TOP 12 TIPS

1.) Always Save Your Work!!!!
Why? Because... DUH!

2.) The layout you see will closely resemble what you'll get.
All of our fans are hand cut and assembled So there will always be some variation in the cut!  You should notice the shaded area around the design. This is the bleed area. This will get cut during production so keep the things that matter most towards the center of the fan and away from these edges. Please note that cutting may occur slightly beyond these bleed areas in order to properly get the fan attached to the ribs. As a rule, keep all text or important elements of your design as far away from these Bleed Areas as possible if you are worried about them getting cut off!  

3.) Look For Pixelation. If you can see it now, you'll see it on the fan! 
Nothing sucks worse than seeing an image you thought was good blown up and looking icky! If you don't know if your image is good enough to print then check it on a computer. If you can blow up an image by 150% and see pixels, you probably don't want to use it to print with. 

4.) Use a Computer or Laptop.
Although our app works on mobile, we strongly suggest using a real Computer / Laptop to build your work. (The Mobile App is already in the works.) 

5.) Make sure you have a good Internet connection!
This will save you load time and what not in the end. It will also save you from losing your work.

6.) Make your work and purchase it quickly. 
Oh, how we wish we had more space to save every design! But we don't :(. Old designs will be cleared out at the end of 8 hours, so beware! 

7.) Choose ONE device to make your custom work on. 
Things sometimes don't transfer from one device to another for editing.

8.) Make sure you have all the images you want in one place and in the right format! 
Nothing sucks more than losing your creation because you're missing a pic you want, or because what you thought was a PNG was actually a JPG. Gather what you want on your fan before you start, and make sure it's downloaded on your device. We can't reach into your clouds to grab files. (It's against the law, we asked.) 

9.) Check to make sure we can grab your Instagram photo you want to use before you start. 
We have size requirements that our app uses to grab pics from Instagram. If it has the swirling circle of death it's probably not the right size. If you really want to use that pic, download it on your device first! :) 

10.) Make sure your work isn't COPYRIGHTED or TRADEMARKED! Or that you at least own the rights and can prove it. 
We do look at every image in every order for quality. If we see an image that we feel may be copyrighted or trademarked we will e-mail you asking for proof of rights. Why? So we don't go to jail. (We look bad in stripes.) This is explained more in our Terms. 

11.) Choose Your Ribs Wisely..
Plastic ribs look great under lighter backgrounds... They are smoother and continue to give you looks! However, they are weaker than our Bamboo and Metal Options. If you are a Heavy Thwoorper or have a tendency to Drop Things you may be better choosing a Bamboo Rib or Metal rib.

12.) BREATH! 
You're making art. Don't Stress out! This is meant to be fun... not intense. 
(Although it could be intensely fun! We don't judge.) 

 

Click HERE To Start

(Or to just to play with our interactive app.) 

FAQ

What's the Difference Between Bamboo, Plastic and Metal Ribs?

All of the Fan ribs we use have Pluses and Minuses. But we want you to be in full control of the Custom Fan Building process. This is why we offer Rib Color and material options.

Here are the major Plusses +++ and Drawbacks --- for each style of Rib:

Plastic -

Pluses +++

• More Color Options
• Smoother appearance under lighter fan designs
• Very Shiny
• Much Lighter weight

Drawbacks ---

• Breaks easier than bamboo ribs

We use recycled plastics to make this is a very strong Plastic Rib. However, if you’ve ever dropped anything plastic (like your phone) you will quickly realize that anything plastic as the ability to break in the strangest ways. O.o We highly recommend upgrading to a Bamboo Rib if you are a heavy thwoorper or have a tendency to drop things. (Let’s put it this way if your phone has a crack in it… this style of rib will probably get cracked too.)  

Bamboo - (Most Popular)

Pluses +++

• Much Stronger (Heirloom Quality)
• More Renewable Resource
• Still Shiny
• Light Weight

Drawbacks ---

• Can Still Snap Uner Extreme Pressure.
• Can look spotty with Colored bamboo under white or light fan backgrounds/designs.

Bamboo is our most popular style of rib. And you can see why! It’s Renewable, and a strong alternative to a plastic rib! This is what most of our Stock Daftboy Fans are made with due to this durability. This is Perfect for heavy thwoorpers! The only real drawbacks are that under great pressure this rib style can still break. However, it is much more flexible than a Plastic rib. Also as the need for the wood to directly contact the glue to secure the fan’s fabric the colored version of this rib can appear spotty/splotchy especially on white or very light colored backgrounds and fan designs. If you want a bamboo rib for a light colored design we highly recommend using the natural bamboo option for a more even appearance.

Metal -

Pluses +++

• SOOOO Strong
• Heavy Weight
• Loudest Snap

Drawbacks ---

• Heavy Weight!
• Potentially Dangerous
• Can Rip through the fabric over time.

