AI Artwork for Custom Stubby Coolers and Bar Mats

Ask for flat artwork, not a picture of a cooler

AI image tools are built to make pictures. Ask one for “a stubby cooler design” and most will draw a cooler sitting on a bar — a nice image, but not one we can print. What we print is flat: the panel is dye-sublimation printed, then sewn into a tube.

So the prompt has to describe the flat artwork itself. Tell the tool it is flat print artwork, give it the size and shape, and tell it what not to draw — no cooler, no can, no table, no shadows. The prompts further down do all of that for you.

Start with the right size and shape

These are our design templates, in pixels at 300 dpi — the resolution we ask for on every order.

Most AI tools won’t produce an exact pixel size, and that’s fine. Ask for the shape, then send us the largest file the tool will give you. If it’s too small to print sharply, we’ll tell you before anything is made.

Keep the important details away from the edges

The edges of a cooler panel are trimmed, and once it is sewn, the two short ends meet at a seam on the back under a black join strip. Anything sitting right at an edge can be cut off or land on the seam. Let the background run all the way to the edges, and keep faces, names and logos towards the middle.

Bar mats have no bleed — the artwork is the full 880 × 250 mm mat — but the printable area is the central 840 × 210 mm. Keep everything important inside it.

Leave the words to us

AI image tools are still unreliable with lettering. Letters get swapped, doubled or invented, and names come out misspelled — which is the last thing you want printed on a hundred wedding favours.

The easier way: ask the AI for the picture only, and tell us the names, dates or wording when you send it. We set the text into the layout ourselves, and design layout and a digital proof are always included. If you do want the AI to add words, list them in the prompt exactly as they should read, and check every letter before you send it.

Copy-ready prompts

Each prompt carries the size, the shape and the things AI tools tend to get wrong. Copy it, replace the parts in square brackets, and paste it into ChatGPT, Gemini, Midjourney or any other image tool. The same prompts sit on the standard cooler, slimline and bar mat pages.

Create flat, print-ready artwork for a custom stubby cooler (also called a stubby holder). This is the flat panel that gets printed and then sewn into a tube, not a picture of a cooler.

Canvas: 2657 x 1417 pixels, landscape (225 x 120 mm at 300 dpi). If you can't make that exact size, keep the same wide shape.
Fill the whole canvas edge to edge with the design. No white borders, frames or margins.
The edges get trimmed and the two short ends meet at a seam on the back, so keep faces, names, logos and other important details towards the middle, away from the edges.
Do not draw a stubby cooler, can, bottle, hands, table or any 3D mockup. No shadows, perspective, crop marks, guide lines, labels or watermarks.
Only add words I list here, spelled exactly as written: [your words, or "no words"]

My design idea: [describe your design]

Create flat, print-ready artwork for a custom slimline stubby cooler for slim 250 ml cans (also called a slimline stubby holder). This is the flat panel that gets printed and then sewn into a tube, not a picture of a cooler.

Canvas: 2303 x 1831 pixels, landscape, a little wider than it is tall (195 x 155 mm at 300 dpi). If you can't make that exact size, keep the same shape.
Fill the whole canvas edge to edge with the design. No white borders, frames or margins.
The edges get trimmed and the two short ends meet at a seam on the back, so keep faces, names, logos and other important details towards the middle, away from the edges.
Do not draw a stubby cooler, can, bottle, hands, table or any 3D mockup. No shadows, perspective, crop marks, guide lines, labels or watermarks.
Only add words I list here, spelled exactly as written: [your words, or "no words"]

My design idea: [describe your design]

Create flat, print-ready artwork for a custom bar mat, seen from directly above. This is the flat artwork that gets printed onto the mat, not a picture of a bar.

Canvas: 10394 x 2953 pixels, a long, narrow landscape about 3.5 times wider than it is tall (880 x 250 mm at 300 dpi). If you can't make that exact size, keep the same long shape.
Fill the whole canvas edge to edge with the design. No white borders, frames or margins.
The mat has a black rim that is not printed. Only the central 9921 x 2480 pixels (840 x 210 mm) is printable, so keep logos, names, faces and other important details well inside that area.
Do not draw a bar, bar mat, glasses, bottles, hands or any 3D mockup. No shadows, perspective, crop marks, guide lines, labels or watermarks.
Only add words I list here, spelled exactly as written: [your words, or "no words"]

My design idea: [describe your design]

Before you send it

• It’s flat artwork. No cooler, can, bar or table drawn into the image.
• The shape is right. Wide for coolers, long and narrow for bar mats.
• The important details sit towards the middle. Faces, names and logos away from the edges.
• Every word is spelled correctly — or there are no words, and you’ve told us the wording.
• It’s the biggest file the tool will give you — a PNG or JPG download, not a screenshot.

Then send your quote request with your quantity and date, and attach the image to our reply email.

Only use artwork you have the right to use

AI tools can reproduce logos, brand names, team crests and well-known characters very closely if you ask them to. Before you send artwork, make sure you have the right to use what’s in it — your own photos, your own logo, or something you’ve made.

Rather not use AI?

You don’t need it. Send a photo, a logo or a rough idea and we’ll take it from there. Orders of 10 or more include custom artwork at no extra cost; under 10, artwork we create is quoted with your order. See how it works.

Frequently asked questions