Custom T-Shirt Design Guide: Artwork Files, Colors, and What Actually Prints Well

The difference between a t-shirt that looks like a brand and one that looks homemade is almost always in the artwork prep, not the printer. This guide walks through the artwork files we need, how vector and raster differ, how color systems work in apparel decoration, and the design choices that make a logo print crisp on screen, DTF, or embroidery.

Send vector art whenever possible

The single best thing you can do is send your logo as a vector file. Acceptable formats:

• .ai — Adobe Illustrator source file
• .eps — Encapsulated PostScript
• .pdf — layered PDF with editable vector content (not a screenshot saved as PDF)
• .svg — great for digital but make sure fonts are outlined

Vector files are made of mathematical paths, so they scale infinitely without losing quality and let us cleanly separate colors or convert to stitch paths.

Vector vs raster: what is the difference?

Raster files (.jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp) are made of pixels. Zoom in and you see squares. They can look fine on screen at small sizes but blur or jag when scaled up for an 11-inch chest print.

Vector files are made of paths. They have no native resolution — they are always sharp, at any size.

If you only have a raster logo, we can usually redraw it as vector for a small art fee. Bring whatever you have.

Color systems explained

PMS (Pantone Matching System)

The industry standard for spot color matching. If your brand has "Pantone 286 C" in its style guide, that tells us exactly which ink to mix. Use PMS whenever brand consistency matters — logos on staff polos, restaurant brand wear, real estate teams.

CMYK

Process color used in digital printing. Not used in spot-color screen printing.

RGB

Screen color. Not used in apparel decoration directly, but most logos start in RGB. We convert.

If you do not have PMS codes, we will match as close as possible by eye and send a proof for approval.

What prints well

• Clean line weights. At least 1 pt for thin lines; 2–3 pt is safer at chest size.
• Type larger than 6 pt after sizing. Tiny copyright text is fine; tiny body copy is not.
• Two- to four-color designs for screen printing. More colors are possible but pricier per shirt.
• High contrast on dark shirts. White, yellow, gold, and light blues stand out; dark navy on black does not.
• Simple shapes for embroidery. Embroidery cannot reproduce gradients or photo content; it converts your art into thread paths.

What does not print well

• Drop shadows and soft glows (screen printing reproduces these as halftones at best)
• Gradients in screen-printed spot color (use DTF instead)
• Hair-thin lines and 4-pt body text
• Tightly nested colors that can shift on press without thick borders
• Photo-realistic logos on screen print (DTF handles this cleanly)

Design checklist before you send

1. Save a vector source (.ai, .eps, layered .pdf) with fonts converted to outlines
2. Confirm PMS color codes if brand-critical
3. Decide on print size and print location (front chest, full front, full back, left chest, sleeve)
4. Decide on shirt color so we can preview ink contrast
5. Send a high-resolution preview image as well in case we need to confirm the design intent

Embroidery-specific tips

Embroidery converts your art into stitch files (a process called digitizing). Detail does not reproduce the way it does in print. Plan on:

• Minimum element size of about 1/8 inch
• Thicker line weights than print artwork
• Fewer thread colors than your full brand palette
• Letters at least 1/4 inch tall for legibility

For more, see our embroidery guide.

Send us your artwork for a quote or contact us with questions on file prep.