Although we’re nearing September, it’s not too late to start planning your hoodie orders. However, to ensure your customers, employees, fans, etc. will not freeze, we’ve put together a list of 7 FREE zip-up and pullover hoodie/sweatshirt templates - flat and modeled styles - so you can speed up the process and get new gear in their hands right away! 

Although, these are all American Apparel templates - we highly recommend other quality brands like Next Level and Canvas Apparel.  They offer a variety of outerwear and fleece. 

If you’re looking for any other templates to help in the process of planning your next design, check our blog to help get you started!

Start designing your next project with our 7 free hoodie templates. These zip-up and pullover hoodie templates are the highest of quality and easy to use.

7 Free Hoodie Templates - Start Planning Now

Begin designing your next project with our 7 free high-quality hoodie templates. 

1. The Print Lasts a Long Time: While the print may be soft and have the feel of your favorite shirt, this doesn’t mean the print is weak. The inks we use assure that any print will last as long as the shirt does. The industry standard ink coats the shirt with a thick layer of plastic. The water based inks we use dye the shirt directly. This results in a print that is actually a part of the shirt.

2. Less of a Fade/More of a Blend: Certain prints have a soft, worn look. This is caused by a blending of the print into the shirt. Your soft shirt will be retail ready and will showcase your brand for years. 

3. It’s All About the Shirt: Soft prints are loved because of their wearability. Choosing the right type of shirt is vital to getting that feel throughout. We have thousands of super soft shirts to choose from. We know how they print and can give you immediate suggestions based on any of your options. Give us a call and we’d be glad to give you any suggestions.

4. Immediately Soft: No need to break in your shirt. The printing technique we use allows for the shirt to immediately have a soft, vintage feel.

5. Won’t Feel the Print: After your shirt’s first wash, you won’t be able to feel the print. Just like a well worn shirt, your print will maintain a beautiful soft feel throughout.

If you’re looking for a soft type of feel on a shirt, we have you covered. Start your order today.

Screen printing essentials are the key to making your shirts stand out from the rest! 

There are two tag types: Sewn in labels and tear-away tags. 


1. Sewn in labels have to be removed by a sewing machine. 

2. Tear-away tags can be easily torn out by anyone. Check this out … 

Removing tear-away tags is totally free and Next Level Apparel offers a few of our favorite styles with that option: 3600, 6210, 6240, 3633, 3200, 3533 and 6633.

Now that the label is out of your way, mock-up your branded tagless clothing label design with this to-scale tag template and visualize how your design will look once it’s printed! 

Get rid of annoying tags on your products by using tagless clothing labels offered by Real Thread! 

Mock up your design and impress your clients with a high resolution file of our American Apparel BB453 Raglan. Every shirt color is available for download. Don't take our word for it, see this American Apparel Raglan shirt template for yourself!

In an effort to help you visualize your creation in context, we've provided a High Resolution Raglan Mock-up Template of the American Apparel BB453. Within this file you will also see line art to help with accurate sizing of placement. This American Apparel template Includes: 

High-Resolution photo of actual shirt in every color 

Files are large, please be patient during download. Thanks! 

Mock up your design and impress your clients with a high resolution file of our American Apparel BB453 raglan.

American Apparel BB453 Raglan Template Flat

Here are 16 of our favorite t-shirt design ideas.

Rugged script / standard print (Jen Mussari and Tattly)

A picture is worth a thousand words (Jonpaul Douglass)

Intricate, detailed and all over (Digital Ocean)

One color prints for the win (The Poppy Boutique)

Let your brand name speak for itself (VSCO)

Reimagine your company’s logo (Real Thread)

Show some love for your city (Downtown Orlando)

Inspired? Start building your shirt today!

Check out 16 of our favorite t-shirt design ideas online at Real Thread!

Custom printed bags are a great way to offer something fun and sustainable for your employees, customers, or any other large group of people with a need for custom branded swag! 🛍

Custom designed totes not only bring your brand to life—they make it easy for you to bring your brand to the world. (Deep, we know.)

Totes are versatile, serving many functions—but more importantly they are a practical, functional tool that allows people to carry a message they believe in wherever they go.

