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T-Shirt design articles, ideas, tutorials, inspiration as well as pro guides to ecommerce mastery from the PrePress Toolkit team.

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Heather Grey T-Shirt Mockup in 6 steps

grey marle t shirt design template tutorial TMB

In this tutorial we show you how to add a heather grey fabric swatch (or any fabric for that matter) to a t-shirt mockup file in 6 super fast steps. Adding a fabric swatch to your template opens the door to even more possibilities with what can be done with an apparel template file. For example, imagine an e-commerce store that sells t-shirts in many different colors (including grey marle). Now, imagine a guest coming to your website and being able to view all the different color options. To set this up would take hours of photographing every different colorway and touching up those photos. Forget the photography, use a template. Nike do it and so can you! Here’s how it’s done.

Preview of Final Results

greymarle custom t-shirt template tutorial

What You’ll Need.

Photoshop CS or Newer required. Estimated finish time: 2min.

 Download this tutorial in PDF format (10.2 Mb) 

STEP 1: Open the ghosted t-shirt template file

Note: All Prepress Toolkit Photo Real Ghosted apparel templates are designed to be used with Photoshop CS or newer software versions. Some PrePress Toolkit Photoshop templates use Smart Object Layers which are only available to users with Photoshop CS3 and newer. For users with Photoshop CS and CS2 you can convert these smart object layers into regular layers. Smart Object Layers are not necessary for this tutorial.

Add a Greymarle fabric to t-shirt design template 01

Continue reading Heather Grey T-Shirt Mockup in 6 steps

Free (Time Saving) Screen Printing Job Sheet

Free screen printing jobsheet

If the phrase “time is money” weighs heavily on everything we do in business then it makes sense to put every task we do under the microscope, evaluate it, and then proceed to find ways of speeding up or cutting out those tasks. Saving time on repetitive tasks is the key, and for me the greatest time saving came when I re-engineered our humble job sheet.

When I was employed as a pre press graphics artist at my local screen printing shop I was in charge of not just creating the artwork to go on the garment but also breaking down the artwork into individual colours to produce films called “positives”. These films were then sent to the screen technician to produce the screens that the printers would then use to create the images we see on most printable garments. It was my job to explain to the screen printers exactly how the artwork should be printed. Sounds easy, but there’s a lot of specific information requested by customers or clothing companies that I need to interpret and then ensure it gets carried out so we don’t end up with thousands of misspelt garments. Anyway…to cut a long story short, I developed a quicker way to produce the screen printer’s jobsheets by setting them up in Adobe Illustrator, creating symbols of the ink types and static information in a way that I could just click and drag it to the job sheet. After using the jobsheet for a couple of days I found it greatly sped the whole process up, but still needed refining. Over the next few weeks I kept tweaking and refining the design till I came up with what you now see below.

Free time saving screen printing job sheet jobsheet

The job sheet contains all necessary information:

  • Client details
  • Screen printing inks and printing process to be used
  • Screen mesh to use
  • Print order for each positive (very important on some jobs)
  • An area for extra information from the client
  • Job due date as well as an easy way for our screen printers to visually see the urgency of the job.
  • Print placement (example: front chest, back hem, left sleeve or collar etc)
  • Type of garment, color, and fabric type
  • Most importantly the job number so we can save all the films and job information in a bag for later use if the customer needs more prints.

 

All in all, it’s a lot of work for one job and when considering our print shop had multiple automatic and hand printing machines keeping up with the workload was tough.

If you own a screen printing facility, or are in fact the ‘art guy’ at your print shop I feel your pain, that’s why I’m giving this jobsheet away for free. My hope is that it saves a lot of time for you too. Most importantly this jobsheet gives the printers all the crucial information they need to print the job right the first time.

Enjoy!

 

This free resource contains:

  • 100% Editable AI and EPS files (For use with Adobe Illustrator)

 

Download – Free Screen Printing Job Sheet  ( .Ai + .Eps )

 

P.s. I thought I’d mention that the job sheet works flawlessly with any of our Vector garment template packs. Jobsheet + Vector templates = Even more time saving. Just add the templates to the Adobe Illustrator symbols library then you’re ready to click and drag the garment templates straight into the job sheet. Here’s a quick video on how to add our templates to the symbols library.

