How to Make Shirts With the Pictures of People
With little more than a blank T-shirt, computer and ink jet printer, you can make a shirt with a picture of a person on it. You will use the ink jet transfer method to print a photo and transfer it to the shirt. The supplies for this project can readily be purchased at an office supply store and clothing store, or online.
Things You'll Need
- Digital photo
- Image-editing software
- Ink-jet printer
- Ink-jet paper
- Ink jet transfer paper
- Scanner (optional)
- T-shirt
- Iron
Instructions
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Select a digital photo. The best photos for this project have a strong composition and high contrast. They should look good from a few feet away.
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Use a photo printed on paper by scanning it into the computer at 300 pixels per inch.
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Open the digital photo in an image-editing program such as Photoshop or Corel graphics suite. You can download Open Office Suite for free if you need an image-editing program.
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Increase the size of your photo if desired. Print the photo on a piece of regular paper and lay it on the blank T-shirt to proof the image. Make any further adjustments to size. You can also enhance the photo with type.
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Flip the image horizontally in the image-editing program and print it on a piece of ink-jet transfer paper.
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Place the ink-jet transfer paper face down on the T-shirt in the desired location. Heat the iron to the high-cotton setting and iron the back of the transfer paper firmly for four to five minutes. Carefully remove the backing paper to reveal your printed shirt.
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Tips & Warnings
This technique works on many types of shirts and fabric. Fabric with at least 50 percent cotton works best.
Ink-jet transfer works best with light or white shirts. Special paper is available for printing on dark and black shirts. It is more expensive and the colors are not as bright. For best results on dark shirts, trim the transfer paper right up to the image using a very sharp pair of scissors. Otherwise, the white of the paper will print as part of the image.
For washing, turn shirts inside out and wash in cold water.
Low-resolution photos do not look good when printed. Many images found on websites are at 72 pixels per inch resolution and do not print well. Images at 180 pixels per inch and higher will print better.