Plus, they lend themselves nicely to a more sustainable lifestyle. Tote bags are reusable and require infrequent washing—and their widespread use in the place of single-use plastics has the potential to make a real impact on the future of shopping, which will make the world a happier healthier place! 🌎

It gets better: with so many bag styles and colors to choose from, there’s something for everyone. Options range from 100% canvas, to lightweight bags, to eco-friendly organic cotton, or even bags made in the USA!  

All bags are fully customizable, so give your design a home with custom printing or custom embroidery. Both can go a long way in creating custom bags that turn heads and spark conversations.

To get started, read each chapter below👇 to learn why custom bags matter, different ways they are used, how they bring marketing impressions to your message, as well as our most popular products used here at Real Thread.

We love totes bags at Real Thread because we’re passionate about creating a more sustainable future—both in the custom apparel industry and in the world as a whole. 

Totes are usable and re-usable, so their lifespan offers an unmatched value when it comes to custom swag. I mean, what's better than a product that minimizes single-use plastic usage while simultaneously being one of the most high-visibility ways to promote your brand or message? 

Because of their value, custom branded totes have become a statement accessory among a range of demographics. 

They can benefit those that are conscious of their impact on the earth by wanting to avoid single-use plastic and remain eco-friendly in their daily life, as well as those looking for something that speaks to social trends that relate well to their personal values and desires. 

Custom totes are also a valuable welcome gift to new employees or even large teams that need an extra boost of morale towards a common goal! They are also great for "bag people," too.... you know, the people who have bags for everything ;)

While we can't give exact data on the number of impressions your custom bags will receive, you can bet many eyes will be on your tote over the course of a day, a week, or even a year.

According to Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) research, custom bags deliver around 3,300 impressions a year! 👀

ASI also notes that custom bags are kept for roughly 11 months, and once they are ready to move on from the product, about 55% folks actually pass it along to someone they know. It’s truly the gift that keeps on giving. Goodbye single-use bags, hello traveling billboard 👋

Let's take the ASI data plus the actual cost of a product to see how this plays out in real life, using this example: 

‍100 (qty) Tote Bags with a 1 color/1 sided print. 

To make the math simple, we've added in some shipping cost and rounded up to $650, bringing ‍the order cost to roughly $6.50/bag. 

ASI's number of ~3300 impressions a year translates to ~275 impressions per month. To get in front of 275 eyes a month, you're paying about $0.02 per bag in marketing costs, which is a nominal fee compared to all other forms of offline advertising.

Printed bags are the most affordable and effective way for your brand to make a splash (while also contributing to an environmental greater good👏👏👏).

ASI also mentions that "85% of worldwide consumers remember the advertiser that gave them branded apparel". 

"85% of worldwide consumers remember the advertiser that gave them branded apparel" - ASI

Is it quality? Is it rad design? Is it sustainability? Does it make them feel a certain way? 

The promotional items you put in people’s hands are a direct reflection of who and what your company stands for. Whatever you put out there, make sure it's leaving the impression you want. 

Here's a fun list of a few ways we've seen our customers use tote bags to bring their brand into the world while saving the world 🌎

✅ Employee swag—to rep the team around town or carry computers and work gear

✅ For a quick trip to the grocery store

✅ A carry all for farmers market finds on the weekend

✅ A gym bag ...ya know, for gym clothes & quick changes

✅ Takeout (We're serious about this and can prove it. We know a company that uses totes as takeout bags 🌮🌮🌮 Truly inspiring!)

✅ Marketing campaigns — get that message out there!

✅ As a creative alternative to wrapping paper

✅ Trade shows (to haul around all the freebies)

✅ To carry work shoes (we’re looking at you, NYC friends 😜)

Whatever bucket of people you're working with, they probably have a need for tote bag! Or maybe they just didn't know what they were missing and that's why they need YOU *your brand, your company, etc.* to show up 🙃

If there’s a way you’re using tote bags that you don't see represented here (or a big WHY that we're missing), email us and let us know. We’d ♥ to add it to our list!

Tote bags come in a variety of shapes, styles, colors, and types. We have hundreds of customizable options to choose from, but we've narrowed it down to the top 3 popular tote bags used at Real Thread.

