Helpful Graphics Sites for T Shirt Printing

We have a lot of customers that are using online Apps and Websites to create the artwork and then bring it in for us to print. This is a great and fun thing to do, but you need to be aware that spending sometime on a website and creating a Logo for your business will not have the same quality look and feel as using a graphic artist. If you just want a Logo to get going with as you are starting out great, creating a few Tee’s that have an individual look to them, this is a perfect idea and you will have a great time doing the design and will have a sense of achievement at the end as well.

We are going to give some advice that we have found through printing for our customers and some of the pitfalls that come along with the process. We will be giving our opinions from our experiences, we are happy for you to make your own choices and own decisions, we will always do what we can to help and make your designs look good with in reason.

Often when people bring in designs, they have done online with a free app the design will not have a transparent background, while this can be fine in some instances, it is often a problem if you are printing onto a White T Shirt and the background is off white, as this will then print a box instead of a floating image on the T Shirt, a floating image (No Background) will always look far more appealing than a image with a box around it. This is easy to achieve with some apps, and more difficult with other apps. We have the ability to remove backgrounds in Photoshop for you if you ask us to, but it can be difficult if the background and the image are too similar. Always try and save the image to be printed with a transparent background.

The Resolution of the image matters. Most of the free apps and websites save the images at around 1000×1000 pixels at 75DPI, while this is Ok, we would recommend the settings be at 1000×1000 pixels at 300DPI. There is nothing worse than getting your T Shirt printed and then seeing that the Text is pixilated or some of the detail is lost. Size Matters, High Resolution Files will always print better than a low-resolution file.

We have had less than desirable outcomes for customers using Canva, often the saved file will have a fine line down the side of the artwork and if we are not aware of this, we will print the image with the line in it as it is hard to see on a PC or Mac. We have also found that the background if black or white are not a true Black or true White and then there is a background printed on the shirt, while we do our best we have to work with what we are given. If you are supplying art from Canva it is best to let us know so we can show some extra care in the preparation. We cannot guarantee the outcomes we will do our best.

The Word Art apps are a great fun way to create a custom print, the resolution is usually on the lower side, but we have found them in general to be fine. Most of these apps do not give the option to do a transparent background, if you are creating a design and want it printed white ink on a black T Shirt it is best to do the design with a white background and black artwork and ask us to adjust it in Photoshop for you.

The online design tool that we have had the best success with is Place It. https://placeit.net/t-shirt-design-templates The Design tool creates and allows you to save print ready files that are perfect for printing, with a good amount of free templates that are easy to use, or a paid subscription with more detailed templates, it is easy to use and give quality print files.

Our online designer is also a great option with clip art, and photos that are ready to use, add some text style and then save and buy. We are aware that the Apps and websites have a lot more templates and are very easy to use. We believe that the combination of using these multiply sites and Apps can make for a T Shirt that has an individual look.