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Set up print areas in the Product Builder | Chamevo Support Center
Set up print areas in the Product Builder
Define the exact printable region on each product view so Chamevo generates correctly sized, export-ready files for your printer.
Updated April 25, 20265 min read
A print area marks the region on your product canvas that maps to the physical printable surface. When a customer customizes the product and places an order, Chamevo uses the print area to crop and scale the design to the correct output dimensions for your printer.
Every view can have one or more print areas. Products that need image uploads — such as photo books or multi-panel canvases — typically use one print area per panel.
You know the physical print dimensions for your product (width × height in millimeters, and bleed if required by your printer).
You have a high-resolution background image for the view so you can position the print area accurately.
Add a print area to a view
Go to Chamevo → Products and open the view you want to configure in the Product Builder.
Open the Print areas tab in the sidebar.
Click Add print area, give it an identifier, choose a size template or enter width and height in millimeters, then click Add area.
Use Edit print area on canvas to position and resize it over the printable region of the product.
Configure print area settings
With the print area selected, its settings appear across three tabs:
Profile — size, bleed, and print profile.
Options — the export switches (Export only and Exclude from export), Guides (bounding box, bleed box, and helper color), and Controls (zoom and ruler icons).
Visuals — mask and placeholder.
Size
There is no pixel-based positioning — a print area is sized directly in millimeters.
Size — chosen from a size template (A0–A5, Letter, business card, etc.) or entered as custom width and height in millimeters. This tells the export engine the real-world size of the printable region, so Chamevo can scale the canvas content correctly when it generates a print-ready file.
Bleed adds extra space around the print area so the design extends to the trim edge when cut.
Bleed — set the bleed value in millimeters when you create the print area (ask your printer; 3 mm is common for apparel DTF).
Enabling bleed tells the exporter to include extra content outside the defined print area edges. See Configure bleed zones for a full walkthrough.
Mask
A mask clips the visible canvas area to a specific shape — useful for non-rectangular products like phone cases, mugs, or round stickers.
In the Visuals tab, choose a preset shape (Square, Triangle, Circle, Heart, Star), or click Upload a custom mask (SVG) to clip to your own shape. The SVG shape defines the visible region; anything outside is clipped.
Choose None for standard rectangular products.
Export only
Turn on Export only to keep a print area in the final print-ready file while hiding it from the live customizer.
When Export only is on:
The print area is included in the exported print file.
It stays out of the customer's way in the customizer. Customers cannot select, move, or zoom into it, and the ruler does not apply.
Use Export only for content that belongs in production but not in the shopping experience:
Production marks — registration marks, color bars, or operator notes that your printer needs but the customer should never edit.
Print-only content — fixed artwork that always prints on the product, regardless of what the customer designs.
A whole-view wrapper — an export-only area that surrounds the editable print areas. On export, it outputs everything inside it — the interactive print areas and shared backgrounds — as one combined file, with its own bleed and crop marks.
Leave Export only off for any print area you want customers to design in. It is off by default.
Exclude from export
Turn on Exclude from export when customers should design in an area, but the area should not get its own print file.
When Exclude from export is on:
Customers can still select the area and design in it, just like any other print area.
Chamevo generates no separate print-ready file for it.
Its artwork prints inside the file of the print area that encloses it. If several areas enclose it, the smallest one is used. An export-only area on the same view also includes it.
Use it for upload zones that sit inside a larger area. For example, a photo slot on a poster: customers upload into the slot, and the photo prints as part of the full poster file instead of as a separate file.
Export only and Exclude from export cannot both be on. While one is on, the other switch is disabled.
Make sure an excluded area sits fully inside another exported print area, or the view has an export-only area. Otherwise its artwork is not printed. The Order Viewer warns you when this happens (see manage orders).
Add multiple print areas to one view
One view can contain more than one print area. Use multiple print areas when a product has distinct zones — such as a left chest and a back on the same garment view, or individual panels on a multi-panel canvas.
To add a second print area:
With the view open in the Product Builder, click Add print area again in the Print areas tab.
A new print area is added. Position and configure it the same way as the first.
