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Complete Online Design Studio Tutorial
Learn how to design your own t-shirt online from start to finish using The Print Plug’s free Design Studio. This step-by-step guide walks you through the full design process — picking your garment, adding artwork from our libraries, customizing text, uploading your own designs, and saving the design or placing an order to send it into production.
Whether you’re designing your first custom t-shirt or your hundredth, this tutorial covers everything you need to get a clean, professional result. You’ll learn how to make your own t-shirt design from scratch, use our online shirt designer’s built-in tools, and either save your work for later or send it straight to production. If you’d rather have us handle the design for you, you can use our quote request form — our team of professional designers will create something custom on your behalf.
If you need further assistance, we are a phone call or an email away! If you live in or near the Nampa area, we are always happy to have you come into the shop for hands-on help with your custom t-shirt design.
*For the best experience, we recommend using Google Chrome. If you run into any issues with another browser, our team is just a call or message away — we’ll help you get your design across the finish line.
Want to make your own t-shirt design? Our t-shirt design online tool is free to use — no credit card, no subscription, no commitment. Before you open the designer, gather a few things to make the process smoother:
✓ Your artwork — Vector files (.SVG, .AI, .EPS) work best for crisp prints, but high-resolution PNG, JPEG, and PDF files work too.
✓ Brand colors — If you have specific brand colors (Pantone, HEX, or RGB codes), have them ready.
✓ Quantity estimate — Knowing your final product count will make the checkout process smoother.
✓ A computer or tablet — The designer works on mobile, but a larger screen makes detailed design work and navigating the platform easier.
There are a ton of options to choose from in our online shirt designer catalogue. Browse by category, brand, colors, product, SKU and more. We have access to thousands of suppliers, and are constantly adding products to our online catalogue. Many other tshirt designers limit you to a single brand or product type — at The Print Plug, you can mix and match from BELLA+CANVAS, Next Level, Carhartt, Port Authority, Comfort Colors, and many more.
We have access to thousands of suppliers, and are constantly adding products to our online catalogue. If you would like to see a product listed in our design studio, just ask!
✓ Browse by category, garment type, brand, color, SKU and more.
✓ Select the garment you wish to customize by simply clicking on it.
✓ On the product page, you can learn more about your selection to determine whether it’s the right fit for you
✓ You can also preview the available colorways for that particular garment. Select a color, but keep in mind that you will be able add / edit your color selection later.
✓ When you are ready to customize your selection, click Start Designing.
✓ Notice the garment color and product selection menu. You can use access this at any time to compare different potential garment colors and styles using your graphic designs.
With The Print Plug’s easy-to-use T-Shirt Design Website you have several options at your disposal for designing your custom t-shirt online. They are:
⚠️ PLEASE REMEMBER
If you want to add your own art, as well as incorporate art and text from our library, be sure to add any assets from our library before adding your own art. Otherwise, your art could get erased from the project when adding assets from our libraries.
To add premade art from our library, you will select Add Art, and from there you can browse through our art libraries to select relevant art. You can choose from the following library options:
Browse Design Ideas – Design Ideas are multi-layered, editable templates that can be fully customized to your brand and style.
Browse Clip Art – The Clip Art library consists of individual art layers that can be easily added to your design images and text layers.
My Saved Art – When you create an account with us, you can save and access previously uploaded images, as well as previously saved design ideas.
Once you have added art, you can customize and edit virtually every aspect of it, including its sizing, placement, color palettes and specific verbiage.
Simply use the editing fields and menu (on the right-hand side of the screen on a desktop, can vary with mobile providers). Change the wording and colors of the assets to make them unique to your brand. Adjust dimensions and placements by simply clicking and dragging.
Need a custom graphic that’s not in our library? Submit a quote request and our designers can create one for you.
Adding and editing text in your custom garment design is simple. Simply select Add Text, and define the variables you want to see.
You can always change the font and color, as well as stylistic variables such as letter spacing, an outline or stroke, and shaping of the text, including arches and circles.
Adding text to your custom designed t-shirts and apparel is super easy! Simply select Add Text, them customize it to your preference. You can
Font Style – Choose from a large library of font styles to incorporate into your custom garment design.
Font Color – Select a font color to help your message pop off the garment.
Font Formatting – Adjust variables such as height, width, outline, and spacing. You can also create arches and circles for a more stylized design.
Once you have added Text and any Art library assets, you can upload your own art work files to the design without risk of overwriting the assets.
Many businesses and brands have their own designs and images that they would like to incorporate into their custom t-shirt design. No problem!