48 Premium College Fonts Perfect For Any Design Job

Premium college fonts sml

College fonts are one of the most popular and widely recognised typefaces in graphic design. To an untrained eye, they can all look the same, but when used effectively the subtle differences can make your product stand out from the rest and bring it to the forefront. Consider brands like Franklin Marshall and Lorna Jane who have utilised the college font style, added their own touch and made it iconic for their brands.

We have identified 48 premium college fonts that cover every style so that you can add them to your collection and use them for years to come.

Enjoy!



1.City BQ

College Font 01 City BQ

2.Princetown
College Font 02 Princetown

3.Dont Mess With Vikings
College Font 03 XXII DONT MESS WITH VIKINGS

4.Wells Grotesque
College Font 04 Wells Grotesque

5.Aachen
College Font 05 Aachen

6.Longhorn
College Font 06 Longhorn

7.Chamfer Gothic
College Font 07 Chamfer Gothic

8. Sporting Life JNL
College Font 08 Sporting Life JNL

9.Offense
College Font 09 Offense

10. Kegger
College Font 10 Kegger

Continue reading 48 Premium College Fonts Perfect For Any Design Job

Video Tutorial: Vector t-shirt templates using Adobe Illustrator symbols library.

vector t-shirt template video tutorial

Hi Toolkit community, Dan here.

I’m so excited to bring you this new tutorial that explores making lightning fast graphic mockups with PrePress Toolkit’s apparel templates. Not only are our vector templates the most stylish, slick, and easily editable vector templates on the web, but when teamed up with Adobe Illustrators symbols library they make for an incredibly fast mockup. Don’t have Illustrator? no worries all our templates look stunning in CorelDRAW too! If you haven’t already why not hit the play button above and see what all the talk is about. We take great pride in our work and are pleased with the high level of detail put into every mockup template we create for you. Feel free to leave us a quick comment of what you think, or of any additions you’d like to see added to the collection.

 

About the Vector Templates.
All PrePress Toolkit Vector templates are setup to take full advantage of Illustrators symbols library. Access every apparel template from any open document and be mocking up your t-shirt, polo, hoodie, hat or any of our 80+ templates designs in seconds. We know these are the best mockup templates anywhere but i’ll leave that up to you to decide. P.s. This tutorial also features out brand new Vector Vintage badges and Retro Seals art pack.

30 t-shirt design questions you should ask your clients.

30 t-shirt graphic design questions for clients

Excelling in client communication is the key to delivering a graphic design that exceeds clients expectations, positioning you as a leader in the field of Apparel design, and hits the target market smack bang on the head.

It takes little time to ask the right questions if your know what to ask, and will safely guide you from accepting the job through to final design delivery and money in the pocket. Don’t fall prey to the number one designer downfall of diving head first into the design phase without truly understanding your client.

To combat this designer flaw we have compiled this list of questions you may like to ask your next client to better understand them, their clothing label and target audience. We hope this is a great help to you and your freelancing or design department.

Company/Brand Details

  • 1.  What is the name of your clothing label?
  • 2. When was the brand established?
  • 3. Who is your main competitor?
  • 4.  What makes your brand different from your competitor?
  • 5.  Where are your products sold?
  • 6.  Where do you see your brand in 5 years, 10years? 50years?
  • 7.  What motivated you to start your business/clothing label?
  • 8.  If you had to describe your clothing label in one word, what would it be? Why?
  • 9.  Does your label have a slogan or tag line?
  • 10. Do you have a corporate logo or font I should use?
  • 11. Do you have a branding guidelines package we should follow?

 

Design Preference

  • 12. Do you have a preferred colour pallet? Why?
  • 13. What colour garment/s is the design to go on?
  • 14. Where is the placement of your design to be printed, also, does any additional placement require different artwork,? Please list.
  • FRONT
  •  BACK
  •  LEFT SLEEVE
  •  RIGHT SLEEVE
  •  HIGH-BACK NECK
  •  BACK BOTTOM HEM
  •  15. Are there any competitor t-shirt designs you like? Where can I see these?
  •  16. Will the design be printed on more than just a t-shirt? E.g. Fleece Hoodies?
  •  17. What is the size range of T-shirt the designs will go on?
  •  

    Target Audience

    • 18. What is the age range of your target audience?
    • 19. Is your clothing label for Men? Women? Unisex?
    • 20. Where do most of your customers live?
    • 21. What is your main form of advertising?

