The Complete Glossary for Custom T-Shirt Designers
A comprehensive glossary of t-shirt design terminology covering artwork, typography, color, printing methods, garments, file formats, and fulfillment.
Designing a custom t-shirt involves vocabulary that spans graphic design, garment construction, print production, and file management. Whether you are creating your first design or scaling a branded apparel line, understanding the terminology makes you a more confident designer and a better-informed buyer. This glossary covers every term you are likely to encounter when using online t-shirt design tools and working with print and fulfillment partners, organized thematically so that related concepts appear together and build on each other naturally.
Design and Artwork Terms
Artwork
The complete visual design file that will be used to print your t-shirt graphic. Artwork includes all graphic elements, text, colors, and any background components arranged at the correct size and resolution for production. Most t-shirt printers require artwork to be submitted in a specific file format and at a specified resolution before they will accept an order for production.
Vector Artwork
Artwork built from mathematical paths and geometric shapes rather than pixels. Vector files scale to any size without any loss of quality, making them the ideal format for t-shirt graphic production. Logos, icons, typography, and illustrated graphics are best created or converted to vector format before submitting to a printer. Common vector file formats include SVG, EPS, PDF, and AI.
Raster Artwork
Artwork made up of a fixed grid of pixels. Raster files are resolution-dependent and lose sharpness when scaled up beyond their native size. Photographs and complex digital illustrations are typically raster images. When using raster artwork for t-shirt printing, always ensure the image is at 300 DPI or higher at the intended print size to avoid blurry or pixelated results on the finished garment.
Resolution
The density of pixels in a raster image, measured in dots per inch (DPI) or pixels per inch (PPI). For t-shirt printing, a minimum resolution of 300 DPI at the intended print size is required to produce sharp, professional results. Images sourced from websites, social media, or screenshots are typically 72 DPI at screen size and are not suitable for garment printing without significant and quality-degrading enlargement.
Transparency
A design background with no fill color, allowing the t-shirt fabric color to show through in those areas. Transparent backgrounds are essential for t-shirt designs where the artwork floats cleanly on the garment without a visible rectangular background box. Transparent backgrounds are saved in file formats that support transparency, such as PNG or SVG.
Mockup
A digital visualization that shows how your finished design will look on an actual t-shirt. Mockups are generated within design tools by applying your artwork to a photorealistic image of the garment, either in a studio product shot or a lifestyle photography context. Mockups allow you to evaluate your design before committing to a production order and are also useful for e-commerce product listings, client presentations, and social media content.
Dieline
A vector path that defines the boundary of a print area or cut edge on a garment design. In t-shirt production, a dieline is most relevant for all-over print designs or when producing cut-and-sew garments where the artwork needs to align precisely with the seams and edges of the finished piece.
Bleed
Extra artwork that extends beyond the intended finished print boundary. Bleed is most relevant in t-shirt production for all-over print designs and sublimation printing, where the artwork needs to extend to the seam edges without leaving an unprinted gap. For standard chest print placements, bleed is less critical but still worth configuring correctly when the design extends to the edge of the print area.
Safe Zone
The area inside the print boundary within which all critical design elements should be placed. Text, logos, faces, and other important visual content should remain within the safe zone to ensure they are not lost at the edges of the print area or obscured by garment seams and folds. Maintaining a safe zone margin of at least 0.25 inches inside the print boundary is a standard recommendation for t-shirt designs.
Negative Space
The empty or unprinted areas within and around the elements of a design. In t-shirt design, negative space often refers to areas where the fabric color shows through rather than being covered by ink. Effective use of negative space gives a design balance, breathing room, and visual clarity. Designs that attempt to fill every available area with graphic elements often feel cluttered and are more difficult to read at a glance.
Visual Hierarchy
The arrangement of design elements in a way that guides the viewer's eye in a deliberate order of importance. In t-shirt design, visual hierarchy typically prioritizes the most important element, whether a graphic, a headline, or a brand mark, as the dominant visual anchor, with supporting text and secondary elements scaled and positioned accordingly.
Typography Terms
Typeface
A family of fonts that share a consistent design style, such as a geometric sans-serif or a slab serif. The terms typeface and font are commonly used interchangeably in casual conversation, but technically a typeface refers to the design family while a font refers to a specific weight or style within that family, such as bold, italic, or condensed.
Sans-Serif
A typeface style without decorative strokes at the ends of letterforms. Sans-serif fonts feel modern, clean, and versatile, and they are among the most widely used typeface categories in t-shirt graphic design due to their legibility at a range of sizes and their compatibility with bold, high-contrast design aesthetics.
