Choosing the Right T-Shirt Color for Printing and Branding (2024)

FAQs

Which color is best for Tshirt printing? ›

Because not all color combinations work well together when printed. Light-colored t-shirts print best with Dark Inks and Dark Color garments print best with Light Colored ink.

Though black and white T-shirts are often known as the most versatile colors that pair well with anything, a navy blue V-Neck is also a great staple item to include in your wardrobe. Try pairing a navy or dark blue V-neck with black jeans whenever you're going for something chic.

RGB offers a much wider range of colours than CMYK does, and RGB colours tend to be more vivid than CMYK. Many RGB colours cannot be duplicated using the CMYK process. You will need to work in CMYK when producing artwork for direct to garment t-shirt printing and t-shirt screen printing.

Among other colors, black and white are the most popular and wanted in the industry. You can always play safe in these two shades while still being the chicest version of yourself. In the black canvas of these colors, you have much space for making desired designs through t-shirt printing and embroidery.

When it comes to selecting colors, there are three types that are good for print: cool, warm, and neutral. Examples of warm colors are red, yellow, pink, and orange. Pink instills a sense of joy while red makes the reader feel energized. Cool colors include green, purple, brown, and blue.

Black, White, Grey (variation of heathered grey colors), Red and Navy! These colors might not be that surprising to you. You will find though that Black and White stand out as the clear favorites in many markets. The rest are up for debate.

White does amazing things for all colors. It multiplies the intensity of any shade and makes it stand out that much more.

Vector files such as AI, PDF, EPS, SVG, and CDR are the best file types to send for screen printing logos and digital artwork. Bitmap/Raster files such as PSD, TIFF, PNG, and JPEG are good to use when they are saved at a high-resolution of 300 dpi or higher and look good at 100% view.

RGB is the best choice for anything online, like your website, ad posters or banners, and logos. RGB colors are generated through an additive method, and the three colors combined together make white.

Does CMYK look better when printed? ›

CMYK is a four-color process and stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), and is preferred for use on printed materials because it helps achieve a true color. Here, we'll take a closer look at why printers don't all print the same and what you can do to get the best color output possible.

1. Wear: Blue. Many experts agree that blue is one of the best colors to wear for an interview. In fact, job-search website CareerBuilder hosted a study of 2,099 hiring managers and HR professionals, and blue was the most recommended interview outfit color.

Red is the color of power. It gets people's attention and it holds it, which is why it's the most popular color for marketing. The word SALE is always red, and you'll often find red a common tie color for professionals. When you want to be viewed as trustworthy and cool, blue is the color for you.

Digital Lavender, Luscious Red, Sundial, Tranquil Blue and Verdigris are the color names for 2023. Who chooses the names of the new colors? Names are selected by the WGSN and Coloro color team, before being verified by our in-house Equality Vision Team to ensure a proper translation on a global scale.

Don't use RGB colors, design in CMYK.

Red, Green and Blue lights are added together to reproduce other colors. However, your printer is much more limited and won't be able to reproduce all the colors you see on screen.

A dark text color on top of a light gradient background allows for readability, while also being pleasing to the eye. Light backgrounds: Using a light color shade with black or dark text is a great way of adding subtle color. Try black text on light blue, pale green or gray background.

Full Colour Printing

This stands for the 4 main colours used in most conventional printers; cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Your printer will then mix these 4 colours in order to print your documents or photographs. This is exactly how a full colour print (or digital print) works.

There's no question in this area: Black is by far the most-used ink color. Black ink is used for almost all text in a printed document, and many documents like research papers that don't include color graphs may use exclusively black ink.

Of the three composite colors in computer printers, red colors tend to be used most. Red printouts use the magenta ink in your toner cartridges. Since red tends to be used frequently, your cyan and yellow ink will often be least used.

Black and white printing jobs tend to look more formal and professional, which makes them a great option for business bulletins, business proposals, or newsletters. Color printing is usually the better option if you are trying to create documents that have pizzazz and personality.

What color t-shirt makes you look bigger? ›

Darker shades of colors like blue, purple and brown can also help to hide flaws and create a slimming illusion. On the other hand, lighter colors, like white and khaki, can add pounds and give the illusion of a larger frame.

Cotton is considered one of the best fabrics for T-shirt manufacturing since it is soft and breathable. Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, are smooth and have low water absorbency, but may not be comfortable for everyday wear.

