T-Shirt Maker is a free T-Shirt design software that lets you design t-shirt by adding different types of cliparts present in its gallery or by adding your own logos. Some of these cliparts include images of Animals, Flowers, Buildings, Heart, etc. You can add any of these clipart to your T-Shirt. Adobe Spark Post is a multi-faceted design tool. While working on your graphic, drop a t-shirt icon or stock photo of a model wearing a white t-shirt into your design. Send it to the back so your design sits on top of the shirt image, and see how it looks! Adjust the size, placement, or composition.
Document Setup
To create a new document, go to File > New. Set the page size to Letter, the orientation to Landscape then click OK.
A commonly used color palette for screen printers is the Pantone® spot color palette. Let’s also open that palette to have it handy as we are designing.
- Go to Window > Dockers > Palettes.
- In the docker, click on the arrow beside Palette Libraries to expand the selection.
- Then expand Spot > Pantone > Pantone+ and select Solid Coated-V3.
The palette will appear on the right of the interface but let’s place it along the bottom. Click the dotted area at the top of the palette and drag it to the bottom of the CorelDRAW window. When you see the bar turn grey, let go and it will attach to the interface.
We will also turn on the Document palette by going to Window > Color Palettes and selecting Document Palette or by checking it in the Palettes docker.
Importing Images
Let’s start by importing the colored shirt our design will go on. Go to File > Import and browse to the location on your computer where you have saved the file, then click Import. To place the image in your document, drag to draw a rectangle on the page then release and the t-shirt image is now in your document. You can enlarge it if you like by dragging out one of the corner handles.
TIP: Before we go any further, it’s a good idea to save your file now, and periodically throughout the design process.
Setting a Background Page Color
Now let’s create a background color on our page that is the same color as the t-shirt image. This will help us see how the ink colors we choose will look against that color.
- Select the shirt with the Pick tool and move shirt off to one side of the page.
- Double-click on the grey shadow at the edge of the document to open the Document Options window (or go to Layout > Document Options).
- Click on Background in the left column.
- Choose Solid and click the dropdown arrow to select a color.
- Click on the Eyedropper icon in the bottom right corner of the color window and click on the t-shirt to sample the color.
- Uncheck Print and export background then click OK and our page color is set.
Next, import the baseball image. This file is a bitmap and most screen-printing shops prefer vector art so we will need convert it to vector using the PowerTRACE feature.
Use the Pick tool to select the baseball and then click the dropdown arrow beside Trace Bitmap in the property bar. Then choose Outline Trace > Clipart. Because the baseball image is large, a dialog box will pop up suggesting you reduce the size, so click on the Reduce Bitmap button.
The PowerTRACE window will open and you will see the top image is the original bitmap and the bottom is the trace result.
On the Settings tab choose these options:
- Remove: background color
- Objects: Merge adjacent, Remove overlap and Group by color (this allows you to easily change a group of objects from an RGB or CMYK color to a Spot color and get them all at the same time)
- Image: Delete original – we don’t need it anymore
To learn more about PowerTRACE, watch our full tutorial How to Convert JPG to Vector.
Now click on the Colors tab so we can make some changes in here. First, you have the option to change the Color Mode to Pantone Solid Coated. This will save time and allow you to convert the entire image to spot colors.
Next, we need to simplify our colors by merging them. To merge the red colors:
- Select the first red color on the list, hold down the SHIFT key and select the other reds.
- Click the Merge
- Repeat this process for the grey colors then click OK.
We’d like to change the colors of the baseball so that it is white instead of grey, with a different shade of red for the stitches.
- Select the baseball and click the Ungroup icon on the Property bar. This will separate the grey ball and the red stitches.
- Select the grey ball then click the White swatch on the Pantone color palette we placed at the bottom of the interface. This will change the ball to white.
- Press the Tab key on your keyboard and now the red stitches will be selected.
- Click the Bright Red swatch on the Pantone color palette. This will change the color of the stitches.
- Use the Pick tool to lasso the baseball, which will select both the ball and stitches objects.
- Click the Group Objects icon in the Property bar to regroup the baseball into one object.
Adding and Manipulating Text
To add text, select the Text Download mac os sierra on windows pc. tool on the left toolbar then click on the page and start typing. For this design we typed TIGERS in uppercase.
Now select the Pick tool and use it to resize and reposition your text as you like. You can make it larger or smaller by dragging one of the corner handles in or out. Or stretch it taller by using the top center handle.
Use the font dropdown list to change the font if you wish. For this design we wanted something heavier (American Captain Eternal font).
At this point, use the Pick tool to reduce the size of the baseball and move it under the text, so the design now looks like this.
Now we are going to give our text a custom shape using the Envelope tool. To add an envelope:
- Open the Envelope docker by going to Effects > Envelope or Window > Dockers > Effects > Envelope.
- Select the text with the Pick
- Choose the Single-arc mode from the options at the bottom of the Envelope docker and then click the Add New button.
- You will now see a white dashed border around your text to represent the envelope.
- Use the handle in the middle bottom of the text and pull up to make the text arc.
