DTF Gang Sheets for Youth Basketball Team Transfers

The client handed over a spreadsheet full of player numbers and a single reference PDF for a set of youth basketball team transfers. The job was turning that raw roster data into print-ready gang sheets for a direct-to-film (DTF) press — with no room for guesswork on size, color, or layout.

• Strict canvas dimensions matching the reference PDF exactly — DTF film is expensive, and a wrong canvas size means resetting the whole print run
• Black and white designs only, no color
• Designs grouped by team, which ruled out auto-arranging/nesting software
• Specific file naming rules from the client to prevent mix-ups at the print shop

• Built a separate sheet for each team, matching the reference dimensions exactly — in DTF printing, close enough does not work, so every canvas was sized precisely for the printer.
• Since these were single-color transfers, spacing was everything: elements packed too tight bleed into each other and ruin the whole shared sheet, so every player number was placed manually to keep clean gaps.
• Avoided auto-nesting tools entirely — they optimize for material efficiency but scramble the layout, which would be a nightmare to sort on a multi-team order. Manual placement kept every team organized for the press operators.
• Followed the client's file naming format exactly, since on a print run with multiple teams in sequence, the file name is the only thing stopping the wrong team's sheet from going to the wrong shirt run.

The client confirmed everything printed cleanly and lined up right on the press, with zero rework needed on their end.