Print Margin: The max print size is 11.5" x 13" (half inch from the left and right, one inch from the top and bottom)

2. The econscious EC8040 Organic Cotton Canvas Market Tote

Crafted with 100% Certified Organic Cotton

Print Margin: The max print size is 10” high x 11” wide

Featuring reinforced shoulder straps and one large main compartment

Print Margin: The max print size is 13.5" x 13.0" (half inch from the left and right, one inch from the top and bottom)

Want to see your design on a tote bag? Head over to our product builder, upload your design. You can switch between tote colors, styles and play with the printed size.

If you don't see what you're looking for our on site there are also companies like Baggu that offer trendy (while still very practical) tote bags we can source for your project as well. 

They make some really unique options to choose from, all offering a super high quality, functional product that your customers (and their friends 🤠) will be swooning over.  

Each unique bag is waiting for your design to take it's potential to the next level!

Before you start your next project, here's a few quick tips:

📌 Review the tote bag measurements, including the strap lengths, to make sure it's sized appropriately for your design and audience. Sometimes items in photos appear smaller (or larger) than they are in person 😏

📌 Choose quality and function to guarantee a long term reusable bag.

📌 Design with the print margins in mind so your creative work can shine in the allotted spaced. Not all bags have the same print margin, so know your boundaries.

If the products listed above don't necessarily fit your needs, there are plenty of other tote bags to choose from, so let our team know. We’d be happy to find the perfect bag that represents your vision!

Creating a custom design for a tote bag isn't all that tricky! It's a blank canvas (made of canvas 😏) waiting for whatever you want to throw on it. 

At Real Thread, you have two main choices when it comes to customizing your tote bags: custom printing and custom embroidery! 

Depending on your particular needs, either one will pack a punch, giving your brand or message a place to shine 💫

When it comes to screen-printing on tote bags, it works essentially the same way as printing on a t-shirt. We use our Supersoft and Bold inks to bring your design to life. Like custom shirts, the fabric plays a role in the final product. 

We typically use Supersoft ink on light colored bags and our Bold ink on dark colored bags. Our team can help determine the best ink choice when it comes to your particular bag and design though! 

Want to see a bag being printed? You're in luck—here's a sneak peak into the process of a tote being screen-printed with a single black ink!

We recommend keeping a lower color count for simplicity and design clarity. Whatever look you're going for, just remember that both sides of your tote are fully customizable, and most of our print services work great on this type of fabric. 

If there's something you want to try that you suspect may be tricky though, let us know. We will try and move mountains to get the look you're going for.

📌 Most of our standard print options and ink styles will work well on a canvas tote, while other bags with varying fabric styles and harder-to-print surfaces may be best customized with embroidery. You can read more about that below! 

Add a little depth to your design with embroidery! This dimension will literally make your design pop off the bag, presenting a durable and less flashy way to add some unique texture. Just like shirts, there are a few styles of embroidery that offer: Standard, Metallic and Puff. 

This is probably what comes to mind when you think of embroidery. Although this process is our most commonly used style, using a basic thread, your professional stitched design will lay nearly flat to your bag. 

This unique embroidery method uses a thread that actually consists of a rubber core wrapped in metallic thread. This shimmer result is best used as an accent element in your design rather than the main feature. 

Puff uses a thick, foam-like material that is then stitched over, resulting in designs that pop off the garment and create a 3D effect. It adds a bit of height and depth to your embroidered design.

We love our customers and we love when they create beautiful products made to last! Both Corkcicle and Helpscout are using custom bags to build their company culture from the inside out. 

Instead of us telling you more about it, we went straight to each of their teams to learn more about their process of getting swag for their teams. 

“As our company, Corkcicle, is growing and expanding and as we are approaching our 10 year anniversary, we undertook a really exciting and in depth look at our brand to more define who we are and how to tell people. With that came a well defined strategy and some exciting new visual elements. Introducing that to the rest of the organization seemed like a challenge until we decided to hold a Brand Day Event and rally our entire organization together for an in-depth walk through of the new brand work. 

We thought the best way to express the new brand was with swag to give out on our brand day, things like fresh new t-shirts from Real Thread, buttons, stickers, notepads, pencils, new business cards for every employee and of course a Real Thread tote bag to hold it all. It was the right assortment to help us drive awareness and excitement internally, experience the new brand work and also be functional in a tangible way. 

