How to Print on a T-Shirt

T-shirt printing is very popular now that there are a number of easy ways to create your own custom designed shirt. You can even start your own T-shirt business with little or no start-up cost. Print-on-demand T-shirt companies like Zazzle have also popped up to give prospective small business owners a way to print T-shirts automatically and ship them out to customers without ever having to handle or see the shirt. If you just want to print T-shirts for your own personal use, the solution is just one trip to your local supply store (or online store) away.

Things You'll Need

• Inkjet printer
• T-shirts
• T-shirt design
• Iron

Instructions

1. Complete your T-shirt design (or have a professional graphics designer handle the task). Purchase inexpensive medium to heavyweight T-shirts from your local crafts store or an online T-shirt outlet. It is entirely possible to find shirts for about $3 to $5 each when you buy in bulk.

2. Buy T-shirt transfer paper from a store like Staples, OfficeMax or Office Depot. Print the T-shirt design on this special paper as a "mirrored image" (backwards) and then iron the image onto your T-shirt. Allow time for the T-shirt to cool down before wearing it. This is best for a shirt that you plan to use yourself because the visual quality of a transfer paper T-shirt is low. Expect to pay about $15 for a package of 10 to 15 transfer pages.

3. Send your completed T-shirt print design to a local screen printer. Screen printers can work with both a drawn design and an online file. They have special machinery that allows them to print professional quality images on shirts. Expect to pay between two and five dollars or more per shirt, depending on the style and weight of the T-shirt.

4. Sign up for an account with Zazzle (see direct link below in "Resources"). Upload your designed image and position it on the T-shirt "dashboard" they provide for you. When everything is right, add your T-shirt to your cart to purchase. Plan on paying about $15 to $20 per designed shirt.

Tips & Warnings

• To save money on a screen printer, purchase your own T-shirts in bulk instead of having them provide the shirts.. See a popular T-shirt wholesaler in the Resources section below. Keep in mind that some designs print better on certain colors of T-Shirts. If you are designing your shirt with a white background, you will probably want to only buy white T-shirts to be printed. If you want to use a different colored T-shirt and don't want a white background, you will have to save your T-shirt design image with a transparent background (see links below for how to do this).

Resources

• T-Shirt Transfer Paper
• Saving an Image File with a Transparent Background
• Zazzle T-Shirt Printing
• T-Shirt Wholesaler