- You can alternate between using the Pick tool to adjust the width and height of the text and Envelope tool to adjust the arc until you are happy with the results.
To make the text orange select the text with the Pick tool and click the Orange 021 swatch on the Pantone color palette.
We also added a contour effect to our TIGERS text. To add a contour:
- Open the Contour docker by going to Effects > Contour or Window > Dockers > Effects > Contour.
- Under Contour alignment, choose the Outside contour
- Under Corner, choose the Mitered corners
- Adjust the Offset value if you wish (we used 0.14”).
- Under Color blend, set the Fill to black then click Apply.
Once you are happy with your contour effect, go to Object > Break Contour Apart.
Click outside the page to deselect, then select the black contour only. In the Pantone color palette, click on the Black swatch to change the color of the contour.
Next we add the text BASEBALL to our design, using the same steps as when adding the TIGERS text. Once you have the text sized and positioned as you like, click on the Black swatch in the Pantone color palette to make the BASEBALL text the exact same color as the contour of the TIGERS text.
We also added a white outline to the BASEBALL text by right-clicking on the White swatch in the Pantone color palette. Then double-click on the outline color swatch in the Status bar that is under the bottom color palette. This will open the Outline Pen window, where you can set the Width to 8 and add a check beside the options Behind Fill and Scale with object.
To enhance our design, we will add some stripes to the TIGERS text.
- Select the Freehand tool and use it to draw a basic stripe shape.
- Click on the Pantone Black swatch to fill it with black.
- To modify the stripe shape, click on the Shape tool and use it to move the nodes to change the shape.
- To add more stripes, select the first stripe with the Pick tool and duplicate it using the + key on your keyboard. You can also duplicate objects using Ctrl + D or go to Edit > Duplicate.
- Use the Pick tool to resize, reposition or rotate the duplicate stripes all over the TIGERS text.
- You can use the Shape tool to alter the shape of some stripes, so they don’t all look the same.
Once we have all the stripes created, we can use the PowerClip feature to place the stripes inside the TIGERS text, so there are no stripes sticking outside the letters.
Design Programs For Mac
- Use the Pick tool to lasso all the stripes, then click on the Group button in the Property bar.
- Right-click on a stripe and choose PowerClip Inside.
- Your cursor will change to an arrow shape – use this to click on the orange text.
- Now the stripes will be “clipped” inside the orange text.
To learn more, watch our full tutorial on Clipping Objects into Other Objects with PowerClip.
Finalizing the Design
Our design is nearly complete, but we need to make sure that all objects are properly aligned and that the design is the proper size for printing.
First, use the Pick tool to lasso the TIGERS text and then click the Group Objects button on the Property bar. Now the text, contour effect and stripes will be aligned as a group.
- Use the Pick tool to move the TIGERS text, baseball image and BASEBALL text until you are happy with the design arrangement.
- Lasso the entire design then go to Object > Align and Distribute > Align Centers Horizontally, or simply press C on your keyboard.
- Group your design using the Group Objects button on the Property bar or press Ctrl + G.
- On the Property bar, make sure the Lock Ratio setting is on then enter 10” in the Object size width field (10” is a common youth size screen print).
Creating a T-shirt Mockup
We are going to create the mockup on a new page in this document. To add a new page, right-click on the Page 1 tab at the bottom of the document and select Insert Page, or click on the Add Page icon just to the left of the Page 1 tab.
- Select the t-shirt image that we imported at the beginning of this project and copy (Edit > Copy or Ctrl + C) then paste (Edit > Paste or Ctrl + V) onto the new page.
- Go back to page 1, select the design and copy it.
- Go to page 2 and paste the design.
- Use the Pick tool to resize and reposition the design on the t-shirt.
You now have a t-shirt design you can scale to any size, vector art for a screen printer and a mockup to show how you want it.
Preparing for Print
To share this file with a screen printer or another vendor, you should export document as a PDF.
- Go to File > Publish to PDF and choose the location where you want to save the file.
- Click on the PDF preset dropdown and select Prepress.
- Click the Settings button to open the PDF Settings
- On the General tab you can set the Export range to the current document, current page, or select pages.
- On the Objects tab, make sure to enable Export all text as curves. This will ensure that the text will be properly displayed, even if the person you send it to doesn’t have the fonts you used.
Click OK then click Save. Now your file is ready to email to the screen printer or other vendor.
Thanks for watching! We hope you found this tutorial helpful and we would love to hear your feedback in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to visit our social media pages and show us what you’ve learned by sharing your photos, videos and creative projects with us.
Participated in a play, created a band or starting a startup? Then you must want to have group t-shirts for your team members? Want to create a t-shirt design for your sports team? Have some t-shirt design in your mind? Then what are you waiting for? Just start designing a personalized t-shirt and show your creativity.
You must be thinking about how to design your own T-shirt, right? You must already be searching for the best T-shirt designers.
Well, the solution is a cool t-shirt design software. Yes, t-shirt design software are those tools which help you to create different tshirt designs of your choice. You can create any design using these software as they come with cliparts, brush tool, images, text, numbers and so on to provide the desired look for your t-shirt.