Real Thread made it possible to pull it all together with amazing service and really quick deliveries. Joey, our Account Manager, immediately found what we needed and had it all done right on time for our event. 


Our marketing team are now celebrated heroes for facilitating such a fun and engaging presentation and we’ve relished seeing everyone on our calls wearing their new shirts and using their totes around the office. It’s really driven excitement and rallied the whole company together. We are long time customers of RT because of the quality and the service! They are always there ready to help, problem solve, source, and deliver! Big time fans!”

"For Help Scout's spring remote retreat we wanted to create some swag items that could be useful to everyone well past the retreat, and with that in mind, we decided to go with a good solid tote. We knew wanted to work with Enviro-Tote from the beginning. We had seen some great custom bags they had made for friends. They offer several really useful sizes, the quality is great and they are made in the USA.

Joey at Real thread was an amazing partner in making this happen (as always). Enviro-Tote has a lot of options for sizes and customization, and Joey helped us navigate all these options quickly and easily. He corresponded with Enviro-Tote, ordered us samples and advised us on how to best set up our artwork files. The process was all super smooth.

The bags and the retreat were a total success! We still keep them in-stock in our employee store."

Ready to get started designing that perfect custom tote bag? Something that has a long and useful life that your customers and employees love? 

Upload your design in our product builder using one of the tote options available or reach out to our team if you’re interested in something that’s not on our site! We’d love to help you find the perfect product. 

Everything you need to know about custom printed bags—from why they are important, to the most sought after tote, product customization options, and more!

These custom printed canvas labels don’t just solve a common problem, they add an entirely new dynamic to the perceived value of any brand’s printed goods. Establishing this type of unique value will help any brand position themselves for a successful season of sales!

It’s important to understand a few key points when it comes to these customized printed labels. Let’s take a look at some of the most relevant information to ensure you’re making the most of this unique offering. 

COST: $3.50 per tag. The price for these customized printed labels includes the canvas, printing, cutting, and sewing associated with this service. (Removal of a garment’s manufacturer label will result in an additional cost.)

MINIMUM: 96 pieces per order is the number of customized printed labels to hit  to qualify for this service. Keep in mind that orders are based on individual designs, not ones that are grouped together.

TURNAROUND: + 5 business days will be added onto your order’s turnaround time. This allows us the appropriate amount of time to prepare the customized printed labels and execute this add-on service to the best of our ability.

MAX PRINT SIZE: 4” wide x 4” tall is the max print size allowed for custom printed canvas labels.

MAX CANVAS SIZE: 6” wide x 6” tall is the max canvas size allowed for custom printed canvas labels. Squares and rectangles are the only shapes allowed. No circles, triangles, or other shapes will be allowed for these customized printed labels. We recommend adding cut marks to your artwork.

CANVAS COLOR: Black, White, Grey, and Cream are the four available canvas colors to choose from.

THREAD COLOR: The thread color used to sew the canvas onto your garment will either match the canvas color or the garment color. The choice is yours.

OTHER NOTES: Please note that the edges of the canvas will fray. This should be expected and considered an acceptable result.

We couldn’t be happier to offer one of the most unique services in the garment decorating industry. Our goal is to have these customized printed labels open new doors for our clients by allowing them establish a high degree of value and quality with their goods.

Check out these close ups of the canvas colors you can choose from!

We hope you enjoy this new dynamic to your custom hoodies. If you need some care icons as you design your hoodie tag art, here are more than 90 free care instruction icons.

(Ps, Big shout out to Michael Sevilla for providing these awesome photos of Tool’s hoodies with custom printed canvas labels!)

These customized printed labels add a new dynamic to the perceived value of any printed good. 

Why does FCTN print shirts? We do it for our crew. Plus it's a fun creative outlet for us and a very personal and visual realization of our brand. Choosing to wear our brand on your body is a great compliment. They’ve been so well received we actually launched an apparel line Fiction Brand.

Who and what are they used for? Mostly our crew. When we show up on a location or a set wearing FCTN shirts, it unifies our company visually and it just helps as a logistical identifier, kinda like a uniform.

