Off a roll · one max width
Where the seam falls, and why there is one
Fabric comes off a roll. The roll has a maximum width, and nothing prints wider than that in one piece.
Our calculator takes any size up to 20 ft × 30 ft, from a 0.1 m² minimum. Order wider than the roll and your piece arrives as sewn panels.
That is not a defect. It is how every large-format fabric graphic is made — stage surrounds, stadium banners, exhibition walls.
Panelled by design, not by accident.
This page covers what a seam looks like, and how to put it where you want it. For the printable width on your fabric, ask us before you order.
17 fabrics · 6 families
Printable width, and how to check yours
Two numbers decide what you receive. Read them both before you price a large piece.
Maximum seamless printable width is the widest single panel we can print on that fabric. It is narrower than the roll itself, because the edges are gripped by the press and trimmed off.
Maximum seamed width is the widest finished piece we will sew from multiple panels. Past that figure, handling, folding and hanging weight stop being practical.
Printable width varies by fabric, and it varies by grade inside a family. We confirm the exact figure for your chosen fabric before anything prints.
Email sales@printfabrix.com with your fabric and finished size. You will have the printable width, and a straight answer on whether your piece will be seamed.
If your piece exceeds the printable width, we tell you before printing. You then choose how the seam is positioned.
Width is the limit on one dimension only — length runs on down the roll, so height is rarely the constraint.
Flat-sewn join · a few millimetres
What a seam actually looks like
Two panels, edges aligned, joined on one straight machine line. Flat-sewn or overlocked, a few millimetres wide, thread matched to the dominant colour at the join.
Seam width varies a little by fabric and finish. Either way the join is narrow, and even down its whole length.
Hold the fabric at arm’s length and you see it. Stand back 2 m and most fabrics give nothing away.
Viewing distance does the work. A 6 m backdrop is read from 3 m or further, and at that distance the join disappears into the image.
Fabrics that show a seam more
- Sheer and lightweight knits — light travels through the join and stops at the double layer
- Backlit polyester — the seam is lit from behind, which is the hardest condition there is
- Satin and silver-coated faces — a gloss surface catches the slight ridge at an angle
Fabrics that hide a seam
- Blockout at 250 gsm and up, where no light passes at all
- Crystal velvet at 850 gsm, because pile breaks the line completely
- Brushed flannel, acoustic felt and linen-look woven — surface texture reads louder than the join
- Mesh, where your eye is already resolving an open weave
Matte, heavy and textured fabrics hide a seam. Sheer, glossy and backlit fabrics reveal one.
Centred by default · ask to move it
You can tell us where to put the seam
The default is centred, on an even split. Three panels or more, evenly spaced.
Ask for a different position and we set it. Off a face, off a logo, off a line of type.
Send the request with your artwork, or email sales@printfabrix.com before you order. Seam position is drawn on your free digital proof, so you confirm it on screen before anything prints.
One constraint applies. Moving a seam off-centre makes one panel wider, and that panel still has to fit inside the seamless printable width.
Almost nobody offers this, and it costs you nothing. Tell us the one place the seam must not fall.
Design for the join
What crosses a seam well, and what does not
Continuous photography crosses a join cleanly. Skies, gradients, foliage, out-of-focus backgrounds, anything without a hard edge.
Hard geometry is the opposite case. A straight rule running perpendicular to the seam exposes the smallest step in alignment.
Three things to keep clear of the join:
- Fine type and any text under 30 mm cap height
- Logos, wordmarks and registered symbols
- Thin rules, grid lines and tight repeating patterns
Keep fine type and small detail well clear of the join, on both sides. Where that is not possible, ask us to position the seam around it.
Working at scale changes what counts as fine detail. Set your file up correctly first in Artwork & File Guidelines.
Not ideal for
- A logo lock-up centred on a piece wider than the seamless width — the default seam lands straight through it.
Consider instead
- A requested seam position that runs through empty background, set before we make your proof.
One run · one batch
Colour across the join
Every panel in one piece is printed in a single run, off one roll, on one press. Colour reads continuous across the seam for that reason.
Order a replacement panel months later and it comes from a different batch. Small shifts between batches are normal in dye-sublimation, so a late panel is the one thing that makes a join obvious.
Order the whole piece at once. What dye-sub can and cannot hit is set out in Colour Matching & Pantone.
Backlit · the one real exception
A seam in a lightbox is visible
Light from behind finds the join. Two layers of fabric plus a line of thread stop more light than one layer of fabric.
The result is a soft dark line down the graphic. Distance does not rescue it, because the whole panel is lit evenly and the line is lit less.
So the honest advice is short. Keep lightbox graphics inside the seamless printable width for the backlit grade you have chosen.
Not ideal for
- One backlit graphic wider than the seamless width — the seam shows as a dark line once lit.
Consider instead
- Two lightbox panels butted at the frame, or blockout polyester where the piece does not have to be lit.
Your size · what happens
Work out what you will receive
Take your finished width. Compare it against the two figures for your fabric, then read across.
| Your finished width | What we make | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Under the seamless printable width | One panel | No seam. Nothing to design around. |
| Over seamless, under maximum seamed | Two or more sewn panels | A flat-sewn join, centred or evenly spaced. Tell us where to put it. |
| Over the maximum seamed width | Nothing yet | We contact you before printing, with the widest piece that fabric will take and the closest alternative fabric. |
Nothing prints until you approve the proof. Panel count and seam position are both shown on it.
Printed in 24–48 hours. In your hands in 7–10 days.
One limit worth naming
A swatch cannot show you a seam
The free pack answers weight, opacity, finish and hand across all 17 fabrics. It carries no join, because each swatch is cut from one piece.
Not ideal for
- Judging how a seam will read on your fabric — there is no seam in the swatch pack to judge.
Consider instead
- A photograph of a sewn sample on your chosen fabric, before you commit to anything over the seamless width.
Planning something over the seamless width? Email sales@printfabrix.com and ask for the seam photo — free.