You don’t have to be a professional designer to have a great t-shirt idea. Some of the most iconic t-shirts, like John Lennon’s famous New York City tee, feature straightforward designs. The same is true for famous tops like the “I’m With Stupid →” shirt from Dumber & Dumber and Napoleon Dynamite’s “Vote For Pedro” tee. The image itself is simple; the genius is in the concept.
If you’ve got a killer shirt design idea, getting it onto a t-shirt to sell isn’t complicated. Specialized software tools make it easy for ecommerce entrepreneurs to start creating t-shirt designs, even without graphic design experience. Discover some popular Shopify-compatible design apps to take your t-shirt business to the next level.
What to look for in t-shirt design software
Great t-shirt design software can bring your creative vision to life. Here are some key features to consider when choosing t-shirt design software:
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User interface. Seasoned graphic designers often use sophisticated design software with a high degree of manual control. If you’re a newer t-shirt designer, you may prefer a program with user-friendly features and a gentle learning curve. Simple, labeled, drag-and-drop tools can speed up the design process.
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Design ideas. Consider the complexity of your t-shirt designs. A tool with basic features is enough to start designing shirts with text phrases or simple clip art images. Creating more intricate designs, such as hand-drawn images or custom patterns, might require a general graphic design software program with advanced tools like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.
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Templates and graphics. Review the app’s clip art library and design templates. If you’re creating a spin on a classic t-shirt design, such as a college athletics tee, having a t-shirt design template with preselected fonts and arrangements can save time.
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Design previews. Some apps generate mockups to show how your image will look on a finished shirt. These previews can help you evaluate your designs. Some print-on-demand t-shirt companies use high-quality mockups as images for product listings.
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Software cost. Some software programs are free; others charge a yearly or monthly fee. Look for hidden costs when comparing tools. For example, an app may charge extra for premium design features like artist-created templates and fashionable fonts.
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Integrations. The right app integrations can streamline business operations. Shopify-compatible apps make it easy to create product listings and add new designs to your store. With print-on-demand integrations, you can use one tool to design t-shirts and fill orders.
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Top 5 Shopify-compatible t-shirt design apps
These Shopify-compatible print-on-demand services have built-in t-shirt design tools. These apps manage everything from image creation to the t-shirt printing process. With these print-on-demand apps, you can start selling t-shirts as soon as you finish your design:
1. Printful
Printful is a popular print-on-demand service with facilities in the US, Mexico, and Europe. The app offers free templates, a clip art library, and text design tools. It also includes a premium image library with unique designs available for purchase and a Fiverr integration for business owners who want to hire professional designers. Entrepreneurs can create custom designs within the tool or use the upload function to add existing images to blank products. In addition to t-shirts, the Printful product catalog includes tote bags, socks, baseball caps, beanies, and other apparel.
Pricing: Printful’s basic t-shirt design software tool is free. Business owners pay a one-time fee to purchase premium design elements. For order manufacturing, Printful’s free plan charges based on products sold. For $24.99/month, users can subscribe to a premium plan that offers product and branding discounts in addition to an annual spending cap.
2. Printify
Ecommerce entrepreneurs can design custom t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and polo shirts with Printify’s free online design tool. This program features a sleek user interface with beginner-friendly tools like AI image generation, which creates designs based on your prompts, and an extensive library of ready-made graphics. With the “Save as template” button, users can create their own t-shirt design templates from previous designs. Printify also includes the option to upload your own photos or browse an extensive collection of stock images via the built-in Shutterstock library.
Pricing: Printify’s design tool is free for registered users. In-app purchases are available for premium design elements. Printify offers free and premium plans for order manufacturing. The free version bills business owners based on customer orders. The premium plan charges $29/month and includes a 20% discount on all products.
3. Gelato
Registered users can use Gelato to design shirts for free. This app’s simplified user interface is ideal for business owners with big ideas and little to no graphic design experience. The platform includes simple drag-and-drop tools and provides useful warnings if added elements are too small to print properly or fall outside of the printable area. Gelato integrates with Shutterstock, where users can purchase stock images and incorporate them into their t-shirt designs. After a file is complete, Gelato’s mockup generator can create realistic images depicting your custom t-shirt design in a real-world setting.
Pricing: Gelato’s basic design tool is free, but premium stock images and mock-ups are paid features. For product production, business owners pay based on the number of items they order. Subscriptions and bulk discounts are also available.
4. Gooten
Gooten’s pared-down editing tool is well-suited for designing custom t-shirts with simple graphics such as company logos or short phrases. The included image editing tool lets users upload images and make small adjustments, such as changing the image color or adding text. This function may be particularly useful if you want to offer personalized t-shirts or sell a single t-shirt design in multiple colors.
Pricing: Gooten is free to install, and all design features are free. For t-shirt printing services, Gooten charges a fee based on wholesale prices.
5. CustomCat
CustomCat offers basic design capabilities. This program is designed to create custom t-shirts based on an initial image file. Store owners can upload an image by dragging and dropping it into a browser window or selecting a file. All uploaded files are stored in a personal clip art library, which you can reuse for future t-shirts. CustomCat’s design tools allow users to place images on a product and add text or adjust image positioning. This app is best used when paired with more sophisticated graphic design software like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.
Pricing: CustomCat is free to install. Users can access the design tool after they connect to a Shopify store. The free plan charges a base fee whenever customers place an order. The Pro plan includes a 40% discount on all products for $30/month.
T-shirt design software FAQ
What type of file is best for t-shirt design?
The best file type for t-shirt designs depends on the printing method. If you’re working with a printing business, follow the company’s best practices for printing requirements, including specifications for design file type and file size. Many businesses prefer vector graphics because they can scale up and down easily without affecting the image quality.
How do you turn a picture into a t-shirt design?
To print t-shirts with pictures, start by selecting an image or creating a digital design with t-shirt design software. Then select a t-shirt printing method that’s compatible with your design. Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing or direct-to-film (DTF) are two options that may work well for this. Finally, send your design to a printing business or create a template and apply the image to a blank t-shirt.
Does Shopify offer t-shirt design software?
The Shopify App Store includes multiple third-party apps with design capabilities and printing integrations. Business owners can use these tools to create and order custom t-shirt designs.
