T-shirt Print Size and Printing Specifications

This is a 12" design, the width is approx 8", properly prepared artwork for a one-color print, black ink on white t-shirts. Preferably we would receive this design via email in a PSD, grey scale format at 1-300dpi at the size it is to be printed. Or an EPS, scalable artwork, at the size that it is to be printed. Email artwork to admin@yque.com or admin@t-shirts.org

This section is more of an instructional blog. Often I get inquiries for jobs that I move along through the printing cycle knowing that the only way to truly get a job approved is to get the sample into the hands of the customer. However, due to time constraints and shipping cost, I try using digital photo samples to get quick approvals (which often suffer color variations from lighting problems, but that is another post). The one area that always creates confusion is the size of the artwork. No matter how specific I am, this part of taking a t-shirt printing order is the most confusing, yet it is the simplest problem to solve with a little communication, a ruler and a simple draft print from an ink jet printer.

I always request from a customer that they indicate to me the size of a graphic when they email me the file, in inches, in one-direction, either the width or the height of the design. It's just that simple, but most people can't find a ruler, assume that what I see on my end is what they see on their end, or they are just lazy and figure I should "know" what size they want it by looking at the design. I recommend that the customer should print the artwork out from their end from an ink jet printer and hold it up to a shirt. Also that they should trim it along the edges and tape it on a shirt, then stand back a few feet and squint. Surprisingly the squinting really helps at eliminating the edges of the paper and this provides a pretty good sample of what a print will look like. Printing a color background around the design that is the same color as the shirt that is going to be used for the job is a good way to get a more accurate view of how the design will look on any particular shirt color. Then MEASURE THE DESIGN with a ruler and email the dimensions.

Otherwise, here's what happens, a printer often prints things to fill a page, then when the file is emailed to our art department it might open at 6 inches across instead of 10 inches across as the customer intended. Then we open the file, proceed to print a film, shoot a screen make a sample shirt, shoot a digital photo, email it to the customer, wait to hear back and the customer replies, "it's too small, can you make it bigger?" Still no mention of how big they want it though. This drives me crazy and the customer hates it too, because I usually reply, "How big do you want it, in inches?" They reply, "Just fill the front of the shirt". Oh my god. I've gotten this far without committing suicide, but this type of email thread pushes me closer to the edge than anything else. Why can't people just say how big they want a design in a measurement that I can use?

The print above is 12" high print approx 7.5" wide on a white Large Hanes T-shirt. Although it may look small on a shirt laid out flat, which is approximately 22" wide, it isn't that small on a person wearing it. Take a ruler and measure your chest and you'll see that unless you want to be a walking billboard, this size ain't so bad.

continuing...

Here's the kicker, I indicate that shooting a new screen will cost $30 per color and require a new proof and setup, which will delay the order. Obviously we have their attention now, "Why?", they ask, "I indicated how big I wanted the design in the layout image that I sent to you earlier, 25,0000 emails ago". This "image" of course was a pdf layout or a jpeg of a graphic that is not usable as artwork and although it may have been an indicator of the size, every t-shirt size if different and different brands are different, MOCK-UPS are not an indicator of artwork size. This is why we suggest that a customer send the actual measurements of the design IN WRITING, preferably in inches, not a graphic rendition of how the design will look on a shirt. Don't get me wrong, these mock-ups do help, but nothing replaces an actual measurement for how large a design should be.

Lastly, one computer system opens a file at one size and another computer may open that file at a different size. I don't know why, it's preferences, programs or just random acts by God to frustrate graphic artist and destroy our economy by wasting our time, like SPAM. If God so loved the world he would smite spammers off the planet, but I digress. It just happens. It happens even when I forward files to my own print shop. The only way to double check the size of a design is to indicate how big a file is, in inches. No matter how many times we were told in school that the Metric system was going to take over our world, in the US, that hasn't happened, our rulers still show inches and we think that way in our print shop.

By the way, do they still tell children that the metric system will rule the world someday? All things change, just like the food chart. Have they added candy to the food chart?

Maximum standard print area is 10" wide X 12" high.

For Women's and Youth shirts you may not want to go larger than 9" wide.

We can turn the frames horizontally and print 12" wide, but on smaller sizes the print will not work and may go under the sleeves.