Serif
A typeface style that includes small decorative strokes at the ends of letterforms. Serif fonts tend to feel established, authoritative, and traditional. They are commonly used in t-shirt designs that reference heritage, collegiate, or classic Americana aesthetics.
Display Font
A typeface designed to be used at large sizes for headlines and graphic treatments rather than for body text. Display fonts are often expressive, decorative, or highly stylized. They are a popular choice for t-shirt graphic lettering when personality and visual impact are the priority.
Script Font
A typeface that mimics handwriting or calligraphy, with connected or flowing letterforms. Script fonts add elegance, personality, or a hand-crafted quality to a t-shirt design. They work best for short text elements such as single words or brief phrases and require careful attention to legibility at smaller sizes.
Letter Spacing
The uniform adjustment of space between all characters in a block of text. Increasing letter spacing, sometimes called tracking, is a common technique in t-shirt typography to give a wordmark or slogan an open, airy, or premium feel. Very wide letter spacing on all-caps text is a widely used stylistic device in apparel graphic design.
Kerning
The adjustment of space between specific pairs of letters to improve the visual balance of a word or phrase. Unlike letter spacing, which applies uniformly across all characters, kerning targets individual letter combinations that look awkward at default spacing. Good kerning is particularly important in large-scale t-shirt headline text where spacing irregularities are immediately visible.
Baseline
The invisible horizontal line on which the bottom of most letterforms sits. In t-shirt design, manipulating the baseline of individual letters, such as staggering them vertically or placing them on a curved path, is a common technique for creating dynamic, expressive lettering treatments.
Arc Text
Text that follows a curved or arched path rather than a straight horizontal baseline. Arc text is a staple of t-shirt graphic design, particularly in circular badge and seal compositions where text wraps around the top or bottom of a central graphic element.
Color Terms
RGB
A color model that defines colors as combinations of red, green, and blue light values. RGB is the color model used by screens and digital displays. Designing in RGB is appropriate for digital mockups and screen previews, but RGB colors may shift when converted to CMYK for print production.
CMYK
A color model used in print production that defines colors as combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. T-shirt artwork submitted for professional printing should ideally be prepared in CMYK color mode to ensure accurate color reproduction and to minimize unexpected color shifts between the digital design and the printed garment.
Pantone
A standardized color matching system used in professional print and apparel production. Pantone colors are assigned unique reference numbers that allow printers and manufacturers to reproduce exact shades consistently across different production runs, facilities, and materials. Specifying Pantone colors for t-shirt artwork is most relevant for screen printing applications where precise brand color matching is a requirement.
Spot Color
A single, specific ink color used in printing, specified by a reference number rather than created by mixing CMYK inks. Spot colors are commonly used in screen printing, where each color in the design requires a separate screen and a separate pass through the printing press. Designs with fewer spot colors are less expensive to produce using screen printing methods.
Halftone
A printing technique that simulates tonal gradients and shading by varying the size and spacing of ink dots rather than using continuous color areas. Halftones are commonly used in screen printing to create the appearance of smooth gradients, photographic shading, and vintage or distressed textures within the constraints of spot color printing.
Underbase
A layer of white ink printed beneath the colored artwork on dark-colored garments. Without an underbase, ink colors applied directly to a dark fabric will be visually absorbed and muted by the fabric color. An underbase creates a neutral white foundation that allows the colors printed on top to appear at their intended vibrancy and accuracy.
Color Separation
The process of dividing a multicolor design into individual single-color layers in preparation for screen printing production. Each separated color layer corresponds to a separate screen used in the printing process. Color separation is typically handled by the print provider, but understanding the concept helps designers make informed decisions about design complexity and production cost.
T-Shirt Printing Methods
Screen Printing
The traditional and most widely used method for t-shirt production at volume. Screen printing forces ink through a mesh screen onto the garment using a squeegee, with a separate screen required for each color in the design. Screen printing produces vibrant, durable results with exceptional color accuracy and is the most cost-effective method for large print runs with limited color designs.
Direct-to-Garment Printing (DTG)
A digital printing method that applies ink directly to the fabric surface using a specialized inkjet print head. DTG is well suited to small quantities, photographic imagery, and complex multicolor designs that would require too many screens to produce economically using screen printing. Print quality on DTG is excellent on light-colored cotton garments and requires an underbase for dark garments.