These Stainless Metal ribs give a thwoorp that dreams are made of! They are very strong hard to bend and are so shiny.  But be careful! The sheer weight of these fans can hurt someone if thwoorped in a crowd. And over time the will start to rip the fabric slightly. After all, it’s moving parts of metal on fabric. This is not for anyone under the age of 18. But still highly recommended.

My Image Won't Load... Because It's too Small / too Big???

Our processor blocks photos that are too small but cannot see things like resolution or lighting. (It is a very farsighted robot). A good way to tell if your photo will print great on a larger scale is to check the resolution. We print at 300 dpi, so you want to be as close to this as possible. If you are still nervous, you can perform what we call the "zoom test" on your image prior to upload. Open up your photo on your computer's photo viewer, and zoom in a little bit. If you are seeing pixelation when you zoom, this will also show up in print.

As a general rule, we recommend printing photos that are taken in natural light. Indoor photos at low light can look fuzzy. (Sorry bar selfies!) 

 

What Photo Sizes Do You Allow? 

Currently, we have limitations for our uploading image requirements:

Minimum Width: 500 pixels
Minimum Height: 500 pixels
Maximum Width: 3500 pixels
Maximum Height: 3500 pixels

Most images on your phone will work fine. However, if you're having trouble with images that are too big we recommend resizing these on a desktop. Images Smaller than 500 pixels should not be used as they will pixelate badly upon printing. 

Will my final fabric fan look exactly like the image on my screen? 

Let me start off by saying... Not Quite. But Close!  Basically, it all comes to the different ways these two mediums use color! Because we are moving from one medium (lights on a computer screen) to another (ink on fans), the representation on your screen is not always accurate to what will print. Dark Images and colors will print Darker on actual fabric And lighter images and colors can look more "Washed Out"!  This is mainly because unlike your computer or phone screen real life isn't backlit with lights.

 

So choose your colors wisely! This is especially true of blues and oranges or variations thereof and gradations in your images.  

So placing pink on orange (variations of orangeish colors) or a purple on black (variation of close blue colors) may look very different on a screen but may look like they are the same color when printed!

If you want more Pop to your color combinations we suggest using different variations of colors and brightens to get more contrast. ;) 

Can I save my order and continue later?

So you can save your project, but just for a short time... about 8 hours. And only on one device.  Sorry to say it, but we cannot save incomplete orders longer than this time. We wish that we could but we don't currently have the back-end in place to support this, but it's in the works! We advise you to check out quickly after you upload your images and do not keep orders in your cart for long periods of time. Our website times-out after 8 hours to get some beauty sleep.  

For products with a lot of images, we advise you to gather and arrange your images in a folder on your desktop prior to uploading them to our site so you don’t lose your work. This also makes it easier for you to upload everything in one fell swoop!

Why is it taking so loooooong to check out? 

The larger the file, and the more complex your design, the longer it will take to compress and make your images into something we can print. Our best advice is to make sure you have a strong internet connection. (Wifi works best!)

If I order More than 1 can I get a discount?  

We do give price breaks for larger quantities of the same design!

Our current price breaks are as follows:

 

Didn't find your answer?

We are updating these all the time!

Please Feel Free To E-mail us With Any Questions: custom@daftboy.com

ALL THE TOOLS

Tools Over View: 

 

Add Text: 

Using Our Text Tool You can:

• Overlay any Text you want!
• Resize it
• Change the Font
• Curve your text
• Re space your Text
• Center your text
• Move your text around
• And more...

 

TEXT COLOR:

Beware that your default text color is white which will disappear on a white background. Use the color square to change your text color. 

 

TEXT FONT:

Also, Fonts can be hidden upon first opening the text box. Use the drop down to see text styles available: 

 

TEXT CURVE:

To Curve Text Click the symbol that looks like this: 
 

You Need to Make sure the cure ist turned on or is green.

We found that for fans larger circles work better with a medium text stretch.

Note: You will need to move arrange your text after using the curve too to make sure you like the way your curve looks. 

To stack curved words it's best to add multiple layers of text that are each curved. 

  

Add You Image or Images from Instagram:

We don't support Drag and Drop... YET.

And please note that not all Instagram images can be uploaded due to sizing.  We can only use images on your Instagram account and will need you to sign in via our app to give us permission. 

Uploading Image Requirements:

Minimum Width: 500 pixels
Minimum Height: 500 pixels
Maximum Width: 3500 pixels
Maximum Height: 3500 pixels

 

Add One of Our Clip Art Designs:

We have new images that we are adding all the time. Most of these are background options or overlay pages. Take a look as we are adding images for holidays and events all the time. 

 

Lower Top Icons:

 

 
This is where you can select and alter text after the fact. Or move images on top of each other. This is where you can rearrange! 

 

Allows you to save your work on this one IP address. 

 

Loads work saved.

 

Show snap guides to center work.

 

Show your project full screen with no tools.