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Best free T-shirt design software online
Here I have picked the Top 10 best free T-shirt design software online for you. These tshirt designing software takes care of every requirement to design t-shirts. So, let’s have a look at them.
1. CorelDraw Graphics Suite
CorelDraw is one of the most popular software for graphics designing purpose. Graphic designers have been using it for the years. This vector graphics editor contains many useful features which help you to create a different and attractive logo, posters and t-shirts design.
Cliparts, images, colors, etc. provided by this software are enough to create attractive and interesting t-shirt designs. When you first start using it, you may find it a little bit difficult but after some time you will get used to it. You can find download it for free.
2.Desktop T-shirt creator
Now create hundreds of t-shirt designs on your desktop. This tool Desktop t-shirt creator is a free to download t-shirt designing software which enables you to create creative t-shirt designs. With the help of hundreds of fonts, shapes, color shades and so on, yo can create awesome personalized t-shirt designs. After creating the t-shirt design on Desktop t-shirt creator, you can automatically print, email or save the final design.
3. Flash T-shirt design software
Flash T-shirt design software provides you amazing t-shirt designing experience. It is one of the best options if you want to start your own t-shirt printing company. The easy to use interface and high-quality features make it the perfect solution for creating t-shirt designs.
The software contains flash interface and offers you many cliparts, fonts, colors, to create the t-shirt designs of your choice. You can even change the color of the vector cliparts to match them with the color of your t-shirt. You can download the Flash T-shirt design software free of cost.
4.Free t-shirt maker
Free T-shirt maker is another free tool to create custom t-shirt designs by your own. This software is quite easy to use and you will not need to have any extra tech knowledge for handling this tool. The interface of the software is simple and interactive so that you don’t find any difficulty in finding buttons and controls.
Best Free T Shirt Design Software For Mac
Free t-shirt maker tool comes with hundreds of cliparts with different sections including building, animals, abstracts, education, flower, heart, sports, technology and so on. You can even modify these cliparts such as rotate or reduce the size of them with ease. Also, if you want then you can import your own images to create the desired t-shirt design.
5. T-shirt Designer
T-shirt Designer is another great free tool for creating t-shirt designs. The tool is simple yet powerful for making t-shirt designs. It contains lots of helpful features which make the t-shirt designing process quite easy and mess free. The software provides you many popular fonts to choose from to create amazing quotes designs. This tshirt designing software allows you to organize your drawings in layers. The software supports popular file formats such as PNG, JPGG, BMP, GIF etc.
6. CustomInk
CustomInk is an online service to create custom t-shirt designs. The website offers you hundreds of cliparts with different sections such as animals, tech, nature, parties, events, transportation, people, occupation, music and so on to provide you the desired look for your t-shirt. You can even use personalized names & numbers for creating the group jersey for your project team or group. Simply create your design by adding arts, text or names on back and front of the t-shirt and save the design. You can also share the tshirt design with your friends.
Also, if you want to order t-shirts with your customized designs then you can also do that. Actually, the main function of the website is to sell the customized design t-shirts means you create your own design and they will deliver you the t-shirts with your design on them. You can check the pricing details on their official website for ordering customized t-shirts.
7. Almamaster store
Almamaster store is another online tool to create amazing t-shirt designs. The website provides you the t-shirt with your design if you want that. Simply, visit the website create your design and save it, share with your friends. Or if you want to purchase that t-shirt then order it. All the sizes are available to choose from.
To create the design of your wish, it has provided many tools such as brush, text, art, color, note, name & number etc. You can create design print on front, back and sleeves of the t-shirt.
8. Smart shirt designer
Smart Shirt designer is a free software to create your own personal t-shirt designs without paying a single penny, means it’s a free to download tshirt designing software. The software is specially made for football jersey hence offers a huge number of brand logos, collar designs, and shirt designs. You can use arts, text, name & number for making your t-shirt more attractive.
It enables you to draw your design if you do not want to use available arts and texts. With the help of this software, you can even design your collar and the bottom strip of the t-shirt. After creating the design you can save it or export it to a different format such as GIF, JPG, PNG, etc.
9.GIMP
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GIMP is an image editing software but you can also use it to create custom designs of the t-shirt of your choice. Apple prores 4444 xq codec mac. The software contains every single feature for creating a t-shirt design. The arts, text, brush etc. comes with the software to make the t-shirt design making process quite easy and simple. You only need to get a t-shirt sample from the internet and start designing it. Or you can also create your own desired shape of the t-shirt.
10.Tee designer master
Tee designer master is another great tool to design your t-shirt. The software offers you to design a t-shirt or even hoodie. Design back and front both sides of a t-shirt. You can also add logos and images or if you want to add your own image then you can upload it and add to the design. Also, it’s a PHP-based software and runs on your local server. So, you don’t need to install it. Just download this tshirt design software and it will run on your local server.
Above were the Top 10 best free T-shirt design software online for you. You can use these software to create an amazing and creative t-shirt design. So, which one you liked the most? Also, if you know some other such software then share them with us in the comments box.