Q: Where does the image go on the shirt?

A: Where it looks good to the customer.

I know some shops have elaborate ways to decide where an image gets printed on a shirt. I know some customers try and give very specific measurements as to where they want their images.

My advice is to only use your templates or measurements as rough guides, never never as rules.

If the customer gives you measurements, then make sure you are talking the same language. Two inches down from the top of the collar or the bottom? Center the design, meaning the actual measurement or visually? Words don’t mean the same thing to every person. Don’t use words alone, and I would say don’t use photos alone. The more communication the better.

This Farm Aid shirt is a good example, as the guitar sticks above the design and is technically the top for measuring the height on the shirt, but visually the top is the blue line. If you measured from the top of the guitar and did your standard placement of 2.5 inches or 4 fingers or what have you, the design would be printed too low. If the customer told you to print it 2 inches below the collar, I would make sure you know exactly what they mean, and then I would not blindly follow their instructions, if it doesn’t look good to your eye than send at least a photo, if not a test print, for approval. Just following instructions doesn’t mean you will not get yourself in a world of trouble.

We usually send photos of a close up of the design, we hold the shirt up, and then we have someone wear the shirt. When you are not sure or when tens of thousands of dollars worth of shirts are at stake, you need to be crystal f’n clear.