PNG vs SVG: which do I need?
PNG for anything you print or post at a known size — it is a pixel image and supports transparency. SVG for anything a machine cuts or that must scale without limit — it is vector. Apex stickers and wall art ship as PNG (wall art as one 4:5 300 DPI file); no Apex product includes an SVG.
- 01
PNG
Fixed pixels, lossless, transparent backgrounds. At 300 DPI a PNG prints sharp up to the size its pixel count allows and no further. This is what sticker printers, DTF printers and print labs want.
- 02
SVG
Paths, not pixels. Scales to any size with no loss and is what Cricut and Silhouette cut along. Not every design translates to vector cleanly — painterly or photographic art does not.
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What Apex ships
Stickers: a transparent 300 DPI PNG. Wall art: one 4:5 300 DPI raster file. 3D models: GLB and STL (neither is an image). Canva templates: a Canva link, exportable from Canva as PNG, JPG or PDF. No SVG anywhere — for a cutting machine, print the PNG and use print-then-cut.
Can I convert a PNG to SVG?+
Tools will trace it, with a quality that depends on the art. Flat, bold shapes trace well; gradients and detail do not. The result is your file to use under the same license.
Which one for a shirt?+
A transparent PNG at print resolution for DTF or sublimation; an SVG only for vinyl cutting.
Which one for the web?+
PNG for photos-with-transparency; SVG for icons and logos that must stay crisp at every size.
- —Apex does not ship SVG for any sticker — every design is a transparent PNG.
- —Wall art is not available as vector.
- —A PNG does not scale up without softening — see the resizing answer.
Sticker files that say what they are.
Transparent 300 DPI PNG on every design. No SVG — print-then-cut is the cutting workflow.