T-shirts may seem simple to design for but there is actually a lot to it. I am on the team for the 2010 Fifth Third River Bank Run this year and we recently just sent 3 training t-shirts to be printed. It took all 5 people in our team, as well as professors Alison Larabel and Linda Powell, working together to get the three shirts designed, approved, and packaged up and sent to the printer in time for the deadline. There was a lot learned and the knowledge will certainly come in handy in the spring when we’re getting the race day shirts ready to be printed.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR DESIGN
There are some basic guidelines that should be considered and followed when designing for t-shirts. You can choose to print directly to the shirt or through heat transfer.

Direct Printing - Printing directly on to the shirt with screens.

Heat Transfer - Image is printed backwards on transfer media.
Benefits:

• Cheaper than direct printing.
• Less time consuming
• Good for low quantities with a lot of colors
• Prints better on dark shirts
• Easier to order on demand

PLACEMENT
Where the image is being placed will make a huge difference in the price and time it takes to print the t-shirts.

Images can be printed on the front, back, and sleeves. It is harder to print on the sleeves though so it costs more. It also takes more setups to print on the sleeve and front or back than it would to print just front and/or back.

It’s hard to bleed images off the edges, though it is possible. Before deciding to do it though, make sure it’s necessary for the design. Few places will pay to have it done because the cost is so high.

Put the shirt on! Never just let the printer choose where it should be placed on the t-shirt. See how far it should be from the neck or edges. Make sure the images doesn’t go into bad areas or letters don’t get cut off revealing bad words.

CHOOSING A SHIRT
When choosing a t-shirt brand, it’s best to go with a name brand, quality shirt. Hanes and Fruit of the Loom are a couple of good, safe brands. Just avoid off brands.

Also, choose a shirt with the right fabric. All brands of shirts are made different, some smalls are extra small and others are more like mediums. If you know you have a smaller shirt brand go with something that won’t shrink like a 50/50 cotton, polyester blend. If you have a larger shirt brand it’s probably safe to go with the 100% cotton. Cotton is nice because it stays soft after it’s been washed, with more polyester you need to worry about piling (little balls that show up on the surface of the shirt).

There are a lot of colors to choose from, just like with paper or anything else. It’s a good idea to get a swatch card from the t-shirt maker to make sure the colors of the image will show up well on the color of the t-shirt. White shirts are the cheapest, with pastels and grays costing a little more and dark shirts being the most expensive.

Going along with the “try the shirt on” lecture. Another reason to try the shirt on is to make sure the size of the image will fit for the range of shirt sizes. The image will look different on a small shirt than it will on an extra large. Because of this, it’s important to consider all of the shirt sizes and try to get the image to fit all sizes well. When child sized shirts are being used there usually needs to be another, smaller sized image for them. It’s typically possible to get away with only 2 image sizes when ranging from kids to extra large.

PRE-PRESS
When creating a package for the printer it’s important to remember:

• Separations. It’s a good idea to print these early to avoid last minute fixes. Make sure to LOOK AT THEM! Make sure there isn’t anything missing or anything extra on the pages.
• Spot Color. Make sure to have the correct color models and give a color swatch for the printer to go from.
• Convert text to paths. It just makes things easier. This way there’s not need to worry whether or not the printer has the correct typeface or about remembering to send it to them.
• Ask about trapping. It’s always a good idea to let the printer worry about the trapping. Each printer does it a different way. It may be helpful to call and ask them how they’d like it set up in the document.
• Image placement. On an image of a basic t-shirt, place the final image to be printed. On one copy, include the measurements of where it should be placed on the shirt. It’s good to include one copy without the measurements as well.
• Composite. Show a color composite at 100% for the printer to reference.

COLOR MATCHING
Screen printing inks don’t always convert to Pantone. Because of this, it’s necessary to include a swatch chip for the printer to match to. It’s also a good idea to ask to see a proof to make sure it’s close enough to the specified color.

Screen printing inks are semi-opaque so on dark shirts the colors will get duller. It’s possible to under-print white to brighten the colors but remember, the white counts as a color. If possible and appropriate, try incorporating the white into the design to get more use from it.

The color that is shown to the client should match that of the shirt in the end. If showing them a color that isn’t correct, be sure to tell them the color isn’t accurate. When this is the case, it’s a good idea to show them a color swatch so they can have an idea of the color selection.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES
With every project it’s always good to get something out of it and learn something new. Our team definitely learned a lot from our experience. Here are a few of the bigger nuggets of knowledge we gained.

• NO MASKING! Masking is bad for separations and a bit of a pain to fix so avoid it if possible.
• Printing White. We learned there is no Pantone white or other color to specify for white when screen printing. You simply need to use a color that 1) isn’t used in the shirt and 2) stands out from the others and call it “white”. Then just tell the printer, in as many ways as possible, that the color is actually supposed to be printed as white.
• Old Technology. Most printers, especially screen printers, aren’t up to date on the latest software. So it’s a good idea to save down. It’s usually best to ask the printer what version of the software they have and if they even use the  same program as you.
• Be careful who you choose! Not all printers know what they are doing as well as others so it’s important to be selective.