Tips for Having Custom T-Shirts Printed



One of our custom tee jobs.  2-color print on 50% polyester/50% cotton tee.

 I decided to share a little helpful info to all of you that are in the market for needing custom tees printed.  Somehow you've been selected by the church, family reunion, youth track team, etc. "committee" to get t-shirts ordered.  So you're saying to yourself..."I've never ordered tees before, what do I need to know and where do I start?"


As a t-shirt designer/printer, I recognize you're entering a realm that can be confusing for the customer and there's a good chance as you start calling around for quotes you're going to get a wide range of new terminology thrown at you with a wide range of pricing....BUT it does not have to be confusing....


WHICH IS WHERE I ENTER THE PICTURE....


My tips will help ease this process for you and allow to fret over some other aspect of your event.....

1. PRICING - In my experience THE most important client concern.  To understand pricing, know what affects your pricing.
1. Count - How many t-shirts do you want?  Its all based on economies of scale, the more tees you buy the cheaper the price per tee.
2. Color(s) - How many colors are in your design that you want printed?  In the above image there are 2 colors being printed to make up the design which are black and white.  The fewer colors in your design the cheaper the tee.  You guessed it, 1-color is the cheapest!
3. Print Locations - How many locations are being printed on the shirt?  For example, is there a front and back print?  Front print, and a print on the sleeve?  Each location we print increases the cost.  Yes, the cheapest way to go is a 1-location print.
4. Garment - What are we printing on?  Black t-shirt?  White t-shirt?  Long or short sleeve?...Size?
1. Dark colored tees are more expensive than white tees.  Why?  Because I have to pay for dye.
2. Typically size 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, etc....are more expensive than sizes S-XL.  Why?  I'm not trying to discriminate against the larger people, its just that it takes more cotton and I incur that cost as well.
2. ARTWORK - The 2nd biggest concern.  I could do a whole blog on artwork but I'll try to keep this short and sweet.  We ask for your artwork in a vector so we can scale your artwork, maintain resolution, and separate colors for printing purposes.  Any graphic designer you hire to create a design or logo for you should deliver a vector file to you as part of the final delivery.  If they tell you they are unable to do it, find another graphic designer.
1. With that said, when the art is not in a vector format we have to convert it to a printable format.  I charge an hourly rate for this process.  To avoid this cost, make sure you have vector artwork that is in vector format and ready for printing.
2. If you do not have a design, we carry a lot of stock artwork ad also have dozens of fonts available for prints that just require text.  In these cases you do not need to submit vector artwork.
3. TIMELINE - How soon do you need your tees?  Our typical turnaround is 10 business days on custom jobs from the time artwork is finalized.  It helps us when we know your timeline and can plan accordingly.  If you do not have artwork allow for extra time.
4. QUALITY - We at I Can Clothing pride ourselves on the quality of the product we deliver.  I'm sorry but we don't specialize in cheap tees.  In some cases we may not be the cheapest in town, but we can say you get what you pay for.
1. We don't like faded tees so we always recommend a 50/50 blended tee of cotton and polyester when printing on a dark colored tee.  This blend holds color much better than 100% cotton.
2. On light colored shirts such as white or gray, we use 100% cotton.  You can't fade what's already faded......
3. These are our professional recommendations but for custom jobs we will use a specific tee if the customer has a preference.

Example of a 2-color (black/white) back print 100% text.

I hope this helps, if you're in need of tees and especially if you're in the DFW Metroplex I'd be glad to meet with you and help determine how we at I Can Clothing Co. can meet and exceed your need apparel needs.  You can email us at sales@icanclothing.com.