If not, get busy and I'll wait. I'm a teacher, so I have some serious patience. However, next time you are given homework, you better do it on time! :)
So, now you've got your graphics program and your list of original ideas. I cannot stress how important this is. Once you become a successful shopkeeper, you will not like it if someone copies your design because it is funny, unique, hot-selling, etc. Be original and it will pay!
Now, since I do not take pictures to use, nor do I paint, I am going to explain how to create a graphic from scratch to use. If you take pictures or paint, I'd suggest you check out Cafepress's forums or other graphics tutorials to learn how to do that. I'm sorry, I feel like I'm abandoning you. But I truly have no clue how to do that, nor do I care to learn at this point. So, I will not be too upset if you go elsewhere to learn how to do that. If I can't help you, please get help somewhere.
Back to creating custom graphics. Okay, we're going to first go with a simple text design.
First, open your graphics program. Now, the first thing you need to know is the DPI (sometimes PPI). This stands for Dots per inch or Pixels per inch. There is a full tutorial at Cafepress; however, I am seriously going to "dummy" it down. No, you are not a dummy, but you also may not understand the lingo and what not. So, have you ever resized a picture? Have you ever uploaded a picture to a website and it didn't look right. The edges were blurry, you could see little boxes in it, etc. That's because the DPI of the picture was too small for the website.
How does this effect our designs? Well, if I were to make a design at a smaller DPI, when it was enlarged it would be blurry or have the little boxes (pixels) visible. We don't want that, it makes the designs look crappy.
So, on your graphics program you need to find a section that says something like: resolution/ ppi/ etc. On GIMP, when you open a new image, it shows a standard of 72 ppi. That's WAY too small. You want 200-300 ppi. If you make an image 72ppi, it will look really bad when printed. And once you make it, it's hard to adjust up. You can adjust down, but adjusting up just doesn't work. So, it is VERY important you begin with 200-300ppi.
For GIMP, when you click new image, there are advanced options that allow you to change the resolution. I have mine set for 300x300, which makes for a nice image that can be downsized nicely (usually).
So, change your PPI/DPI to 300x300. I'll wait.
Now, the next thing you need to do is make the actual image size. 300 DPI hase nothing to do with what size the image actually is. So, you can either use pixels or inches (or other measurements such as millimeters). I prefer to go with inches. Why? Because I know what size the print area is in inches. Some shopkeepers only refer to the image size by pixels, which would be 3000x3000 for a 10x10 image at 300 DPI.
WHAT? Okay, let's not get confused. 300 DPI simply means how many pixels there are in an inch. So, a 1 inch square image that is 300 DPI is only 300x300. A 10 inch image has 300 pixels for every inch. There are 10 inches each way (square), therefore 10x300=3000. The image is 3000 pixels x 3000 pixels.
So, we're going to set the DPI to 300 and the image size to 10x10. Why? Because MANY products are 10x10. There are some that are 12x12 or greater. But many products, especially the t-shirts, are 10x10.
Now you are going to create a graphic. First, let's just do some tests. Click your font button (normally an A or a T). Then click on your image to place it. It doesn't matter where, because we can move it later. (Note-- these directions are based on GIMP! Yours may be different!)
Click on the image somewhere in the middle and type the words: This is a test. (A text box should pop up for you to type in).
Okay. Where the heck is it? It's there, it's just REALLY small. Change your font size to something pretty big (like 100 or 150, for now). See it now? Good!
Now, think about the way your design looks. A "blah" font, probably in black, BORING! Who wants to buy boring?
So, fiddle around with the font and pic a nice one. What one to use? Well, here's the deal. The font you use should be something that goes with the design you want. For instance, if I am designing something that a woman would wear (like an entirely female design), I'd want something more feminine. If I want something that is for a man, I'd want a masculine font. If I have something that is supposed to "look serious", I'd choose a serious font vs. something that looks like a kids wrote it. Play with the fonts until it really hits you. Don't just pick your favorite. And make sure you can read the font! That's important.
Once you have the font, you need to focus on the color. The color is tricky for a few reasons. However, since we are just making a test, just pick a color that you like and works for your design. (i.e. a more feminine color like pink or purple for women, a darker, bolder color for an "in your face" type of design, etc. ).
What I'm hoping you are getting at this point is how you can just take a simply "This is a test" design and make it look like so many different things. I'll post a few examples.
Now, you need to save the image. To save the image for POD, you will need to save it as PNG. It's simple and all the graphics programs can do it (I think). Instead of saving it as a jpeg/jpg file (it ends like this: Filename. jpg) save it as png (ends like this: Filename. png). Okay? Now, you will probably get something that says you need to export and merge or whatever. Click ok and save. You need to do this because graphics programs work with layers (more on that LATER).
So, now you have a nifty little design. However, you probably can't print it on a shirt. Why? Because of the colors. Let me be more specific. You can print it on a shirt, but it won't look the same as it does. This is because of a little subject called CMYK and RGB.
That is our next topic. So, I'll see you then. Oh, and I'll get the examples up right away.
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