Planning Decisions for Your
Garment Printing Projects
Whether you design a shirt yourself or have us do it for you, here are some basic design considerations to think about before you place your order. Having answers to these questions will result in a beautiful product.
The High Concept
First, what's the overall idea or essence of the shirt? What do you want to accomplish with it? What's it for?
It could be something like, "I want to make a shirt with a photo of my baby to give my mom for her birthday."
Or: "I want to make a shirt for my child that he will love to wear. Maybe it will have one of his favorite sports photos on it."
Or: "I want to design a shirt for my church group that will give us a visual identity in the community when people see it."
Or: "I want to make a funny, cool shirt that will be fun to wear and also send the message that I am single and looking."
Or: "I want a shirt that we can sell in a fundraising effort. It should look good and send a positive message about our cause."
Or: "I want a classy-looking shirt that will I can wear to attract clients to my business."
The high concept defines your project so that you can move ahead to the next step.
The Graphics
Printed shirts are very visual. Choosing your graphic is a very important step. It answers the question "How do you want the shirt to look?"
Do you want a realistic photo, graphic art, text, or a combination?
With DTG printing, unlike screen printing, you can print full-color photos directly onto shirts. Maybe you have a great photo you'd love to feature on a t-shirt. See the sidebar to the right for more information on submitting photos.
When photos are techncially fine, no problem. But if the photo quality is not so hot, other options may be used. Turning photos into art is also a good solution for when you have an image of poor technical quality that can be improved artistically.
Original photo is grainy and washed out
As a "painting," the image has more pop
Photos can also be combined with graphics, such as putting realistic photos into frames that are graphic art.
Your photo(s) may also need to be edited, cropped, or enhanced in image editing software. The following photos show how an image can be altered in Photoshop, which is especially good when an original photo is not the best technical quality.
The original photo
A subtle paint effect improves the image
This cartoony effect accentuates outlines
A fresco effect
Another option is to convert the photos into scalable, editable vector art in software like Adobe Illustrator.
A photo converted to vector art in Adobe Illustrator CS3
Of course, the above photos could be further cropped and edited to get exactly the right look for your project. They could also be combined with other graphics to create an original work of art.
Many shirts are fashioned from graphic art, such as a company logo or favorite brand name. Or maybe you've made or come across some art you'd like to turn into a t-shirt concept.
If you're so inclined, you can make art yourself with a graphics program like Adobe Illustrator. Or you can find a pre-made graphic. The Internet is filled with sources where you can find free or inexpensive clip art as well as stock photos. (If you don't have sources, we do.)
A clip art sun (above) is added to a homemade graphic to create this 10"x10" emblem for a t-shirt.
The graphic(s) you find may also need to be edited to get exactly what you want. Vector art is great for this. You can change colors or even change the art to more specifically match your creative vision.
The Text
Next, decide if you want text added to your graphic. Maybe you want just text without a graphic.
Besides choosing the actual words, text decisions also include the font and style that it is rendered in.
Text does not have to remain as a standard issue font. Text can be jazzed up in a software program to become a work of art in its own right.
The Layout
When you know what graphic(s) you want to use and what text to include, the next step is to create a layout. This is how the words and pictures are arranged on the shirt.
You can create the layout yourself in your favorite software. We can print up to 14"x16". See our guidelines for more details.
Or you can have us do the layout for you. In that case, let us know if you have any special requests about fonts, sizing, or designs. Art charges may apply for this option.
Fabric and Colors
Another consideration to make is what color of shirt do you want to print on. With DTG, the rule of thumb is the darker the color of the shirt, the more the ink is influenced by the background.
If you print on a white shirt, there is no background interference. It prints as if printing on white paper. But if you print on a color, the ink will mix with that background color as shown below.
If printed on white
If printed on midtone green
Printing on darker colors can create some great artistic effects though. If the ink is darker than the fabric color, then something will show up.
Your choice of background color will also influence your choice of other colors such as text and graphics. If you absolutely, positively must have a specific shade of red text, you will want to steer clear of fabric colors that will dramatically alter the text color.
At Creativity On we have a color chart that we can print on a shirt sample so that color choices for printing on colored shirts can be made with more precision.
Quoted prices
Whenever we quote a price, it includes printing.
Call us at (503) 365-1955
We are eager to help you create a successful project. We'll be happy to answer your questions.
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