    Continue reading 30 t-shirt design questions you should ask your clients.

    Sports Mockup (vector) – Baseball, Basketball, Cheerleading and more.

    sports jersey vector template

    After 3 Months of planning, designing, refining, and perfecting, the PrePress Toolkit is proud to offer an all new set of vector mockup templates.

    Building on the success of our original vector templates, we have stuffed a whole new set of sports apparel into one huge pack we hope you’ll love!

    The reason for spending so much time creating this mockup set is that we are hell-bent on providing the highest quality vector templates on the web. We think these are our best yet, but we’ll leave that up to you to decide.

    Without further or do, we present to you….the Vector Mockup Template – Mega Sports Pack!

    1. Baseball Uniform mockup template set.
    Baseball uniform mockup template vectorThis baseball uniform pack contains: Baseball uniform short-sleeve top, uniform top with long-sleeve, baseball cap, baseball helmet, and a bonus baseball bat. We think you’ll love the attention to detail.

    2. Soccer uniform mockup template set (football jersey template).
    Soccer uniform mockup template vector
    This Soccer uniform pack contains: 1 x Collared V-Neck football jersey, 1 x Open Collar football jersey, 1 x V-neck football jersey, 1 x regular collar football jersey, and 1 x Soccer Shorts. All mockup templates come with front and back profile views.

    3. Hockey Uniform Mockup Template Set.
    Hockey uniform mockup template vector
    This Hockey Uniform Set contains: 1 highly detailed hockey top jersey with front and back profiles, and one Hockey helmet set. These templates are just screaming for a great center chest team logo and with the high level of detail it’s sure to impress your clients.

    4. Cheerleading Uniform Mockup Template Set.
    Cheerleading uniform mockup template vector
    This Cheerleading Uniform set contains: 5 detailed cheerleading tops and 6 detailed cheerleading skirts. Why go with a basic garment outline when you can show your clients what their new design will look like on a variety of premium uniform templates.

    5. Basketball Uniform Mockup Template set.
    Basketball uniform mockup template vector
    This Basketball Mockup Template set includes: 1 x Basketball jersey top (front and back profiles) and 1 x Basketball shorts (front and back profile). This set is exclusive to the Mega Sports Pack and comes as a free bonus!

    6. The American Football Jersey Template Pack.
    American Football uniform vector mockup template
    The American Football template set includes: 1 x Football jersey template (front and back profiles), 1 x Padded Football Shorts, and 1 x Football Helmet mockup with two different side views. A mean looking set for any football team.

    All sets can be purchased individually but we have bundled them all together to save you loads of time and money.

    Have questions or want to give some feedback? Post them below in the comments field.

     

    Download Your Pack Now

    How to Create a Clothing Mockup Designs That Sell

    vector t-shirt template video tutorial

    Are you looking to create eye-catching clothing mockup designs that will attract customers? This comprehensive guide has got you covered. From design tips that will make your creations stand out to effective marketing strategies, you’ll find everything you need to know to ensure your clothing mockups fly off the shelves. Don’t miss out on this valuable resource!

    Understand Your Target Audience.

    Before you start creating your clothing mockup designs, it’s crucial to understand your target audience. Who are you designing for? What are their preferences, interests, and style? Conduct market research and gather data to gain insights into your target audience’s demographics, psychographics, and buying behavior. This information will help you tailor your designs to meet their needs and preferences, increasing the chances of your clothing mockups selling successfully.

    Choose the Right Clothing Mockup Template.

    When creating a clothing mockup design, it’s important to choose the right template that will showcase your design in the best possible way. Consider factors such as the type of clothing you’re designing for, the style and fit of the garment, and the overall aesthetic you want to achieve. Look for templates that are realistic, high-quality, and customizable. This will allow you to easily add your design and make any necessary adjustments to ensure it looks professional and appealing to your target audience. Remember, the right template can make all the difference in capturing the attention of potential buyers and increasing sales.

    Use High-Quality Images and Graphics.

    When creating a clothing mockup design that sells, it’s crucial to use high-quality images and graphics. This will help to showcase your design in the best possible way and make it more appealing to potential buyers. Invest in professional photography or high-resolution stock images to ensure that your clothing mockup looks realistic and visually appealing. Additionally, consider using high-quality graphics and illustrations to enhance your design and make it stand out. Remember, the quality of your visuals can greatly impact the perceived value of your clothing mockup, so it’s worth investing the time and resources to create a visually stunning design.

