Why might you want to consider designing your own T-shirts? There are a surprising number of reasons, actually. It might be as simple as wanting to create a top from a favourite photograph, or you may not be able to find something that quite reflects your tastes in the shops. You may have a business or event that you want to promote with custom clothing, or perhaps you're planning a stag or hen party and want to kit out party-goers with matching outfits. You could even design a witty T-shirt and sell it online to make a bit of cash.
But where do you start? You could go to a professional print shop, but this could well prove both expensive and limiting. A better option is to go it alone and use the right tool to help you out. Here we take a look at five of the best T-shirt design tools and services.
Spreadshirt
Spreadshirt is a very well-known name when it comes to creating custom T-shirt, and for very good reason. As well as giving you the option of creating your own items of clothing for special events, marketing, or just for fun, you can also browse through a selection of T-shirts and other items created by independent designers.Despite the name, you can create more than just T-shirt – mugs, sweatshirts, aprons, phone cases and more are also available – and the online design tool itself is a joy to use. You can browse through a searchable selection of clipart-style images, or you can upload images of your own, and you're able to position text and images pretty much wherever you want to on a product.
Prices are very reasonable – even more so if you're buying in larger quantities -- and the price you see includes shipping. With European and US versions of the site available, Spreadshirt manages to have much of the world covered too.
Shirtinator
Like Spreadshirt, there are various versions of Shirtinator, although it's limited to European countries. In addition to T-shirts, there are also other customizable products such as hats, mugs, baby clothes and bags to choose from.There are numerous ready-made designs for you to browse through, and these can all be customised through the used of text, different positioning, and more – on T-shirts, for instance, text and images can be placed on the front, back and sleeves. In addition to pre-designed images, you can also upload images of your own, meaning you can create T-shirts using your favourite photos.
There's an impressive range of size and colors, and although pricing does not include shipping, it is still reasonable. Bulk purchase discounts are available, which is great news if you're buying multiple items for an event or team of people.
