To turn an ultrasound scan into a keepsake design, crop it to the scan itself, remove the clinic text and personal details, clean up the grain and contrast, and prepare a version that reads on the product's colour, either as a cleaned photo or redrawn in a simple style. The result works as an ultrasound shirt for a pregnancy announcement, a baby shower gift, an ornament, a mug or a nursery print, as long as the buyer sees and approves the cleaned image before it prints.
This guide is for sellers of personalized pregnancy and baby products. An ultrasound keepsake is one of the most personal things a buyer will order from you, so the job is half technical (making a poor image printable) and half care (handling a family's private image with respect).
What a raw scan looks like to a printer
Ultrasound images are difficult print material. The clinic printout is small and grainy, the image sits in a dark fan shape on a black rectangle, and text runs along the edges: the clinic name, the date, measurement marks and often the parent's name. Buyers often send a phone photo of that printout, which adds glare, a tilted angle and sometimes stripes from photographing a glossy sheet or a screen.
A print file has to hold up at full size. One print provider gives 300 DPI as the recommended resolution for JPEG and PNG files, and another reminds sellers to size the file to match the actual print dimensions so the DPI is calculated correctly. A small scan stretched across a chest print falls well short, which is why the image needs cleaning and enlarging, or redrawing, before it goes near a shirt. Our article on printing photos on t-shirts covers the same problem for other photos.
Collecting the scan from the buyer
Etsy's personalization tools cover this. A listing can have up to 5 personalization fields, including one file upload field, and buyers can upload up to 10 files of up to 100 MB each, as .jpg, .png, .svg, .heic or .pdf. Each field can be set as required, so make the upload required and add a text field for the name or date the buyer wants on the design.
Tell the buyer what helps, in the field's instructions:
The clearest scan they have, or a digital copy if the clinic provided one.
A photo taken straight on, in daylight, with no glare across the image.
The wording and date they want added, typed exactly as it should print.
Two privacy rules come with the job. Crop away names, ID numbers and clinic details unless the buyer asks to keep the date, and add that date back as clean text. Never use a buyer's scan in your listing photos or social posts without their permission, and make your sample mockups from an image you have the right to use.
Cleaning the scan for print, step by step
Straighten the image and crop it to the fan-shaped scan area.
Remove the text overlays, measurement marks and logos.
Reduce the grain while keeping the outline of the baby's profile.
Lift the contrast so the light parts read from a few steps away.
Choose the background: keep a dark fan as a frame, or make the background transparent so only the image prints.
Prepare a light and a dark version for different product colours.
Add the name, date or a short line as a separate text layer in a readable font.
Send the buyer a proof and wait for their approval.
The proof matters more here than on almost any other product. Compare the cleaned version with the original scan before you send it, because any cleanup or redraw can smooth away detail or add detail that was not there, and the buyer knows this image better than anyone. Do not offer to read the scan (guessing the sex or a measurement, for example), because that belongs to the buyer's medical team, not a print shop.
Photo-real or redrawn
A cleaned photo stays closest to the original, but it is full of soft gradients. One print provider notes that on DTG, gradients are tricky to print and colours on dark garments may be less vibrant, so order a sample. On dark shirts a DTF transfer helps, because DTF uses a white ink layer on the film so transfers work on any fabric colour.
A redrawn version, as line art, a soft sketch or a watercolour, prints cleaner, works on more colours and reads from across a room, and it looks like a keepsake rather than a medical document. If you redraw with AI, Etsy says seller-prompted AI creations must disclose the use of AI, so say so in the listing. Our article on selling AI-generated art on Etsy covers the disclosure.
Products and occasions it suits
| Product | Occasion | Design approach |
|---|---|---|
| T-shirt or sweatshirt | Pregnancy announcement, baby shower, a gift for the parent-to-be | Transparent background, scan plus a short line, light version on dark colours |
| Ceramic mug | Telling the grandparents, Father's Day | Scan beside a name or due date, on a white mug |
| Ceramic ornament, round or heart | Christmas while expecting | Scan cropped to the shape, due date underneath |
| Canvas print | Nursery wall art | Larger size, where a redrawn look holds up better |
| Tote bag | Baby shower gift | A simple line-drawing version |
| Baby bodysuit | After the birth, a "my first photo" theme | Small redrawn version with the birth date |
The calendar gives this niche its peaks. In the US, Mother's Day falls on May 10, 2026 and May 9, 2027 and Father's Day on June 21, 2026 and June 20, 2027, and ornaments sell towards Christmas on December 25. Mugs, ornaments and tumblers are decorated by sublimation onto a coated surface, and for canvas and other large-format products, one provider's file guide recommends 120 to 150 DPI rather than 300. For more shirt angles, see our pregnancy announcement shirt ideas.
Some buyers order a scan keepsake after a loss. Keep the listing language gentle, let the buyer choose every word on the design, and answer their messages with care.
How Alomations helps: image to image and buyer photo slots
In Alomations, image to image redraws a reference image in a chosen look ("Choose a look"), and one of those looks is an ultrasound look that cleans a real scan for print. You can also redraw a scan as a softer illustration in another look from the style library. Every design comes back print-ready at 12 inches and 300 DPI, as a transparent PNG with an SVG alongside, in light and dark versions for different product colours. Our article on image to image shows how a reference becomes a design.
For made-to-order keepsakes, a design can hold a buyer photo slot. The buyer's photo arrives with the order, is cropped around faces and detail, and can be redrawn in a look before the print file is prepared, while an editable field for a name or date means the listing reaches Etsy with personalization switched on. Orders arrive resolved on the orders screen, with the buyer's text and photos attached. There is more in our article on buyer photo slots.
Frequently asked questions
Can you print a real ultrasound scan on a shirt?
Yes, once it is cleaned up. A raw scan is small and grainy, so crop it, remove the text, reduce the grain, lift the contrast and size it for the print, then get the buyer's approval on a proof.
What should the buyer send?
The clearest scan they have, ideally a digital copy, or a straight-on photo with no glare. Etsy's upload field accepts .jpg, .png, .svg, .heic and .pdf files.
Can I use a customer's scan in my listing photos?
Only with their permission. Make your sample mockups from an image you have the right to use, and keep buyers' scans private.
Do I have to disclose AI if I redraw the scan?
If AI does the redrawing, yes. Etsy says seller-prompted AI creations must disclose the use of AI.
You can connect your shop and make your first keepsake listings on the free plan, which includes up to 4 AI images a month.