What’s important in a shirt for your team? Softness, fit and detail.

How have t-shirts played a role in the culture at FCTN? The design aspect is always a cool collaboration because we all can speak into it. We’ve really started focusing on features that affect and enhance how we work and create, that was the whole purpose of starting Fiction Brand as an extension to our video production services.


Have your shirts in anyway help grow the presence of FCTN in the tech community? Yeah I mean we haven’t seen an instance when Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg AREN'T freeze frame jump high fiving each other wearing our shirts. I mean, show me a picture of them not doing so…

Have your shirts increased word of mouth referrals or have they been used for customer acquisition in any way? Absolutely, people love our shirts. We gift them as "thank yous" to different agencies and companies we work with, especially after we wrap a production and have also sent a very elaborate box of apparel and different things as conversation starters. 

Have you received any feedback in regards to the shirts (how they feel, fit, look, etc.)? Everyone really loves our shirts and designs. Nothing but positive feedback, lots of emails & texts wanting more! We are currently printing two new designs that we are really really excited about based on one of our most popular Fiction Brand designs, so be on the look out at www.fctnbrnd.com.

Why does FCTN go the extra mile to customize your shirts? The details matter. It's what all of Fiction Brand is built around. Otherwise it's just another t-shirt. We love adding hem tags specifically. The center symbol in our logo represents Production so we like adding that as a hem tag so no matter how wild or minimal our designs get, it anchors it a bit with that little reminder and really ties everything together.

Keep up with Fiction Brand on Instagram. Follow @fctn_brnd. 

Why does FCTN print shirts? We do it for our crew. Plus it's a fun creative outlet for us. 

 2. Choose a free Pantone color from a list of about 90 colors! 

3. Print tags on the inside neck of the shirt that are custom branded! 

4. Download this template first > 21 free tag layouts and save yourself design time. 

5. Customize your shirt with a hem tag. 

6. Customize your shirt with a hang tag. 

7. Have your shirts folded and bagged! Keep them safe during transit while also making it easier to hand out, send to customers. etc. 

 8. Print the same design on different colored shirts! 

10. Or try tonal printing! Both equally cool effects. 

11. Learn about printing on blends and how they can create awesome looking shirts. Then do it. 

12. Get inspired. Check out these 8 inspirational design ideas before designing your next shirt! 

13. Calculate your size breakdown. Just plug in the total # you need!

 14. Go big! Try a variety of sizes to see what works best for you.

16. Mock-up your design on high res photos of a shirt to see if you like what it looks like. Then try it on every shirt color in the file to see what you like best! 

17. Need a break? Send us your ideas and we can create a custom t-shirt design for you! 

18. Get your t-shirt as fast as possible. Follow these 3 tips first!

19. Download this Custom T-shirt Design Kit to get started! 

These shirt design inspirations are sure to spark motivation and creativity on your next shirt. 

20 Ideas to Try on Your Next Custom Printed T-Shirt

We are a small team of a half dozen creative souls who work together to bring to life positive minded clothing.

I suppose you’d like to know who I am? My name is Kyle Jarvenpaa and I am the founder of a small lifestyles brand from central Massachusetts called, Monogram Apparel. We are a small team of a half dozen creative souls who work together to bring to life positive minded clothing. No, the clothing doesn’t have a mind… however we strive to create a brand every day that will inspire you to have a positive mind. Our brand motto is, Create Yourself. We truly believe in and live every day by this motto. It simply means, you can become whoever you work to be.

When given this guest blogger opportunity I at first had no idea what I even wanted to write about. Although after a moment it came to me… What is one thing that I can bring to the table that might help someone else in the independent clothing scene? ..Insight on how to properly showcase your products online. This one detail to running not just a clothing brand but any online brand that requires product photos is a big deal and can really help or stand in the way of professionalism.

I see it all the time, brands who have what look like a cell phone shot image of a tee on a hanger stuck to the wall, or one of their friends standing next to a brick wall. Better than nothing, and in a lot of cases very sufficient however in my personal opinion its not what my eye sees as a reputable brand. Just as much as quality is the cropping of an image. If your default of a product is a 500px X 500px image, have the sub shots, or detail shots be the same dimensions. It can get really annoying when clicking through multiple images of a product and the page keeps moving around to fit to a new dimension. Consistency is key!

