How to Make Custom Printed T-Shirts
Designing an unique t-shirt for fun or work is simple. Choices range from do it yourself to online retailers printing your creations for a fee. You can place a few words on the front of a shirt or cover the entire front and back with your design.
Free to make a graphic that express your idea and print it on a t-shirt is exciting. The purpose means little providing that the results fit your image. Techniques individuals use to print custom t-shirts are cheap and costly. You need to choice a process that corresponds to the graphic’s detail level and the main use of the shirt. If the t-shirt were manufactured for a small business, an iron-on transfer wouldn’t last like professional screen-printing.
Things You’ll Needed
- Computer
- Illustration application (Adobe Illustrator)
- Internet access
- Drawing paper
- Scanner
- Pencil
- Tracing Paper
- Markers
- Draw the design for the t-shirt with drawing paper and pencil. Experiment with different looks and ways to arrange the elements.
- Place a piece of tracing paper over the finish design and try different colors. Doing this cuts down on the time spent choosing colors in your illustration software.
- Scan the finished drawing into the computer, saving as a JPEG at 150dpi. Make sure you change the scan settings so you see the fine lines by adjusting the type of scan or brightness and contrast. Don’t worry about erase marks or other spots on the paper, you won’t trace them.
- Open the illustration application, import the JPEG into a fresh document and select the pen tool. Carefully trace the lines and shapes of the design. Change the thickness of the lines to create depth and utilize the layers feature of the program, it makes organization of elements easier. If you find this step difficult, search for online tutorials on ‘tracing with the pen tool.’
- Check over your finished lines for unseen mistakes and fix them. Save the document as a PDF and EPS. Keep the original file for future changes or in case the printing company needs the design saved in a different format.
- Research t-shirt printing companies; compare the cost of each order and the services offered. If you are a small business, a few companies print your product and offer space to sell them on their site. Check out local screen-printing shops if you don’t want to have the work displayed online.
- Follow the steps needed to submit your designs to the company chosen. Read over any paperwork before signing.