Decorating with T-shirt transfers is an excellent way to show the world your creativity. Using unique designs will inspire your imagination and allow you to share it with others. If you are a graphic designer, an illustrator, or just a lover of cool T-shirts, having your design on a T-Shirt is a great concept. Use your imagination to create your own designs with personal photos and artwork, or use purchased designs and photos.
Now that you have the images that you want to work with, scan or download them to the picture editing program that you are using. Make any changes that you want. You can move photos around, change the size, add effects, adjust the colors, or add text. Remember to view, edit, and manipulate your design until you like what you see. When you have the design the way you want it, then you are ready to print. You want to make sure that the image appears backwards or that you are looking at the mirrored image so that it will print correctly. Test print first to make sure it is correct before you print on the transfer paper. Choosing the transfer paper is important. Make sure you use light transfer paper for light shirts and dark transfer paper for dark shirts.
Afterwards, you can choose which type of shirt you want to print on. The weight, size, and color will all affect the end product. Starting with a blank T-Shirt is like starting with a blank canvas, and choosing the canvas for your art is important. The most popular material for T shirts is 100% cotton. But 100% cotton does not mean that it is quality cotton. There is regular cotton, and there is ringspun cotton. If you want a softer, nicer feel to the T-shirt, start with ringspun cotton. It is also a better material to print on. Other materials to choose from include a cotton polyester blend, but the color may have spots of grey or black throughout. There are also tri blends and organic cottons to choose from. You don’t want a T-shirt that will scratch the skin and shrink at the first sign of water.
The fit of the shirt must also be considered. To decide which fit is best for your T-Shirt, you must decide who your target market is. For example, if you are making T-shirts for people who wear them regularly, you might want a fitted T-Shirt. For the street wear crowd, a baggy box cut would be best. After that, it becomes personal preference. After you have the shirt you want, you can head back to the printer and decorate those blank T-shirts with your unique design using the transfer you created.