Print areas are created and numbered in order. This order matters when customers upload images (see Multi-image upload below).
Each print area has its own size, bleed, and mask settings.
How print areas work for customers
By default, customers do not see the print area boundary directly. Instead:
When a customer uploads an image, it is placed on the canvas. The print area defines which portion of that image is included in the exported file.
If the image extends beyond the print area, only the content inside the print area (plus any bleed) is exported.
Elements placed outside all print areas will not appear in the exported print file.
Show the print areas to shoppers
If your product has several print areas and shoppers keep leaving one blank, add the Print Areas module to the customizer. It shows one print area at a time with its own artwork preview, plus prev/next buttons that walk the whole product — switching the view automatically at a view boundary. Add it in the UI Composer, or place it anywhere on the page with a shortcode.
When a view has multiple print areas, you can let customers upload several images at once and have each image placed automatically into the next available print area.
To enable:
Go to Chamevo → Settings → Features.
Enable Multi-Image Upload.
Save settings.
Once enabled, a customer who selects three images at once will have the first image placed in print area 1, the second in print area 2, and the third in print area 3 — in the order the print areas were created. Export-only print areas are skipped, since customers cannot design in them. This is especially useful for products like photo books, multi-panel canvases, or any product where each print area holds a distinct image.
If the customer selects more images than there are print areas, the extra images fall back to the current active print area.
Check your setup
The print area box covers the correct printable region of your background image.
The print area size (in millimeters) matches the physical print size your printer expects.
Bleed is set if your printer requires it.
If the product has multiple print areas, they are numbered in the order customers should fill them.
Open the product on the front end and upload a test image. Confirm the preview shows the design inside the correct region.
Place a test order and export the file. Confirm the exported content matches the print area position and output size.
Troubleshooting
Exported file is the wrong size — check the print area's size (mm) in its Profile tab. This controls the physical scale of the export, not the pixel size of the canvas.
Design is cropped unexpectedly — the customer's element may extend outside the print area. Elements outside the print area are not included in the exported file. Check the element position on the canvas.
Second print area does not receive images during multi-image upload — confirm that Multi-Image Upload is enabled in Chamevo → Settings → Features. Also verify the product view has more than one interactive (non-export-only) print area.
Mask is not clipping correctly — if you uploaded a custom mask, check that the SVG file uses a valid shape path. Try a preset shape to confirm masking works, then re-upload the custom SVG.
Print area is misaligned with the product image — the background image dimensions may not match the canvas size. Adjust the canvas width and height to match the image, then reposition the print area.
A print area has no print file of its own — check whether Exclude from export is on in its Options tab. Its artwork prints in the enclosing print area's file instead.
Order Viewer says "nothing to print" — every print area in the selected views is excluded from export. Turn off Exclude from export on at least one area, or add an export-only area.
An export-only print area is missing from the customizer — that is expected. Export-only print areas are hidden from customers on purpose, but still appear in the exported print file. Turn off Export only if customers should be able to design in it.
Q: How many print areas can I add to one view?
A: There is no fixed limit. Add as many print areas as your product has distinct printable zones — for example, two for a front-and-back garment panel, or six for a six-panel canvas.
Q: Will customers see the print area boundary on the canvas?
A: Not by default. The print area only controls which region of the canvas is included in the exported print file. To make print areas visible and navigable, add the Print Areas module to the customizer.
Q: Does Multi-Image Upload work across different views?
A: No. Multi-Image Upload distributes images across print areas within the same view, in the order the print areas were created. Images do not cross view boundaries automatically.
Q: What happens if a customer uploads more images than there are print areas?
A: Extra images beyond the number of print areas fall back to the current active print area. The customer can then reposition them manually.
Q: Can customers design in a print area that doesn't get its own print file?
A: Yes. Turn on Exclude from export in the area's Options tab. Customers design in it as usual, and its artwork prints in the file of the enclosing print area.
Q: What does the Export only toggle do?
A: It keeps a print area in the exported print file but hides it from the live customizer, so customers can't select or edit it. Use it for production marks, print-only content, or to output a whole view as one combined file.
