I have never created a design to be used on a T-shirt. Met a potential client recently who is an artist and he expressed an interest in drawing designs that would be scanned and converted to graphics for use on t-shirts. I gave him my business card and suggested when he is ready to give me a call.
Now, I need to know what the possibilities are and what kind of graphic I need to create that he can use. I suspect there is more than one method of creating printed t-shirts so what would be the most flexible type of file for me to create for him?
I am pretty sure he also has no idea of how the final t-shirt would be printed. Any information and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi.
Pretty broad as far as answers will come I suppose but maybe posterize his design down to a 4 and 6 color version.
Making colors slightly overlap one another.Give it to him in CorelDraw format and recommend he get a copy of Corel? ..Also EPS.
I bet the T-Shirts pros will chime in with the best answers.
~John
Hello niagaramouse; It seems to me you have at least two ways to go, screen print or heat transfer. The main thing I think is to get a vender that you trust to do the work, willing to give you a proof and guarantee there work. ( Best if in writing. )
My Thoughts George
If the quantity is small, look to see if there is anybody near you that does Direct to Garment printing.
That is a bit like an inkjet printer but it prints straight to the garment, without requiring a transfer. The results are very much like CMYK silk screen but without the costs of making the screens.
niagaramouse said: I have never created a design to be used on a T-shirt. Met a potential client recently who is an artist and he expressed an interest in drawing designs that would be scanned and converted to graphics for use on t-shirts. I gave him my business card and suggested when he is ready to give me a call. Now, I need to know what the possibilities are and what kind of graphic I need to create that he can use. I suspect there is more than one method of creating printed t-shirts so what would be the most flexible type of file for me to create for him? I am pretty sure he also has no idea of how the final t-shirt would be printed. Any information and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
There is a t-shirt company who resides all over the place, in america as in europe - Spreadshirt.
They make print to garment amongst things. Worth a try.
www.spreadshirt.com
RunFlaCruiser said:Also EPS.
I have been looking at t-shirt printing websites, it seems a lot of them will accept cdr files but I would create eps so the client could use it with anyone. I don't think I will actually be dealing with the printer, just creating the design. It will most likely be hand drawn with pencil, charcoal or pen. I would scan from there and create a vector graphic if at all possible.
So thanks for your recommendations, I will inform the client (if we go forward with this project, he may have just been dreaming) that he should get a printer that will print one-of to start with so he knows the quality. Also, direct to garment sounds like a good idea.
Thanks Stefan, I usually prefer to use local people where you can go to their shop and deal directly with them.