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White underbase for dark vs light garments: density, highlight white and knockout

White ink is the most expensive thing you print and the most likely to go wrong. Too little and colours look dull on black; too much and the transfer feels like a plastic plate. The right amount depends on what it goes on.

6 min read · Updated 2026-09-21
In short
  1. Black / dark garments: white density 100 %, highlight white 10 %
  2. White / light garments: density 60–70 %, or no white under pure white areas
  3. Coloured garments: full white, and knock out black only if the fabric is black

Dark garments

  • White density 100 %. The base must be fully opaque or the shirt colour shows through light colours.
  • Highlight white 10 %: adds a little extra white under very light colours (yellow, pastels) that otherwise look muddy on black.
  • Less white under dark colours 0 %: on black shirts dark colours still need the full base, otherwise the ink sinks into the fabric and looks flat.

Light garments

  • White density 60–70 %. A lighter base saves ink and makes the transfer softer; the shirt is already light.
  • Less white under dark colours 30–40 %: navy, brown and black areas print thinner and feel less like a sticker.
  • Designs that are mostly white: consider Colour only for the white areas of a white shirt — no ink, the garment is the white.

Knockout black

On a black shirt, black in the design does not need to be printed at all: the shirt is black. Knockout removes near-black pixels from both colour and white so those areas breathe. Use it only on black fabric — on a navy shirt a knocked-out black prints as navy.

Layer order

Colour first, then white on top is the film order for a wet-on-wet single pass; ZoroPrint prints the colour layer and the white layer in one job, so you never realign anything. “Together” mode prints both in the same pass and is faster on printers with a strong white channel.

Print it right with ZoroPrint

Free for one printer. The channel test, preflight and white underbase from these guides are built in.

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