    Pay Attention to Colors and Typography.

    Colors and typography play a crucial role in the success of your clothing mockup design. Choose colors that align with your brand and evoke the desired emotions in your target audience. For example, bright and bold colors may be more suitable for a youthful and energetic brand, while muted and pastel colors may be better for a sophisticated and elegant brand. Similarly, typography should be chosen carefully to reflect the style and personality of your brand. Consider using fonts that are easy to read and complement the overall design. By paying attention to colors and typography, you can create a visually appealing clothing mockup design that catches the attention of potential buyers and increases the chances of making a sale.

    Showcase Different Angles and Views.

    When creating a clothing mockup design, it’s important to showcase different angles and views of the product. This allows potential buyers to get a better understanding of how the clothing will look from different perspectives. Consider including front, back, and side views of the garment, as well as close-up shots of any unique details or patterns. By providing a comprehensive view of the product, you can give customers the confidence they need to make a purchase. Additionally, showcasing different angles and views can help highlight the quality and craftsmanship of the clothing, further enticing buyers to choose your design over others.

    Photo Print T-Shirt Design Inspiration

    A lot has changed in screen printing since the 1960’s when it was mainly utilised by businesses owners to print their logos on t-shirts for promotional purposes……scratch that, nothing has changed since the 1960’s in this regard. Today, a plethora of clothing/fashion labels are churning out company branded apparel and it’s only gaining momentum. I am amazed at how saturated the apparel industry is, yet new brands keep sprouting up seemingly overnight and are making a significant impact on the market.

    Todays clothing label really needs to stand out, whether it be by offering great quality at a lower price, being a trend influencer rather or an exclusive label, whatever your direction is, one thing remains crystal clear…..you can’t go past a great looking t-shirt print.

    Maybe the why of screen printing hasn’t changed since the 1960’s but the printing processes and techniques certainly have.

    One of these techniques is, four color process printing also known as, CMYK printing. With the use of special image separation software, the image is broken up into halftones consisting of four main colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Each color has its own screen and is printed with opaque (semitransparent) ink, one on top of the other to make the various colour tones. For example, green hues would be made up of cyan and yellow halftone dots printed on top of each other. This technique allows for pretty much any creative design to be realised on a light colour t-shirt.

    Check out these (cmyk) photo print t-shirt designs… for your inspiration.

    Billabong – ‘Paradise’
    billabong_paradise_t-shirt design inspiration

    Supremebeing – ‘Treeshine’
    Supremebeing treeshine_t-shirt design inspiration

    Savant – ‘Jack Daniels’
    Savant Jack Daniels_T-shirt design inspiration


    Continue reading Photo Print T-Shirt Design Inspiration

    Vector T-shirt Mockup Mega Pack

    Want to know why this vector t-shirt mockup pack is the best on the web?
    It’s because they are actually used in the apparel and screen printing industry.
    These t-shirt mockup templates are meticulously designed to enhance any artwork placed on them and be super fast to use.

    Vector t-shirt mockup mega pack promo

    Get Your Vector T-Shirt Template Pack Here 

    Who’s using these mockups?

    • Apparel graphic designers
    • Freelance graphic designers
    • Screen printing businesses
    • Clothing labels
    • eCommerce stores
    • creatives for Design competition submissions

    Continue reading Vector T-shirt Mockup Mega Pack

    22 + 2 Typography T-shirt Design Inspiration

    Wrap your eyes around these delicious t-shirt designs embracing typography.

    Being ‘inspired’ is a word that gets thrown around the design room/office/school a lot, and can be easier said than done. I can remember my first major graphic design job within the surf/board riding industry. I was blown away by just how talented everyone was, it was humbling and also intimidating. I always wondered how these guys keept coming up with incredible designs over and over again. Later I discovered they had a list of underground graphic design inspiration websites bookmarked in their web browser that they could draw ideas from. This site (www.prepresstoolkit.com) seeks to be one of those sites. you probably should bookmark it 🙂

