Ever thought of creating your very own t-shirt exactly how you want it with your own designs and colors? With the computer technology we have today, you can create shirt designs people will like and want to wear. There are a plethora of software options to chose from, but only a handful are used by professional printing companies and artists that range from basic editing programs to more in-depth design.
Adobe Photoshop
Perhaps the most well-known and versatile creative tool on the market, with Adobe Photoshop, you will be to edit high-quality images and create unique photo effects for your shirt design. Covering all your creative needs from photo editing to digital painting and more, there is virtually nothing that you cannot do with this tool such as erase image background and more.
Some of its key features
- Fonts auto-activation tool
- Unlimited colors, effects, layers, and masks
- Crop, remove objects, retouch, and combine photos
- Rotatable patterns to easily change the orientation of any pattern
- Object selection tool to create fast and precise selections
However, photoshop is not a vector program, which means it won’t be suitable for screen printing, but direct-to-garment (DTG) printing will be possible.
Adobe Illustrator
As part of the Adobe Suite, Illustrator is another creative tool that is popular among graphic designers and can come in handy when drafting a design for your next t-shirt project. The reason why Illustrator is so great for t-shirt designs is that, unlike photoshop, Illustrator utilizes vectors that you can combine and change in order to create layered illustrations, logos, typography. The beauty of vector graphics is that you can easily scale up or down the size of a text or logo without comprising on the quality.
Most printing companies ask for vector graphics in their screen and embroidery printing processes so this is another consideration when trying to decide on a reliable t-shirt design software.
Canva
If you are a beginner or just stepping into the world of graphic design, Canva is a very user-friendly and intuitive tool that is easy to use. It’s a good tool for anyone, especially those who don’t have access to professional design software. You can create beautiful designs with already-made templates or you can create your own designs from scratch. Canva has a drag-and-drop feature, layouts, design ideas, pre-made logos, and much more.
Some of its key features
- Millions of Images – Access to millions of stock photographs, vectors, and illustrations.
- Photo Filters – Editing tool for your photos using preset filters
- Icons & Shapes – Thousands of icons, shapes, and elements for your design
- Hundreds of Fonts – Large selection of fonts for messages and phrases
Placeit
With an interface that is easy to use and thousands of templates readily available, Placeit is another design tool for all your t-shirt design needs. It can even offer you some inspiration and ideas with its realistic mock-up system for any apparel. You can also customize backgrounds, colors, and fonts.
Customily
Customily’s online product designer software gives designers and creatives the power to personalize any design on clothing and accessories. You can upload custom designs, and add custom texts, fonts, and images. This design platform is always business-friendly for those who want to start their own custom t-shirt business. Customily allows easy integration of your Magento, Shopify, and Woocommerce store. Customers can create their t-shirt design, after which it generates a file, they can send the file directly to the manufacturer without any hassles.
Learn more about t-shirt design by exploring design software that is right for you.