Printing Planet UK
Designing your own custom t-shirt for the first time can feel overwhelming. There are colour models to understand, file formats to navigate, and a hundred small decisions to make before you even think about pressing print. At Printing Planet UK in Putney, we help beginners and experienced designers alike get their ideas onto garments every day. This guide walks you through each step so your finished shirt looks exactly as you imagined.
Step 1: Plan Your Message
Before you open any design software, write down the core purpose of your t-shirt. Ask yourself:
- What should someone understand within two seconds of seeing this shirt?
- Is the goal to promote a brand, celebrate an event, or make a statement?
- Who is the audience, and what will appeal to them?
Keep it simple. The most effective t-shirt designs communicate one clear idea. A logo, a slogan, or a bold graphic works far better than a crowded layout trying to say too many things at once.
Step 2: Choose Your Colours Wisely
Colour choice is one of the most important decisions in your design, and it is also where many first-time designers go wrong.
Use CMYK, not RGB. Screen colours (RGB) can look very different once printed. Ask your printer whether they work in CMYK and, if you are using a design tool like Adobe Illustrator or Canva, set your colour profile to CMYK from the start.
Practical colour tips:
- Limit your palette to 2-3 colours for a clean, professional result
- Make sure there is strong contrast between your design and the garment colour
- Dark designs on light shirts and light designs on dark shirts both work well, but avoid low-contrast combinations such as yellow on white
- If you want a vintage or washed-out look, ask about halftone printing options
Tip: Order a single test print before committing to a bulk run. Colours on screen are backlit and always appear brighter than ink on fabric.
Step 3: Pick the Right Fonts
Typography on clothing needs to be bold and readable from a distance. Decorative or script fonts can look beautiful on screen but become illegible once printed small on a shirt.
Rules to follow:
- Minimum font size of 18-24pt for body text in a print design
- Sans-serif fonts (such as Helvetica, Futura, or Montserrat) are reliable choices
- If you use a script or hand-lettered font, keep it to a short word or name
- Avoid very thin strokes, as these can lose definition during printing
- Do not use more than two different typefaces in one design
Check out our dedicated guide to the best fonts for t-shirt design for a curated list of options that print well.
Step 4: Decide on Print Placement
Where the design sits on the garment changes its entire feel. The most common placement options are:
| Placement | Best For | Typical Print Area |
|---|---|---|
| Left chest | Logos, monograms, subtle branding | 10cm x 10cm |
| Full front | Bold graphics, event shirts | 30cm x 40cm |
| Full back | Names, event listings, band merch | 30cm x 40cm |
| Sleeve | Brand marks, date stamps | 5cm x 20cm |
| Pocket area | Small logos, icons | 8cm x 8cm |
For most casual designs, a full front print gives maximum impact. For workwear or corporate shirts, a left chest logo looks professional and understated. Sports and events teams often use a combination of front and back.
Step 5: Prepare Your Artwork File
This is where many orders hit delays. Sending the wrong file format or the wrong resolution is the single most common mistake we see at Printing Planet UK.
What to send:
- Vector files (
.ai,.eps,.svg) are ideal because they scale to any size without losing quality - PNG at 300 dpi or higher is acceptable for raster artwork
- Minimum file size of 3000 x 3000 pixels at the print dimensions you want
- Transparent background on PNG files so we can place the design accurately
What not to send:
- JPEG files from websites or social media (usually 72 dpi, far too low)
- Blurry or pixelated screenshots
- Word documents or PDF files with embedded low-resolution images
Our full artwork file format guide covers every format in detail, including how to export correctly from Canva, Photoshop and Illustrator.
Common Design Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced designers slip up on these:
- Too much detail for the print size. A complex illustration that looks great at A4 can become a muddy blob at 10cm x 10cm on a chest print.
- Poor contrast. Grey on grey, navy on black, or yellow on white all cause legibility problems.
- Low-resolution artwork. If the file looks slightly blurry on screen at 100%, it will print even worse on fabric.
- Forgetting the bleed area. If your design goes to the edge of the print zone, add a small bleed so colours do not cut off abruptly.
- Ignoring the garment colour. A design with a white background will show that white box on a coloured shirt unless you remove the background or specify a white underbase.
Once you know your design is ready, head over to our guide on DTF vs DTG printing to understand which print method will suit your artwork and garment choice best.
Free Design Help at Printing Planet UK
You do not need to be a professional designer to order custom clothing from us. Our Putney team offers free basic design assistance with every order. If you have a rough idea, a logo file, or even a hand-drawn sketch, we can work with you to produce print-ready artwork.
Call us on 020 3669 9854 or contact us online to discuss your design before you order.