Insight on how to properly showcase your products online. This one detail…is a big deal.

Another thing I see A LOT of is brands using digital mocks of their items as product images. While they are all consistent and generally look good.. its not the REAL product and I personally shy away from ordering from a site like that because I cant see what I am actually going to be receiving in the mail. A printed item can look quite a bit different from a mocked up image of your artwork. This is again, only my opinion.. however I have read on many review blogs that they do not want to see those either.

You don’t always have to have your product shots on a white background, or any solid color for that matter. If it fits your theme to have your shots in an urban environment or something like that then by all means, go for it! Just keep in mind that you DO NOT want the environment taking away from the detail or attention of your shirt/product. If my eye doesn’t automatically go right to the product, the image has failed in its purpose. Don’t distract your customers. Peoples attention spans are short now-a-days so make sure its easy for them to see the target.

I used to do environment type shots as well as include the product models face in the images all the time. However I noticed myself always looking at the persons face or whatever was around them instead of the shirt, not just on my own site but other sites as well. I then decided on what you see below. I like the clean simple look of a white back ground and the real product on someone to show the size and fit. I like to leave the persons facial features out of the shots to not distract from the product

However also seen below, I will absolutely include the whole person in on sub shots that are included in each product to better show the fit of the item.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope even a portion of it was able to help out with ideas or direction for your next photo shoot endeavor. Please remember that these are only my opinions on what I think look good and have found work well for my brand. They may not apply to you, your brand or personal take on the topic.

*All items you see above are printed by realthread.com except for the Monogram Apparel Premium tag beanie.

For more product shots and examples please feel free to visit our web store, Monogram Apparel.

How you showcase and display your products has a great impact on the likelihood of someone buying. 

Showcase Products Online: A Chat With Monogram Apparel

I work in Illustrator and I’ve found it to be very simple to prep your files once you get the hang of it. First things first, make sure your file is set to the full dimensions that you want the final print to be. Don’t make the printer resize, or take the chance that they’ll size it differently than you’d like. You’re in control of the design, therefore the sizing should be something you set. 

The design I’m going to use as an example is an illustration of Zeus that I created for a recent release. The canvas is set at 14"x17",  the design consists of 4 colors, and the Color Mode is set to CMYK for print. Here’s a preview of the design:

As you can see, I have the art on one layer and the shirt color on a separate layer. This is important because we want to keep the shirt color layer in the final file as a separate layer, so we’ll also keep this layer locked throughout the entire process. I also have three toolbars open: Swatches, Layers, and Pathfinder.

Let’s go through the separation process. The first thing you want to do is select all of your artwork (go to Select>All or hit Command+A) and create outlines out of your text. You can create outlines of your text by going to Type>Create Outlines or by hitting Command+Shift+O.

Now that your text is converted into outlines, we need to convert all of your strokes to outlines and expand your artwork into shapes. This is a two-part process. First, select all of your artwork and expand it’s appearance it by going to Object>Expand Appearance. Now, select all of your art again and go to Object>Expand. A box will pop-up, make sure you have Object, Fill, and Stroke checked and then hit the OK button. 

Your artwork is now fully expanded into shapes. Now we need to separate it all out into colors, so select all of it and Ungroup it a few times (Object>Ungroup or Command+Shift+G). I usually do this a few times, select all again, and do it again. The reason I do this is that sometimes things are grouped together more than you think, and if you have grouped items when we go to the next step you’ll have some trouble getting it work correctly. 

Nothing visibly changes at this point, but now we’re going to see some magic happen. Select all of your artwork and then go to the Pathfinder tool and click on the Divide button, which is in the bottom left of the Pathfinder toolbar. What this does is flatten and separate all of your artwork by color, leaving you with tons and tons of fragmented shapes. 

Once you’ve done this, you may have to ungroup everything one more time. Now we just have to combine the pieces of each color into one solid shape. Since this is a four color design, we will have four shapes in total when we’re finished. To combine the pieces, we need to select all of the pieces for the first color with the Magic Wand tool. You can modify the settings of this tool by double-clicking its icon in the main Tools toolbar, and we’ll be going for Fill Color since we’re dealing with shapes and not strokes. With the Magic Wand tool, click on the first color you’d like to combine and it will select all of the shapes containing that color. 

