Custom t-shirts are designed primarily in two programs, one vectorial like Illustrator, and another based on bitmap, the Photo Shop. From here the company responsible for printing personalized t-shirts makes the impression with the design personalized t shirts for couples. Now, each teacher has his booklet, and among designers also their ways of working the final arts with their methods. That is why we are going to give you some instructions on how to properly prepare the files to personalize shirts.
Any designer or yourself if you are making your first steps with the Illustrator you will see that working with Illustrator is great to draw and illustrate because the graphics are very clean and it is also perfectly scalable, thanks to the vectors. You can do a lot of art with this program that allows infinite functions. Now, after all that artistic work, if we are drawing a personalized shirt, we want the result to be perfect on the textile. That what we are drawing with such inspiration is reflected as such in personalized t-shirts.
- Flat ink channels
Normally you work in CMYK or in RGB. Well, before sending your illustration file of personalized t-shirts, remember to convert the color to spot colors, especially if the t-shirt is personalized in screen printing, because it is essential for the creation of screens.
To be able to convert the colors of the design of your personalized shirt into flat colors you must: Select the totality of the color you want to convert. Then double click on the color sample in the sample color palette. Next, the Sample Options dialog box will open. In the Menu you select “flat colors” from the drop-down menu.
- Expand the illustration
It is also very important to expand the illustration. To do this, you select the entire color of the stroke. Select Object from the menu bar and then “expand”. Then click on “new object” and select Open from the drop-down menu. So you’ll see how the illustration is. Click to accept and verify that the fill has the assigned color.
- Convert fonts to contours
Select the text, click on Type from the menu bar and select “create contours”, it is the way to transform the fonts into vectors.
- Group
Once you have finished the design, you have to group the whole set. This keeps all the elements of the graphic together. To group, make sure first that no part of the design is blocked. To do this, select “Object” from the menu bar and then “unlock everything” from the drop-down menu. Now, select all the design of your personalized shirt, then go to “Object” and, once there, Group.
- Custom scale
It may be that the drawing you have been working on for custom t-shirts is tailor-made for final printing or it may not. We recommend that you make sure that you have the right dimensions, depending on the area to be printed, because it is not the same if you are going to screen print or if you are going to print digitally. The ideal is that the printer has the file to measure, although you can always make corrections on the fly.
So far our little tips for the correct preparation of Illustrator files in t-shirt customization. Tricks that helps, ensuring the least amount of unforeseen events. Now, think that you also have the support of the printer, who is the one who knows the end of how your personalized t-shirts will be, because he is an expert in textile printing. Custom t-shirts are the result of teamwork and each member of the team counts on the final result. If we all work well, the result will be … printing!