Make the T-Shirt Design
• Choose a suitable t-shirt transfer paper for your project. Many design stores sell t-shirt transfer papers in kits that allow them to transfer photographs onto light-colored or dark-colored t-shirts. Choose the transfer paper that is most suitable for your t-shirt design.
• Choose a suitable photograph for your custom t-shirt design project. You can use personal photographs or obtain one from the Internet. If you have hard copy photographs that you would like to use on your custom t-shirt design project, scan the photographs into your computer.
• Open the photos in a graphics program for editing. Rotate, crop, and resize the image if necessary.
• Add a border to the photo. Choose the border color and design that is most suitable for your custom t-shirt design project. Consider making the bottom border larger and the side and top borders smaller. Make sure the border is symmetrical.
• You can customize the t-shirt design by adding text slogans to the border using a suitable font. The font color and size should match the border color and design.
• Reverse the image to make it correct for printing onto your t-shirt.
• Name the image and save it onto your computer as a JPEG file.
Print and Adhere the T-Shirt Design
• Place a sheet of transfer paper into your printer according to the manufacturer’s directions.
• Open the saved JPEG file in a graphics program and select to print on a suitable template.
• Print out the image and cut around it on the transfer paper. Be sure to make a small border of about an inch.
• Take an iron and set it to high cotton setting and turn off the steam setting. Leave the iron to pre-heat for around five minutes.
• Place a clean pillowcase on an ironing board and place the t-shirt at the center of the pillowcase. Be sure to adjust the t-shirt to ensure it is smooth and flat.
• Hold the transfer paper with the image side facing down and position it on the desired position on the t-shirt. Be as precise as possible with the positioning of the image.
• Iron the transfer paper along the edges for about 15 seconds. Make sure to iron the edges of the transfer paper thoroughly and allow the iron to sit in each area for around 15 seconds. Once you have finished ironing out the edges, iron the whole surface of the transfer paper to ensure it is completely adhered.
• Peel the transfer paper appropriately depending on the image finish you want. For a satin finish, peel the transfer paper while it is still hot. On the other hand, a glossy finish can be achieved by peeling the transfer paper after it has completely cooled off. Start peeling the transfer paper from the corners.
Creating custom t-shirt designs can be both fun and profitable. You can create your own t-shirt designs using a computer, printer, and standard graphics application.
