A Guide to Print Placement and Sizing

Sit down. We need to talk. Too many of our customers ask us for some funky sizing and placements that we know just aren't going to look like they think it should. So, we decided to make a guide to help you with print placement and sizing.

Before we dive into specifics, let's go over some basic factors to consider. When creating your designs, keep in mind that the people wearing your garments are not flat. Designing graphics for clothing should take the general shape of a human into consideration, so don't design for a flat surface. Keep in mind the size ranges of the garments you're looking to print on and the print area of the smallest size. It is not common (or cost effective) to resize a printed graphic for each size. For example, someone who wears a medium t-shirt and someone who wears and XL will have generally the same amount of that t-shirt's surface area facing forward. So a 10" wide graphic will look very similar on both people.

Another things to consider; be careful of irregular placements. We know everyone wants their design to stand out and be different but trust us, it's been done before. And there's probably a reason you don't see it very often.

Now, let's take a closer look at print placement for specific areas on the garment.

FRONT PRINTS

Keep the type of collar in mind. A graphic printed front and center should be roughly 2.5 to 3 inches below the lowest part of a regular crewneck collar. For tank tops, keep the image approximately 1” from the top hem. V-neck tees may require a print as close to the collar as possible depending on how deep the V is. Women's v-necks or scoop necks usually require the print to be as close to the collar as possible.

Left breast prints should be kept around 4” wide or tall depending on the overall shape of the graphic. The center of the design should be in line with the high point on the shoulder of the collar and roughly 2.5 to 3 inches below the lowest point of the collar. The same would be true if you prefer to print on the right breast. If the shirt you are printing on has a breast pocket, it is usually common to print just above the pocket opening rather than directly on the pocket. The main portion of the pocket usually ends up sitting too low on the body.

BACK PRINTS

Prints on the back of a garment usually allow for much larger designs but the same basic rules apply. Keep the wearer in mind and design for the way you'd like the print to look when worn. The highest point of a back print shouldn't be less than 3" down from the base of the collar seam. Some exceptions apply, but for the most part this will put the very top of your design no higher than your shoulders. Design usually should not be taller than 17" as the closer they get to the hem of the shirt, the more likely they are to be distorted by the way a shirt or sweatshirt tends to bunch around the waist.

SLEEVE PRINTS

Sleeve prints should be no wider than 3” to avoid exceeding the width of the platen necessary to print on items with narrow openings. A sleeve print usually sits about 1 inch above the sleeve hem of a short sleeve. Long sleeves usually allow for a 15 inch long print comfortably and are printed along the center of the outside edge.

OTHER PLACEMENTS

Totes typically allow for a 10x10 inch design, but this can vary depending on the size of the tote. Similar to t-shirts, it is important to keep in mind what the tote will look like when it's full of stuff and hanging as it's held or perched on a shoulder.

OVERSIZED PRINTS

Here's where things get complicated. We know you guys want to print as big as possible a lot of the times. And we know everything we just said about keeping the size and shape of people wearing your items just went in one ear and out the other. With that said, one of our standard size screens will allow for up to a 15 inch wide but 17 inch tall graphic. That is large enough to cover most of the front of a standard size t-shirt. We can print larger if the garment allows for an uninterrupted print. Printing over any seams, zippers, buttons, grommets, etc will not only cause inconsistencies in the print, but has the potential to damage our equipment. Exceptions can be made in very specific instances but for the most part, we can only print as large as the garment allows within those parameters.

With these guidelines in mind, you'll be able to create professional-looking prints that fit the garment perfectly.

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