    22 Amazing Typographical T-shirt Designs for Inspiration 

    1. True Friends
    True Friends T-shirt Inspiration

    2. We Do It Like This
    We Do It Like This t-shirt design inspiration

    3. Vote Ninjas (t-shirt design inspiration by: AJ Paglia)
    Vote Ninjas! t-shirt design inspiration

    t-shirt vector mockup download
    4. Where Is The Music
    I love the simplicity of the Where Is The Music tee, enhanced by an over-print technique.
    Where Is The Music T-shirt typography Inspiration

    5. Shave the Whales (t-shirt design inspiration by: Luis Diaz )
    Shave The Whales T-shirt Design Inspiration

    6. Savor Flavor
    Savor Flavor T-shirt Inspiration

    7. Spray Box (t-shirt design inspiration by: Rip Curl)
    Spray Box a minimalistic design beefed up with a great distressed/gritty texture.
    RipCurl Spray Box T-shirt Design Inspiration

    Continue reading 22 + 2 Typography T-shirt Design Inspiration

    Graphic Design is crippling me, and you too!

    hand on mouse click

    Is Graphic Design Crippling You?

    I believe I have an extreme case of tunnel vision, where I can be entranced buy an idea and work solidly towards it for hours on end whilst the sun rises and sets in the background without me even noticing. My chiropractor and optometrist both say “you need to take regular breaks, it’s not healthy to stare at a computer screen all day”. I know it’s true but I honestly keep forgetting to.
    As graphic designers we constantly battle sore shoulders, wrists, hands, backs, eyes, the list goes on and on. One of these problems however brought me down and nearly out a few years back, and stumbling across a random website by accident told me why.

    RSI and Easter Eggs!

    Repetitive Strain Injury (also known as repetitive stress injury, repetitive motion injuries)
    Did you know there are hidden features with-in Adobe (and other) programs. They’re called “Easter eggs”.
    This random website I came across (I would credit the website but have no idea which one it is now) showed me a simple trick to gain some nifty hidden features, and some stupid ones too. Here’s how to do it.

    Illustrator Easter Eggs (hidden awesomeness!)

    With a new or existing document open, go to the bottom left of the screen and click the little arrow head just left of the horizontal scroller bar (see image below)

    Graphic design and RSI
    Once you click on this you should get a popup menu item with a few standard options in the show field, these are, Artboard name, Current tool, Date and Time, Number of undoes.

    adobe illustrator easter egg
    To get extra hidden bonuses (illustrator easter egg), hold down Options key (for mac ) or Alt key (for Windows) and click the little arrow again. Now you should see added options in the ‘show’ menu, these are, Mordy’s home number(???), Eyes, Moon phase, Mouse Clicks, Illustrator Units Sold, Random Number, and Shopping day’s until Christmas.

    illustrator click count easter egg

    Mouse Clicks Easter Egg

    The mouse click eater egg was the option that made me really think about what I was doing to my fingers. After finding this hidden gem I could visually see how many click I was making every day, and the numbers were scary. I was posting, 2-3 some days even close to 4 thousand clicks, no wonder my fingers and knuckles were killing me! No amount of using different finger to click , or swapping from left hand to right hand was going to save my hands from the stress of repetitiveness.

    The solution

    The solution for me was simple, I invested in a Wacom drawing tablet. I don’t wish to brain wash anyone into buying one (I have no affiliate with Wacom) all I can say is since buying the drawing tablet I’ve never had sore hands, except for the time I go burnt by the steaming iron on a photo shoot (true story, I might share at a later date)

    bamboo-family-2012
    Wacom have many option now which you can check out here which range from cheap to fairly expensive for the pimping 24” LCD you can draw directly on, so cool. I’ve got two, and A3 Intuos and a small half A5 size one I picked up for $50 in the specials section of their website.
    I’d be super stoked to hear what number of clicks you guys are posting. Why not leave a comment below?
    Is anyone clicking more than 4 thousand in one day?

     

    Free Download – I Heart NY template

    i heart ny tshirt design template

    Free Download – I Heart editable artwork (screen print ready)

    This is our take on the ‘I Heart’ t-shirt design made so famous by new york. We’ve made it free to download and ready for screen printing.

    This artwork is designed to be screen printed onto any garment but could be used for many other design projects.

    Which state do you ‘I Heart’? 

    I heart NY clipart free download- screen print t-shirt art

    This free resource contains:

    • 100% editable EPS file (Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw compatible)