Heat Transfer Printing
A printing method that applies a pre-printed design to a garment using heat and pressure. Heat transfer printing is commonly used by print-on-demand services for single-unit production. It is versatile and supports a wide range of design types, but the durability of heat transfer prints is generally lower than screen printing or DTG, and the texture of the transfer layer is often perceptible on the finished garment.
Dye Sublimation
A printing method that transfers dye into the fabric fibers using heat and pressure rather than applying ink to the surface. Dye sublimation produces exceptionally vivid, wash-resistant results and is particularly well suited to all-over print designs on polyester garments. The process works only on light-colored polyester or polyester-blend fabrics, since the dye cannot overpower a dark fabric base color.
All-Over Printing (AOP)
A printing method that covers the entire surface of a garment with a design rather than limiting the print to a defined chest or back placement. All-over printing is typically achieved using dye sublimation on cut panels before the garment is sewn, or using specialized large-format DTG equipment. It allows for seamless, edge-to-edge designs and is popular for bold, expressive garment concepts.
Embroidery
A decorative technique that stitches a design directly into the fabric of a garment using colored thread. Embroidery is a premium alternative to ink-based printing, particularly for small logo placements on the chest, sleeve, or collar area. Embroidered designs have a textured, three-dimensional quality and are highly durable. Fine detail and photographic imagery are not suitable for embroidery due to the physical constraints of the stitching process.
Discharge Printing
A specialty screen printing technique that removes the dye from the fabric in the print area rather than depositing ink on top of it. Discharge printing produces a soft-hand result where the design feels like part of the fabric rather than sitting on top of it. It is most effective on dark garments made from natural cotton fibers.
Plastisol Ink
The most widely used ink type in screen printing. Plastisol ink is a PVC-based formulation that sits on top of the fabric surface rather than absorbing into the fibers. It produces bright, opaque colors with excellent durability and is the standard choice for most commercial screen printing applications.
Water-Based Ink
An ink formulation that absorbs into the fabric fibers rather than sitting on the surface. Water-based inks produce a softer hand feel than plastisol inks and are a more environmentally conscious option. They are well suited to lighter-colored garments and vintage or worn-in print aesthetics.
Garment Terms
GSM
Grams per square meter. The standard measurement of fabric weight in the apparel industry. A higher GSM value indicates a heavier, thicker, and generally more durable fabric. Lightweight t-shirts typically fall in the 130 to 160 GSM range. Mid-weight shirts range from 160 to 200 GSM. Heavyweight shirts are 200 GSM and above. For premium branded t-shirts, a mid-weight or heavyweight fabric in the 180 to 220 GSM range delivers the best combination of structure, durability, and print quality.
Ring-Spun Cotton
A type of cotton yarn produced by tightly twisting and thinning the cotton fibers during spinning, resulting in a softer, stronger, and more durable yarn than standard combed cotton. T-shirts made from ring-spun cotton have a noticeably smoother hand feel and hold their shape better over time, making them the preferred fabric for premium custom t-shirt applications.
Combed Cotton
Cotton yarn that has been processed to remove short fibers and impurities before spinning, resulting in a smoother, more consistent yarn than uncombed cotton. Combed cotton is a step above standard cotton in softness and quality and is a common choice for mid-range custom t-shirt production.
Tri-Blend
A fabric composition that combines three fiber types, typically polyester, cotton, and rayon, in a single yarn. Tri-blend t-shirts are prized for their exceptionally soft hand feel, natural drape, and slightly heathered visual texture. They are a popular choice for lifestyle brands and fashion-forward apparel where fabric feel is as important as design quality.
Pre-Shrunk
A fabric treatment applied during manufacturing that minimizes further shrinkage after the garment is washed and dried by the end consumer. Pre-shrunk t-shirts provide more predictable sizing consistency after laundering, which is an important consideration for branded merchandise and retail apparel products.
Print Placement
The specific location on a garment where artwork is positioned for printing. Standard print placements include the left chest, full front, full back, sleeve, and back yoke. Each placement has standard size guidelines that define the maximum print area. Full front and full back placements allow for the largest and most visually impactful designs. Left chest placements are best suited to smaller logo and badge-style graphics.
Garment Dye
A dyeing process in which the finished, assembled garment is dyed rather than the yarn or fabric being dyed before construction. Garment dyeing produces a characteristic soft, slightly uneven color distribution that gives garments a vintage, lived-in aesthetic. Garment-dyed t-shirts often have a washed-out look that is popular in lifestyle and streetwear apparel design.