Red is the color of power. It gets people's attention and holds it. It is the most popular color for marketing.

According to Real Simple, four universally flattering clothing colors are Eggplant, True Red, Indian Teal, and Mellow Rose. Sounds fancy, right? Each of these colors is either in a neutral place on the color-wheel or an opposite color of our skin tone which makes them very flattering.

The premise of the 3-color rule is not combine more than three colors in your outfit at any one time. The exceptions are black and white — they don't count, as they aren't technically colors, so they can be intermixed without actually adding a color to your outfit.

Red, orange and yellow are all warm colors and are generally thought to evoke feelings of happiness, optimism, energy and passion. Yellow-y sunshine might lift your mood, while red roses might get you in the mood. Warm colors also rev you up!

If printing on adult size shirts, the standard size is 11” x 11” (or 11” wide by proportionate height). This will look good on almost any adult size. For printing on youth sizes, a good design size is about 9” x 9”.

What are the best CMYK colors for printing? ›

The most brilliant colors achievable using CMYK are solids. First, 100% of cyan, magenta, and yellow will appear as the most colorful colors available in print. Again, these colors will not come out as bright as they appear onscreen.

Essentially, any colors produced with RGB on the digital space will not create the same output on the physical print. This is based on the color gamut, which in other words means that translating RGB to CMYK usually allows the color to convert only as close to the original appearance of the display screen.

The RGB color mode is most used in digital technologies because it has more color capabilities than CMYK. CMYK can only create 70% of the colors that RGB can make. On digital applications such as Photoshop, the RGB color mode allows you to get more accurate colors.

The primary disadvantage of CMYK colours is that it can create fewer colours than for example PMS and RGB, and the colours that it can print are not as specific. So if you are looking to use a specific colour you should rather use the Pantone colour systems.

RGB's additive colour process means it produces colours and brightness that CMYK just can't reproduce. So if you've chosen a colour that isn't in the range CMYK can print, unfortunately, this means it will come out much duller than what you see on screen.

The reason that onscreen colors look different offscreen is because some colors onscreen cannot be reproduced with CMYK printing. These colors are called “out of gamut.” Example colors are metallics and fluorescents. The RGB color space has a much wider range of discernible colors than CMYK.

Plastisol ink pigment sits on top of the fabric. This is one of the main reasons water-based ink has such a soft feel and is becoming more and more desirable for printing onto fashion blanks. If you are looking to create soft custom t shirts, water based ink will give you the softest tees possible.

Screen Printing, also known as silk screen printing, is a traditional t-shirt printing method that produces high-quality and long-lasting prints. It involves creating a stencil of your design and placing it on a mesh screen.

Sublimated Prints and Screen Prints are considered to be the ones that would last longest. Screen printing has been around for a long time, so there are many different variations of it. Screen printing is the most popular form of t-shirt decoration, especially with slogans and cartoons.

Water-based ink is best suited for 100% cotton fabrics. Blended textiles are less likely to absorb the water-based ink, although there are some tricks to do this successfully, you will run into a lot of difficulties. While water-based inks are more eco-friendly, but it's not by much.

Which print is best for cotton t-shirt? ›

DTG (direct-to-garment) printing

It's comfortable and long-lasting, because the print soaks into the clothing fibers. The best quality t-shirts for DTG printing are made from cotton.

Light colored clothing reflects most of the visible wavelengths which, in turn, absorbs less heat. On the contrary, darker or black clothing absorbs more wavelengths, absorbing more heat, hence making the clothing warmer to wear.

Use CMYK for any project design that will be physically printed, not viewed on a screen. If you need to recreate your design with ink or paint, the CMYK color mode will give you more accurate results.

The reason for this is that in RGB, grey is created using red, green and blue (in mostly equal quantities). In CMYK on the other hand, it will be printed using cyan, yellow and magenta. During the printing process, grey is one of the hardest colours to properly control.

If printing on adult size shirts, the standard size is 11” x 11” (or 11” wide by proportionate height). This will look good on almost any adult size. For printing on youth sizes, a good design size is about 9” x 9”.

Basic half sleeve T-shirt

The most simple style in Tshirt, this one has a close-to-the-neck crew neckline. This is also the most popular type of T-shirt and is favored by both men and women. The crew neckline which sits along the base of the neck suits most people.