As you can see, I’ve chosen to select all of the gold colored pieces. Next, we simply combine all of them into one shape using the Unify tool in the Pathfinder. Hold Alt and then click the button to unify all of the pieces into one. The Expand button in the Pathfinder toolbar will become available once the tool is done working. Click the Expand button to finish the process and repeat for each other color. 

After each color is combined into a shape, create a layer for each and distribute each shape to a layer. I usually put the lightest color on the bottom and work up.

The last step is picking your PMS colors, these are universal color swatches that the printer will use to print your design. In the Swatches toolbar, click on the button near the top right as shown below and go down to Open Swatch Library>Color Books>PANTONE Solid Coated. This will pull up a Pantone Swatch window where you can choose the PMS colors to replace your current colors.

I highly recommend picking up a set of Pantone Color Bridge swatch books, they’re really the most accurate way for you to pick your colors. The color settings and brightness of your screen can influence the colors you see in the Swatches toolbar, which can then cause you to choose colors that you don’t want for your design. One swatch can vary greatly from another, so this is a critical step. What I do is try to match the colors I’ve used in my design on the screen with colors in my Pantone books. When I have them all selected, I try and line them up in the book so I can physically see if those colors go well together. Sometimes, I need to make adjustments and this process allows me to get the colors I want. 

After choosing my colors from the swatch books, I use the Find feature in the Pantone Swatch window to select the proper colors. Click on that upper right hand button and then on “Show Find Field” to display this field. Before you click on each swatch, first select the art for the color you’re going to replace. Then, once you find the PMS color you can click on it and it will replace the current color. The PMS color can look very different on screen from what you see in the Pantone Color Bridge swatch books, which is why they’re important. The color in the book is what you’ll ultimately get. For example, after choosing my four Pantone colors and setting them for each layer, you can see a very noticeable difference in colors between what I had before and after. 

The colors I ended up with in the final print were closer to what I had chosen in the Pantone swatches, which is due to the fact that I changed my mind a bit as I was choosing the swatches. Because I used a book, I was able to better choose the proper colors for what I ultimately wanted the design to look like. Also, note that in the image above I have named each layer with the Pantone color that is used for that layer. 

That’s it! Your file is now ready for print. Now we want to do a quick mockup for the printer to show sizing and placement on a shirt.

The mockup is a very easy step, but is no less important than file separation. Most designs are centered on the chest of the shirt, but you may want to have the art printed elsewhere. Regardless, doing the mockup gives the printer something to glance at so they know what you’re looking for. 

There are tons of mockup templates out on the internet, you can find a ton just by doing a quick Google search. However, it’s always best to try and find a mockup template that utilizes the brand you will be printing on. I use American Apparel and am using a fairly standard mockup template that I found a while back. Here is a collection of free shirt templates that may come in handy during your mockup phase.  

Here is the typical mockup that I provide to my printer. My shirts are tag-less and have a logo print on the sleeve, so I am sure to include these in the mockup and I also let the printer know the PMS colors for these print locations. 

Easy, right? And with that, you can package up your files and send them to your printer—Real Thread, right?—so they can bring them to life.

Here is a quick recap of the steps we went over for the entire process:

1. Set your canvas to the correct size that you want, make sure the Color Mode is CMYK.

2. Create outlines and expand your artwork.

3. Ungroup, and then Divide it afterwards using the Pathfinder.

4. Use the Magic Wand to select the fragments of a color and then Unify them through the Pathfinder. Repeat for each color.

5. Distribute each color shape to a layer, choose a PMS color through the Swatches toolbar, and name each layer with the PMS color.

6. Create a mockup of your design on a shirt template. 

And you’re done! It may take a little while the first time through, but once you get the hang of it the process will become faster each time. I hope this tutorial helps a few people out, I’ve been refining the process since day 1 and at this point I’m finding that this is the best and quickest way to make sure that my artistic vision is well-communicated to my printers. 

Read all about how to screen print shirts professionally. 

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