Artistic Image

 Do some reading, find out about T-shirt history and learn to appreciate it. Even designs that you don't like yourself can provide inspiration and insight into what people like to wear. One good book for reference is Vintage T-shirts(opens in new tab) by Lisa Kidner.

 10. Stay ahead of the game

 It's fine to take inspiration from the latest trends, but to keep one step ahead you want to avoid copying them. Chances are that by the time any given T-shirt's been produced, its designers are already moving onto something else. Keep abreast of what's happening in fashion and elsewhere in pop culture, but try to forge your own path.

 Do you have a great design in mind, but only a vague idea of where it’d look best on a t-shirt?

 If that’s the case, then you’ve come to the right place.

 In this guide, you’ll learn about 7 different t-shirt design placements in detail. You’ll also find out which placements work best for logos, artwork, and text-based designs.

 By the end, you’ll be able to pick the best t-shirt placements for your designs!

 The front of a shirt is a classic—one of the most popular design placements you’ll see out there.

 Why? Wearing a custom-designed t-shirt with the artwork front and center is an excellent way to show off beloved art or rep a band, team, or favorite brand.

 T-shirts with front placements are great when paired with outerwear that shows off the design. Think layering pieces like a zip-up hoodie that can be left open or tied around your waist to let your tee speak for itself.

 Want to get even more specific? Enter: the center chest design placement—it’s one of the most commonly used spots for blank t-shirts. And it’s no secret why: this placement is in a highly visible location that grabs attention right away.

 For embroidery, the centered placement size is 4” × 4”.

 The center embroidery placement is best for smaller embroidery designs, like logos, text, quotes, or small artwork.

 If you want to embroider a bigger design on the front of the shirt, use the large center placement. Take advantage of the extra space to add more details (but don’t forget that it has less surface area than the DTG front placement).

 Pro tip: Check your product’s File guidelines tab to see the maximum placement size for your chosen front design placement.

 Left chest design placement

 The left chest design placement is an all around win: classic yet versatile, understated yet dressed up—and it’s been popular for decades. This placement doesn’t offer a lot of room for detailed art but works great for logos, symbols, smaller designs, and text.

 Using the left chest placement for your logo or branding helps give a regular t-shirt a more polished look.

 The minimalist layout also makes this placement easier for shoppers to pair your t-shirt with other clothing. After all, offering t-shirt designs that you can wear with anything increases the chances customers will choose your t-shirts over other brands.

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 At Printful, the standard size of an embroidered left chest placement is around 4” x 4”. The smaller size and left chest location also make this spot a good choice for work uniforms or branded clothing.

 Pro tip: We use different embroidery stitches for different shapes or text thicknesses. Learn more about embroidery at Printful and check out what works best for your design.

 To make sure you get your left chest placement design right on the first try, stick to the tips we’ve listed below.

 Make sure detail thickness is at least 0.05” (4pt)

 You can also use the center chest placement to show off your carefully-crafted text designs.

 Pro tip: Take your branding to the next level by adding your logo on an outside label for a more professional look.

 A full front placement means even more space for your art. Since the pattern or design takes up a large part of the front of the t-shirt, it’s awesome for bold looks and max visibility.

 A full front placement means even more space for your art. Since the pattern or design takes up a large part of the front of the t-shirt, it’s awesome for bold looks and max visibility.

 It’s best to center your design from the middle point of the neck collar.

 How big can you go? At Printful, we have various products from different manufacturers. That means every product has its own file guidelines with different max print areas depending on the size of the t-shirt, the design technique used, and the supplier.

 For embroidery, the large center placement area is 10” × 16”. For DTG designs, the front placement area is from 10” × 12” to 12” × 16”. Since this offers a good amount of space, it’s the perfect placement to show off bigger designs with detailed colors.

 The back of a t-shirt is the most common placement for sports uniforms and large designs because of the available surface area.

 The placement comes with other benefits, too. For example, artwork on the front of a shirt is more forward and can be harder to pull off. This is where the beauty of a back design comes in—customers can tone down the vibe by pairing outerwear with it.

 Below we discuss the most common back t-shirt placements offered by Printful.

 We print outside labels underneath the collar of the t-shirt on the back. You can use this placement to show off your brand logo or unleash your creativity by adding text and other design elements!

 At Printful, the max outside label placement area is 3” × 3” for most garments (it costs $2.49 per garment). Unlike inside labels, you can put a design in the entire placement area.

 Though this spot is more suitable for logo placement, you can use it for anything that works with your main design. After all, it’s your product!