With our online design studio, it’s easier than ever to utilize your own graphics to create custom screen printing, embroidery and DTF apparel.
Simply follow the below guide to begin adding your own art assets to your custom garment design.
You can easily upload art files and graphic assets to incorporate into your custom t-shirt and apparel designs.
✓ It is best to use an SVG, or vector file, for your custom apparel design. This will allow you to have granular control over the details in your image.
✓ Be sure that if you want to use art from the Add Art libraries, you do that before this step.
✓ Select Upload Images in the designer window.
✓ Select File from the Upload Art dialogue box.
✓ Define your Color Profile according to the following steps.
Upon initial upload of your graphic, you will be asked to determine whether you want to retain the white in your graphic, as well as set up your color profile.
White Removal – You have several background removal options to remove either portions of white, or all white, from the image to create a transparent background for your custom design.
Color Profile – Select from a Full Color, Black & White, or Limited Color Profile. Screen Printed Garments have a maximum of 6 colors, while DTG & DTF can accommodate Full Color Profiles.
Color Selection – After selecting your color profile, you can modify which actual colors are included in your image and overall design.
You can adjust size, color and placement after uploading your artwork into the custom design. If you have already added other assets and graphics, you can select and edit each layer individually.
Alter your custom apparel design in a variety of ways. Mix and match images and assets from our library to create a truly unique and custom design.
As always, our team of professional designers are ready to assist you if you ever have any issues with the platform. In fact, The Print Plug offers free design mock-ups on all of our services. If you would prefer to have us handle the design, you can submit art through our Quote Request form, or send us design assets from our library to modify and customize through our Art Portal.
Don’t have a design ready? Send us your idea — we’ll bring it to life.
Once you have added an image, you can customize and edit virtually every aspect of it, including its sizing, placement, color palettes and specific verbiage. Simply use the editing fields and menu (on the right-hand side of the screen on a desktop, can vary with mobile providers). Change the wording and colors of the assets to make them unique to your brand. Adjust dimensions and placements by simply clicking and dragging.
Remember that garment color selection menu we pointed out earlier? This is when it really comes in handy. Having your custom apparel design finished, you can select the different garment / canvas colors to ensure that your design fits well across the different color ways you will use it on.
You can also explore different product types if you would like to purchase additional customized garment styles.
Select all of the different color options that you would like to purchase for your customized garments and apparel. Review your design with each color to confirm that you like the color contrasts and image placements.
✓ Please keep in mind that the garment images used on our website come directly from the manufacturers. Any inconsistencies or issues with the garment images are a result of how their pictures are provided.
✓ We do our best to optimize image issues when we discover them. If you find an issue with garment issues or consistency, please let us know by shooting us an email.
✓ If there are any questions or concerns with a designed garment, we will reach out to you before sending it to production to ensure you are happy with the placements on the garment.
When you’re finished designing your custom t-shirt (or hat, or other promotional item!), you may either begin the check out process, or save your project for a later date (you must have an account created with us to save your projects).
✓ Select Save Design to save your project for later (must create an account)
✓ Select Next Step to begin the checkout process.
✓ Add and confirm your quantity for each size across the selected garment colorways.
✓ You can add more colorways for your garments by selecting + Colors in the menu. You can add as many color options and sizes as you would like. Remember, we offer bulk discount pricing on all of our custom garment orders. That means the more you order, the more you save!
✓ You can change and add other product styles by selecting Change Product in the menu
✓ From there, you can select Get Price or Edit Design to revisit your custom graphics.
Once you have added all the necessary color and sizing options for your custom t-shirts and garments, select Get Price.
You will see an Estimated Item Subtotal. Bulk discounts will be reflected here. But keep in mind; any sales or special offer discounts will not be reflected until the final checkout page. You will also be able to apply any discount codes or coupons at the final checkout page. If you have any questions, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out!
✓ Name your Design to Add it to the Cart.
✓ You can select View Cart, or continue shopping to create more custom t-shirt designs.
✓ After you’ve selected View Cart, you can select Buy Now or Edit Quantity.
✓ You will enter your personal details on the checkout page.
✓ Enter any discount code you may have on the checkout page as well. This is also where any specials or bundle discounts will be applied.
✓ If you don’t have a discount code to enter, feel free to ask us! We’re super generous folks, and chances are we’ve got one you can have!
✓ Complete your secure checkout and wait for confirmation via email from our production team!
The designer works with thousands of garments — t-shirts, polos, hoodies, hats, jackets, bags, totes, and more. Browse by category to see everything available. We are constantly adding products to the site, so if there is a customizable product you’d like to see, let us know!
