Silver Horse Studios

Printing T-Shirts has been an incredibly popular thing to have done for practically every occasion imaginable over the last several decades. And why not, after all? Here are just a few occasions when printing T-Shirts is in order…

T-Shirts Printing For Gifts

Custom and unique gifts are almost always the most appreciate kinds of gifts in this day in age when most people seem to have nearly everything already. Printing T-shirts as gifts is as simple as coming up with a great little slogan or having a favorite picture digitally imprinted on the shirt. People just love ’em!

Printing T-Shirts For Bands

This one is practically a “gimmie,” but let’s cover it anyway… Every band, rock and roll or otherwise, needs their own T-Shirts to sell or just to have for memory sake. Fans love to be able to show their passion for their favorite musical groups; rocking the right band T-shirt is only about the most time tested and respected way to show off that patronage.

T-Shirts Printing For Profit

That’s right – printing T’s for profit is what it’s all about. Novelty T-shirts are always a favorite, especially by internet shoppers who are looking to support their favorite political ideal or some funny trend that they just can’t get enough of. When printing T-shirts in quantity to resell, it’s simply a matter of coming up with a catchy phrase or slogan and doing a little testing of the waters before scaling up the printing operation to full gear. With the right T-shirt design, it’s hard not to make a profit at all!

Printing Sports T-Shirts

We wouldn’t be writing about t-shirts if we didn’t cover this major tees arena. Sports related t-shirts are incredibly popular. Every team or tournament, no matter what level, should have their own t-shirts printed to show off that team pride. When it comes to sports, custom T shirts are practically just expected.

Wouldn’t you agree that printing tees is almost a necessity for every occasion imaginable?

Screen printing custom t-shirts is one way of creating promotional giveaways. They don’t have to be giveaways because you can charge for them, but the important thing is that they are advertising you or your group on the chest of everybody that wears them. Get that WOW factor into the design, and people will look back as the wearer passes them and see the same message on the back!

What do you want on your t-shirt that’ll promote you? Your name – OK for a band. Your logo – OK for a business. Your photograph – OK for individual entertainers or bands. Your design – great for anybody or any organization needing some advertising. Check that all out and you’ll see that screen printing custom t-shirts can meet just about any merchandising need.

Merchandising is the creation and sale of items that advertises you or a group you represent. That could be a manufacturing or sales business or a pop or rock band. It could be an individual singer or entertainer, a product or anything else that needs promoted to the public. Custom t-shirts make sure that what you are promoting gets as much exposure as possible in your own neck of the woods – and even farther afield.

Screen Printing Design and Custom T-shirt Merchandising

Screen printing is the usual method of creating the design on such apparel, although other printing techniques are available such a DTG – direct to garment – where the garment is printed directly on an oversized inkjet printer. There are other techniques, but the main point is that you can have merchandise printed with your logo, name, slogan or even your photograph to promote what you have to offer.

You can provide these at a cost during your gigs and not only make money but send out walking adverts into the streets. Every time somebody wears your t-shirt they are advertising you – or whatever you’re promoting on the shirt. It’s not hard to make – simply contact a t-shirt printer, choose one of their stock images or send them your own, and have them printed. You usually need to have about 200+ printed to get a decent price, but if you can’t sell 200 are you really popular enough to promote yourself?

Promotional Giveaways and Advertising Opportunities

You may not want to give your t-shirts away for free, especially not if you can charge for them as most do before, during and after their gigs and concerts. Businesses may do so, because the printing cost is normally only a very small part of their advertising budget. Individual artists and bands may have smaller budgets, and fans who attend their gigs will usually be more than willing to pay for t-shirts with their band’s name on them. Think of a nationally recognized rock band without its own t-shirt!

Screen printed custom t-shirts are commonplace in the popular entertainment business, and if you want to make it in this scene then you need a t-shirt! Your Fans will be looking for merchandise at each concert or gig – no matter how large or small. Don’t lose this opportunity, because you not only make some extra cash, but you also get more eyes on you and your name.

Custom T-shirts and Promotional Giveaways: Summary

Custom t-shirts need not be promotional giveaways, and they can be used as an additional source of income. You can charge for them and make money unless you believe their advertising worth is more than their cost. If you have a gig in a local bar then start selling them – if they sell well, then good. If not just give them away. You can likely pay for a good run with your first gig earnings, and then judge the benefit of giving them free to your fans. It might work, it might not – your choice then.

What you can’t deny is that custom t-shirts work for a whole host of individual singers, bands and even comedians, businesses and individual products. So don’t write them off as not applying to you because they do. What you think doesn’t matter – it’s what other people think. The people that attend your gigs – and if you go on tour… well, the result could be awesome. How many ‘tour’ t-shirts have you seen walking around in every street in the country!

If you want to know how to make your own shirt, then there are several t-shirt printing options available to you. Many garment printing methods are commonly used, and you may have heard their names without understanding the differences between them. Does it really matter? Not really, and the printer you choose will select the one which is most suitable for your design and garment.

What are you looking for? Do you want to know how to make your own shirt, or have t-shirt printing done for somebody else – maybe as a gift to a friend or one of your relatives. Your brother or sister maybe, or your #1 buddy perhaps? It doesn’t matter – the steps to take are the same for anybody.

How to Make Your Own Shirt: Step 1

Your first step will likely be to choose a design for the shirt. It doesn’t matter if it is a tank top or a regular tee – the principle’s the same. Here are some ways how you can choose the design:

Draw your own: if you are good at drawing or painting then create your own design. Get your pens or paints out and create your own design. This can be anything you want it to be. Some people paint a portrait of their friend while others simple draw some squiggles – you draw or paint what you want.

Use a Photograph: Take a photo if you prefer, and have that printed onto a t-shirt. Modern digital photographic techniques can transfer your photograph onto a printing plate and then onto your garment. A digital camera or cell phone is good for this. Take your picture and send it in.

Use an Image: If you are stuck for an idea then check out the internet for some free images. There are several sites online that will allow you to use images free of charge. Simply Google ‘free images’ and see what you get. Make sure to read the licencing agreement, but most sites offering images free of charge simply don’t want you to use them for profit. So don’t sell your t-shirts displaying these images.

T-Shirt Printing: Step 2

Once you have decided on the image you want printed – this could simply be the person’s name or an appropriate slogan – then get it into a digital format. Check with your printer for their preferred format. A standard graphics format such as JPEG will do. Some accept TIFFs and PDF but they must be flattened, because layered image files cannot be guaranteed to reproduce your image as it was when created on your computer.

Now contact a printing company that specializes in garment printing. You don’t have to choose one in your own town or even state. The digital file containing the image can be transferred to the printer online, and the final garment delivered to you. It is better to use a specialist garment printer, because they will be set up with alternative printing methods to suit your design and garment color.

It’s easy to print a white t-shirt with any design or image, but colored shirts, particularly bright and darker colors, require print techniques that can handle them. Make sure that your printer has machines that can use screen printing, sublimation and direct to garment (DTG) printing. This will give you the confidence that they can handle your job, no matter how difficult it is to print.

How to Make Your Own Shirt – Choose the Shirt!

Knowing how to make your own shirt is the start. You now know the type of images that can be printed onto your shirt: lettering, photographs and drawn or painted images. You can add logos to that for commercial advertising.

The final step is to choose the t-shirt! Most printers offer you a choice of garments in different styles and colors. Make your choice, complete the online form and send in your images – job done! All you do now is to wait for your printed t-shirt!