Things To Look For When Choosing A Custom Printed T-shirt

By Author: Matthew Stewart
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You want your own unique look and this may mean choosing and designing your own custom t-shirt. But what does one look for when choosing and designing a custom printed t-shirt?

Today, there are numerous companies who offer custom t-shirt designs - why? Because people love customizing their own shirts and making them unique to their own personalities and opinions.

To meet those needs, has evolved the large number of companies to provide the custom shirts. And the ideas and the types of t-shirts available for customers are countless. Add to that the Internet, with its popularity and ability to show people their choices and options, and you have a great business.

The idea of personalizing t-shirts, possibly became most popular in the 1980s.Throughout the 80s and ever since, T-shirts have flourished and are used as a form of personal expression. Whether it is political, religious or social statements - people are using t-shirts to make a statement.

If you are looking to order your own customized printed t-shirt, the first place to start is choosing the type of t-shirt. T-shirts come in numerous varieties, ...
... colors and types. For example, there is t-shirt weight. T-shirts can weigh anywhere between 3.5oz to 6.5oz. This weight can also dictate the kind of design that can be used, so be aware of this. From a printing perspective, the lighter or sheerer the t-shirt the less ink needed; different thicknesses require different levels of opacity. For example, when doing heat transfers, the amount of pressure will be different according to the transfer.

But don't sacrifice the type of fabric you want, fabric is important. Many types of cotton shirts made today have a great amount of breathability, keeping you cool in the summer. Particular fabrics also hold their shape, have an ease in washing them and a high level of absorbency. Cotton and wool are generally seen as the two most absorbent fabrics available for clothing. Both are natural and both are extremely absorbent types of fabrics. Cotton and wool are also both absorbent enough to take dyes and colors very well. This is why they come in such a wide variety of colors. But wool, is one fabric typically not used for t-shirts. Wool is also a very warm fabric and if you are looking for comfort and breathability, you will want to stick with cotton.

There are also synthetic fabrics, which are sometimes substituted for cotton in t-shirts. Synthetic fabrics are not as absorbent as cotton. Because cotton is so absorbent, it will hold not only synthetic dyes, but a wide range of natural dyes. Plant-based dyes, vegetable dyes and others are often used with cotton because they will be readily absorbed and will stay looking great for a long period of time and over many washes.

Now for the printing of your t-shirt. There are many company's who promote custom printing, but are they outsourcing their work or are they printing your shirts for you on site? Try picking a company that does its own printing. A company that doesn't do their own printing usually doesn't understand the process behind screen printing. Such companies can often over promise to their clients without delivering. Because such companies aren't doing their own printing, they may not have the best quality either. Do your homework and find out as much as you can about the company you will work with. Remember, printing on t-shirts requires experience as the process of printing isn't as simple as printing something on a piece of paper. To start, images that people create on screen are created on a flat surface. T-shirt material isn't flat. Most do not realize or understand this and there is really no reason why people that aren't in the industry would.

Your printing company should understand all the dynamics of taking a flat image and transferring it to a t-shirt. There should be no guesswork involved in the printing process by the printer and the customer should feel reassured that they will get the product they envision.

Now for the design. Some companies have designs for you to choose from, others will help you come up with a custom design for your t-shirt. You will need to make many decisions in this process of coming up such as what size of design, what color - will the color go well with the t-shirt color you are choosing or fabric?

Why design a custom t-shirt? For one, if you own a business, this is a great way to promote your company as you can have your logo put on shirts for your staff.

Once you have agreed on your design, t-shirt, colors, sizes, and such, now you are prepared to make your order. Find out if the company you are ordering from offers price breaks for a particular quantity of shirts ordered. Most will and it might be worth buying a few extra shirts just to get that price break.

The process of choosing and designing your custom t-shirt doesn't have to be difficult - if anything, it can be very enjoyable. So what are you waiting for?
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BackwardFish is a leading supplier of Christian t shirts online today. Visit us today for a large selection of cool Christian T-shirts for you or as a great gift.