You can start designing immediately without an account — browse garments, build a design, and experiment with the tools. You’ll only need to create a free account if you want to save your design and return to it later. Account creation takes less than a minute.
Vector files (.AI, .SVG, .EPS) are ideal because they scale to any print size without losing quality. If you only have raster files, use PNG, JPEG, or PDF at 300 DPI minimum and at least 2,000 pixels wide for sharp results. Avoid screenshots and low-resolution social media images — these often pixelate when printed. Not sure if your file will work? Upload it anyway and our team will review before production.
The designer works on mobile devices, but we strongly recommend a desktop or tablet for any detailed work. Mobile screens make it harder to precisely position artwork, fine-tune text, and preview your design across garment colors. For simple single-color logos or quick mockups, mobile is fine. For multi-layered designs or anything where exact placement matters, switch to a larger screen.
Reach out by phone, email, or stop by the Nampa shop. For technical glitches (designer not loading, image upload failing, layers stuck), refreshing the browser or switching to Google Chrome usually resolves it. For design help (sizing, color choice, placement), our team can jump on a call or take over your design directly. We’re happy to walk you through any step or finish the design for you.
We currently offer screen printing, embroidery, DTG and DTF through our online designer. It is set up to intuitively determine the print method based on product type and product count. If you are looking for a specific product with a specific print method that isn’t listed on our designer, reach out! Chances are we can accommodate!
Vector files (.SVG, .AI, .EPS) are best because they scale infinitely without losing quality. If you don’t have vector files, high-resolution PNG with a transparent background works well for most designs. Avoid JPEG if your logo has transparent areas — JPEG doesn’t support transparency and you’ll end up with white boxes around your design.
Color Profile tells the designer how many colors your final print will use.
Full Color preserves every color in your artwork — best for DTG, DTF, or detailed designs.
Black & White converts your art to two-color (ink + garment).
Limited Color caps your artwork at a specific number of colors — used for screen printing, which has a 6-color maximum due to setup costs. If you’re not sure, choose Full Color — we’ll review the final design and recommend adjustments if needed for your chosen print method.
When you add art from our libraries (Design Ideas or Clip Art), the designer loads pre-built layered templates. If you’ve already added your own uploaded art or text, those existing layers can get overwritten or repositioned when the template loads. To avoid losing work, add any library art FIRST, then add your custom text, then upload your own graphics last.
Whether you make your own tshirt design from scratch or mix our templates with your custom art, sticking to this layer order keeps your work safe.
When you upload an image, the designer offers background removal options on the upload screen. You can remove all white from the image, or remove only portions (useful if your design has intentional white elements). Removing white creates a transparent background, which is essential for most printed designs — without it, you’ll see a white box around your logo on the finished garment. Vector files typically come with transparency built in, so this step usually only applies to raster uploads.
If you choose screen printing (which has a 6-color max) and your design has more colors, our team will reach out before production with two options: (1) simplify the design by consolidating similar colors, or (2) switch to DTG or DTF for full-color printing. Neither option costs you extra — we just want to make sure the final product matches your expectations.
Yes — but you need to create a free account first. After signing in, click “Save Design” to store your work. You can return anytime to continue editing, duplicate the design for a similar project, or place an order. Designs are saved indefinitely.
Once you place an order, you can still make changes during the mock-up approval stage. After you approve the digital proof, the design is locked for production. If you need urgent changes after approval, reach out to our team immediately — we’ll do everything we can.
There is a button link directly in the proof email that will allow you to deny the mock-up and and let us know what needs to change. Our design team will revise the file and send an updated version for your approval. Common revision requests: color adjustments, sizing changes, repositioning, font swaps. Revisions are included free of charge — we want the final product to match your vision exactly.
Yes. While our designer is built around our garment catalog, you can also bring your own garments to be decorated. Reach out by phone or email to discuss your project — we’ll confirm whether your garments are compatible with our decoration methods (cotton, polyester, and most blends work; specialty fabrics like waterproof or silicone-coated materials may not).
A few signs your design is print-ready:
(1) crisp edges with no pixelation when zoomed in
(2) text is legible at intended print size
(3) no white where the garment color should show through (unless intentional)
(4) at least 300 DPI for raster images.
If you’re not sure, upload your file anyway — our team reviews every design before production and will flag anything that needs adjustment.
Yes — our t shirt design AI tools include automatic background removal on image uploads, helping you create transparent logos without needing Photoshop or external tools. We’re continuously adding new AI-assisted features to make the design process faster.
