Tote bags: the handles and the fold decide the placement

A tote is worn, carried and folded, and none of those show the same part of it. Where a design has to sit to survive all three.

A tote is used in three positions and looks different in each. Flat on a table it is a rectangle. On a shoulder it is a rectangle with the top third hidden behind an arm. Folded in another bag it shows almost nothing.

Design for the shoulder

The shoulder position is the one other people see, and it is the one that hides the most. A design placed high sits behind the carrier's arm and body most of the time. Centred or slightly low survives being carried.

The handles are not printable

• The print area stops below where the handles are stitched
• Anything crossing that seam prints across a raised, doubled section of fabric and looks uneven
• Leave the seam alone entirely rather than trying to work around it

Canvas is textured

Tote canvas has a much coarser weave than a t-shirt. Fine lines and small text break up on it in a way they do not on jersey. Solid shapes and heavy type are the safe choices, and small print is the one to avoid.

The dashed area in the editor already excludes the handles and the seam, so a design placed inside it lands on flat fabric.

One or two colours

Natural canvas is not white, it is a warm off cream, which shifts every colour printed on it slightly. Simple palettes survive that shift. Carefully balanced multi colour artwork often does not.

A tote gets more use than a shirt

People wash tote bags rarely and carry them constantly, so the print takes abrasion rather than heat. That favours solid areas of ink over fine detail, because a broken hairline is obvious in a way that a slightly worn solid shape is not.

Both sides

Only one side is printed, and the bag turns over constantly while it is being carried. If the design matters, make it something that reads instantly rather than something that rewards a long look, because half the time nobody is seeing it at all.