5 Design Mistakes That Wreck Custom T-Shirts

We've printed over 10,000 garments and the same handful of design mistakes account for almost every reprint. Fix these before submitting your file and your shirt will look ten times sharper.

1. Sending a screenshot

A screenshot from your phone is ~72 DPI. Print needs ~300 DPI. The result on shirt: blurry, pixelated, sad. Always send the original artwork file (PSD / AI / high-res PNG) or ask us to redraw it as vector art.

2. Tiny details on dark garments

Thin lines (under 1pt) and small text (under 8pt) struggle to print cleanly on dark fabric — the white underbase bleeds. Beef up small text or move it to a lighter garment.

3. Bad colour contrast

Yellow on white. Black on navy. Both look fine on screen and disappear in real life. Pick colours with at least 40% contrast difference from the garment. If unsure, ask us for a colour swatch test.

4. Filling 100% of the printable area

The maximum print area on an adult t-shirt is 16.5" x 20". Filling all of it makes the shirt look like a billboard. Most pro-looking designs use 8" x 8" centred on the chest, or 12" x 14" max for back prints.

5. Forgetting about the wearer

A design that looks great flat on a screen can look terrible stretched across someone's chest. Mock it up on a body. Our online customizer does this automatically — drop your art on the canvas and you'll instantly see if it sits across the print zone correctly.

Bonus: file formats we love

• Best: .AI, .EPS, .PDF (vector — scales infinitely)
• Good: .PSD with layers, .PNG at 300 DPI transparent background
• Avoid: .JPG screenshots, anything under 1500px wide