Hand Feel
The tactile quality of a garment's fabric, describing how it feels to the touch. Hand feel is influenced by the fiber content, yarn construction, fabric weight, and any finishing treatments applied to the fabric. In the context of print production, hand feel also refers to the texture of the printed design itself, with screen printed plastisol graphics typically having a more pronounced surface texture than water-based or discharge printed designs.
File Format and Export Terms
PNG
A raster file format that supports transparent backgrounds. PNG is one of the most useful formats for t-shirt artwork because transparency allows the design to sit cleanly on any garment color without a visible rectangular background. Always export PNG files at 300 DPI or higher for print use.
SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics. An open-standard vector file format that scales to any size without quality loss. SVG is widely supported by online t-shirt design tools and is the preferred format for logos, icons, and typographic graphic elements that need to remain sharp at any print size.
A versatile file format that can contain both vector and raster data. A vector-based PDF is one of the most universally accepted formats for professional t-shirt print submission and is preferred by most commercial screen printers and direct-to-garment print services.
EPS
Encapsulated PostScript. A vector file format used in professional print production. EPS files are compatible with most professional design applications and are accepted by many commercial apparel printers, particularly for screen printing artwork where clean vector paths are required for accurate screen output.
AI
The native file format of a widely used professional vector design application. AI files preserve all layers, paths, editable text, and design elements in their fully editable state and are accepted by many professional print vendors for t-shirt production artwork.
DPI
Dots per inch. A measure of print resolution that describes how many individual ink dots are placed within one linear inch of printed output. Higher DPI values produce finer, sharper printed detail. The standard minimum for professional t-shirt printing is 300 DPI at the intended print size.
Color Profile
A standardized data set that describes the range of colors a specific device or output process can reproduce. Embedding the correct color profile in your artwork file, typically sRGB for digital use or a CMYK profile for print, helps ensure that colors are interpreted consistently between your design tool and your printer's production equipment.
Print-on-Demand and Fulfillment Terms
Print-on-Demand (POD)
A fulfillment model in which each t-shirt is printed individually when an order is placed, rather than in advance in bulk. Print-on-demand eliminates the need to hold inventory, reduces upfront investment, and allows sellers to offer a wide range of designs without committing to minimum order quantities. The trade-off is a higher per-unit cost compared to bulk printing.
Fulfillment
The process of producing, packaging, and shipping a product to the end customer after an order is placed. In the context of custom t-shirt production, fulfillment can be handled by a print-on-demand partner automatically, or managed independently by ordering bulk inventory from a printer and shipping products yourself.
Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)
The smallest number of units a printer will produce in a single order. Screen printing typically involves a minimum order quantity because the setup costs for preparing screens are fixed regardless of how many shirts are printed. Print-on-demand services eliminate MOQ requirements by producing individual units on demand.
Turnaround Time
The number of business days between placing a print order and the order being ready to ship. Turnaround times vary between printers and production methods. Screen printing typically requires longer turnaround times than DTG due to the screen preparation process. Always confirm turnaround time before placing an order with a deadline in mind.
Soft-Hand Finish
A post-print treatment applied to screen printed garments that reduces the surface texture of the plastisol ink layer, making the printed design feel softer and more integrated with the fabric. Soft-hand finishes are a premium option that improves the wearing comfort and perceived quality of screen printed t-shirts.
Dropshipping
A retail fulfillment model in which the seller does not hold any physical inventory. When a customer places an order, the seller's print-on-demand partner produces and ships the product directly to the customer on the seller's behalf. Dropshipping eliminates warehousing and inventory costs and is a common model for custom t-shirt businesses selling through online storefronts.
Where to Go Next
Now that you are familiar with the core vocabulary, put your knowledge to work. Here are some recommended next steps:
- Browse our custom t-shirt industry guide for a deep dive into materials, printing methods, and supplier models.
- Start designing with Adobe Express -- thousands of free templates, professional typography tools, and print-ready export formats.
- Explore Printful for print-on-demand fulfillment that integrates with your online store.
- Try Custom Ink for bulk screen printing with dedicated design support.
About This Glossary
This glossary is maintained by the T-Shirt Print Palace Editorial Team and updated regularly to reflect current terminology and industry practices. Terms are organized thematically rather than alphabetically so that related concepts appear together and reinforce each other in context. If you encounter a term in the custom t-shirt space that is not listed here, let us know and we will consider adding it.
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