You might think that by getting the cheapest bid for your shirts you've done your job. Or going to one of the many “Design it Yourself” sites. And you MAY have, if you don't want to WOW them with a shirt they will WANT to wear- or buy!

       After all, why are you even BOTHERING to take the time and the expense to print shirts in the FIRST place? For 'Throw-Aways'- free giveaway shirts for some event? Many WILL be thrown away- or used to wash cars with, if the one it was given to wants to wear something else, not caring for the look of the shirt. Is THAT what you want? And, if you happen to be SELLING the shirts- BRACE yourself!

        Now that any company in any country can sell goods here, people in lands like China are producing VERY nice shirts for little, since their labor and overhead are so very low- so if that is NOT what you desire, the trick is to match the right printer and the right artist to get the best you CAN for whatever your budget is- maybe paying a little more to get a design that WILL sell, one that people will WANT to wear!

        Even that isn't as easy as you might imagine; for many printers and artists require deposits you LOSE if not happy, and many are VERY slow. Ideally, a friend and/or business associate can recommend you to one that did a great job for them. Ask around.

        Then comes the art. Sigh. Some find a tiny, low-rez pic online, e-mail it to the printer, REALLY thinking all the poor printer has to do is hit a button and ZINGO! The shirts begin printing it full size and beautiful! Dream on! The printer, if not having an in-house artist, has to pay an artist to hopefully do a good job of re-creating the fuzzy little image. This REALLY HAPPENS! Unless it's a big order, he has little he can pay the artist. If in-house, the shirts will have a percentage added to the order to cover all the expenses of having that artist... On the OTHER hand, many customers bring art their company has produced, or the clip art mentioned earlier- so many printers very rarely have a client wanting something original or creative...so rely on freelance artists to do so.