That is the length that goes over the shoulder when worn, and the decorated pallu panel you design is shorter.

No published standard exists for the length of the pallu panel, so the tables use 0.8 m, 1.0 m and 1.2 m as examples. Replace them with your printer's figure.

Pixel tables by DPI

Every figure is inches x DPI, rounded to the nearest pixel.

Width (short side of the file)

Fabric width	150 DPI	200 DPI	300 DPI
44 in	44 x 150 = 6,600 px	44 x 200 = 8,800 px	44 x 300 = 13,200 px
46 in	46 x 150 = 6,900 px	46 x 200 = 9,200 px	46 x 300 = 13,800 px
48 in	48 x 150 = 7,200 px	48 x 200 = 9,600 px	48 x 300 = 14,400 px

Length of each part (long side)

Part	Inches	150 DPI	200 DPI	300 DPI
Full saree, 5.5 m	216.54	32,480 px	43,307 px	64,961 px
Full saree with blouse, 6.3 m	248.03	37,205 px	49,606 px	74,409 px
Body, 4.5 m (5.5 m minus a 1.0 m pallu)	177.17	26,575 px	35,433 px	53,150 px
Pallu, 0.8 m	31.50	4,724 px	6,299 px	9,449 px
Pallu, 1.0 m	39.37	5,906 px	7,874 px	11,811 px
Pallu, 1.2 m	47.24	7,087 px	9,449 px	14,173 px
Blouse piece, 0.8 m	31.50	4,724 px	6,299 px	9,449 px
Blouse piece, 1.0 m	39.37	5,906 px	7,874 px	11,811 px

Because of rounding, parts can add up to one pixel more than the whole. At 150 DPI the 1.0 m pallu (5,906) plus the 4.5 m body (26,575) is 32,481 px against 32,480 for the full saree. Trim one pixel from the body.

Border width (across the fabric)

Border	150 DPI	200 DPI	300 DPI
2 in	300 px	400 px	600 px
4 in	600 px	800 px	1,200 px
6 in	900 px	1,200 px	1,800 px
15 cm (5.91 in)	886 px	1,181 px	1,772 px
20 cm (7.87 in)	1,181 px	1,575 px	2,362 px

Worked example

Example: A 44 inch georgette saree, 5.5 m long, with a 1.0 m pallu and a 4 inch border, printed at 300 DPI. Full canvas: 13,200 x 64,961 px. Pallu: 13,200 x 11,811 px. Body: 13,200 x 53,150 px, with the border taking 1,200 px along one long edge. Border strip: 1,200 x 53,150 px for the body length. Check: 11,811 + 53,150 = 64,961.

In 8-bit RGB the full canvas holds 857,485,200 pixels at 3 bytes each, which is about 2.6 GB before compression. For any other size, use the Fabric DPI calculator.

One file or separate files

Designers work both ways. The printer only cares that the final file is right.

One full-length file

The body, border, pallu and blouse sit on one canvas at the exact print size. The printer prints it straight through, with no chance of placing the pallu at the wrong end.

The cost is a very large file. A PSD is limited to 30,000 pixels per side, so a full saree must be saved as PSB or TIFF, even at 150 DPI (Adobe Community). Photoshop also limits a TIFF to 4 GB.

Separate files

You send a body repeat tile, a border repeat strip, the pallu panel and the blouse piece, with a layout sketch showing lengths in metres. Files stay small and easy to send.

The print house (or its RIP software) then builds the full length, so give clear measurements and name every file to match the sketch.

Tip: A common middle path is to design in separate files, then build one flattened full-length TIFF for the printer once the buyer approves.

Whichever way you choose, confirm the order of the parts with your printer: which end the pallu goes on, and whether the blouse piece is printed next to the pallu or at the other end.

Setting up the body repeat

The body is usually an allover or butta layout repeated along the length.

1. Work out the body height: fabric width minus the borders. For a 44 inch saree with one 4 inch border, the body is 40 inches high (12,000 px at 300 DPI).
2. Pick a repeat height that divides it evenly, so no motif is cut at the border. 10 inches (3,000 px) gives four repeats; 8 inches (2,400 px) gives five.
3. Use a half-drop for scattered butta so the motifs do not line up in obvious rows.
4. Check the seams with Filter > Other > Offset in Photoshop, shifting the tile by half its width and height. Fix any break you see, then shift it back.
5. Fill the body with Edit > Define Pattern and Edit > Fill > Pattern, or send the tile alone if the printer repeats it.

The length will rarely end on a full repeat. 177.17 inches of body divided by a 10 inch repeat is 17.7 repeats.

End the body where the pallu starts, and use a cross border (a band across the width) at the join to hide the cut.

Tip: A repeat tile is small enough to sharpen before you build the layout. If a motif or border repeat is too small for your DPI, enlarge it with the Image Upscaler, which adds real detail at 4x or 8x and saves a PNG tagged 300 DPI.

Enlarge the tile before you repeat it, and check that its edges still match when you run the Offset check again.

File format and colour mode

• A flattened TIFF with LZW compression is the safest choice. It loses no quality and most RIPs read it. Send JPG only if your printer asks, and then at maximum quality.
• Most digital textile printers take RGB, and one Australian print house lists RGB as its requirement for online orders (Digital Fabrics). Some mills ask for CMYK or work from their own colour library.
• Printers commonly ask for 150 to 300 DPI at the final print size (Digital Fabrics, Your Colors). Choose 300 DPI for fine detail and 150 to 200 DPI for bold designs if the printer agrees.
• For rotary screen or flatbed printing, the printer needs the design separated into one channel per colour, usually as a multichannel file with spot channels.

Warning: Ask your printer which colour mode they want before you convert. Converting the wrong way dulls colours.

Checklist before printing

• Width, length, pallu length and blouse length match what the printer gave you.
• Pixel size equals inches x DPI for every part (check with the Fabric DPI calculator).
• The DPI tag in the file matches the size you planned.
• Body repeat has no visible seams after an Offset check.
• No motif is cut at the border edge.
• Pallu and blouse piece are at the ends the printer expects.
• File is flattened, extra channels and paths are deleted, and colour mode is what the printer asked for.
• Saved as TIFF with LZW (or PSB if the printer takes it).
• File name has the design number and colorway, for example "D-2417-A_44in_5.5m_300dpi.tif".
• Sent as a WhatsApp Document, not a photo. Documents can be up to 2 GB (WhatsApp); use a file-sharing link for anything larger.

Next step

Get the width, length and pallu size from your printer, then put them into the Fabric DPI calculator to get your exact pixel sizes. If your motif or border artwork is too small for that size, enlarge it with the Image Upscaler before you build the saree layout.