I have some photoshop related questions when it comes to printing images and also when it comes to putting images on paper or fabric (like a T).

What is the best color format (8 or 16 bit)? CMYK or RGB (or other) I am told CMYK is the best for anything in print, so I just want to hear it from people with experience (which goes for all of these questions).

What would be the best resolution? Should I keep it at default?

Should the background be transparent or white? Does it matter either way?

What is your experience with the best fonts to use for print? Especially on T's and if the font is small and you want it to be readable.

Does anyone know anything about all over designs on T's? I have done designs for T's but nothing that is all over it. How would I approach this? I have a T template, but not sure how to go about it.

What about the best file format? I am told a vector or TNG file format is best. Do you agree?

Also, do designs have to be the exact size they need to be to show on the T correctly? Or would the printer possibly make changes in that arena?


Any other pertinent info you might have on this subject would be greatly appreciated

I looked up a lot of these questions on the net, but their are mixed answers, so I thought I would ask people that have had the experience here for a better understanding. Thanks!

If you try this link, you will get a page that has basic information on size and pixels, if you want to print something.

It is from a Dutch site, that has not yet opened its English pages.

http://www.digitransfer.info/index.php?page=poster_upload_info&load_popup=1

This will give MINIMUM quality.

Not sure if this is what you are after, but I did some t-shirts for the kids with this method from this link
http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-stencilb.html
Mrs Lurker says this works well
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/8157/patterns.htm
http://www.quiltbus.com/pof.htm
have use both these products and if you follow the process as set out by the manufactures they work well, they do fade very quick.


hope that helps ya a little

i have done shirts thru these guys.... https://taglessthreads.com/
they do a wonderful job work w/ you and its a great concept w/ the custom labels... i know its not exactly what you are looking for but they would be able to tell you exactly what they need file wise...for t's many a places along hawthorn here in portland carry shirts printed by them wonderful mom and pop type orginization...
-matt-

forgot to say that if you use vector its a great way to go if you need an image printed on boards as the size doesn't matter when cutting out the screens but that might be another way for you to consider on shirts????

Whenever in doubt, call the printer who will be doing the work. Requirements vary from place to place.

Printers are our "friends" ...they don't want to make any more work for themselves or for us. They will tell you all the specifics.

http://www.cafepress.com/pscstore?CMP=CJ-CLICK-10463745

10 inch X 10 inch, 200 DPI, .png if you want true trasparency

I dont know anything about t-shirts but regarding first few lines of your question:
You always look images on your screen in RGB because monitors use red, green and blue phosphors and you always print in CMYK because printers use cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. Therefore, if you dont convert to CMYK (or create in CMYK) they will call you to send them the document again in CMYK color mode or they will convert it themselves because printers dont work with RGB. The problem is that you will lose some of the colors with conversion and the image may become dull so if you do it yourself you will see if some colors are wrong and can correct it.
Maybe they have a color profile they can send you so that you get the best match on your screen and the final print, so as Eve said, call em.
For any digital print on paper that im doing for myself or want great quality without visible pixels id go for 300DPI, but im sure that is too much for t-shirts.
And as for 16bit color, there is no need for it, keep it at 8bits/channel.
Good luck