Designing your own t-shirt transfer is a great way to market your business, commemorate an event, or start your own unique line of t-shirts. If you know any witty, humorous, or creative quotes and sayings that you think other people will want to wear, it can be a great way to start your own business. There are a few things you should know before designing your transfer:
1. You can create a design by simply utilizing fonts and dingbats. Dingbats are ornamental fonts with symbols and decorative elements instead of letters and numbers. Keep in mind however that this may be limited or unacceptable for anything other than a one-color transfer if at 300 dpi.
2. Adobe Photoshop and Coreldraw are two of the most popular programs for creating designs and rendering vectors, which are both acceptable for print and resolution independent.
3. Alternatively, you can create your design and then take it to a graphic artist who will turn it into a format that is acceptable for printing by your production company.
4. A single color design – say white text for a black or dark color shirt – is the least expensive option. Some production companies can produce designs with multiple colors, but with each color you are adding more cost to the bill. Additionally, some colors will need an underbase in order to show well too.
5. Layout is critical, so learn about your production company’s sheet size and how many of your designs can fit on a single sheet. Remember to leave room for cutting if the production company does not offer precutting.
Companies generally have minimum orders, so be sure to factor this in as well as the cost per design. You can also ask for samples of their work to confirm the quality of it. Once you find a fit for your budget and quality needs, you will be all set to develop your own product line.
