Looks like a Herculean job to design your own t-shirt. Earlier, software with substandard findings was considered old-fashioned. But now that is not the case any more! There are a multitude of software choices for shirt design nowadays; for both seasoned and beginners alike. The collection ranges from strong local applications to software for web design.
This huge range of software options for designing t-shirts makes shirts easier to produce. Besides that, in the end, they guarantee a great outcome. Some software solutions also provide options for t-shirt printing, while others are solely based on creating a flawless template.
You’ve come to the right spot, if you want to design your own shirt. Our list of the best t-shirt design software is a must-read, from high-end design resources focused on professionals to free t-shirt design software targeted at amateurs and online services.
Here’s the list of 15 best shirt design tools for research in 2020
- Designhill T-Shirt Maker
If you need support to create a personalised t-shirt, Designhill T-shirt Creator is an excellent application. With its built in method, it is a one-stop solution that simplifies the entire operation. It is quick to use his shirt maker. When you add text or other components, you will see the template embracing the desired look. Adjust the font, placement, or colour. To see the effect in real-time, add custom logos, photos, and drag or drop elements. If you’re someone who isn’t a pro in t-shirt design, the best way to get there is Designhill t-shirt maker.

- Printful — Ideal For Free Mock-ups
Printful’s t-shirt design programme helps you to create mock-ups in high resolution. It doesn’t charge you for the design download, though. It can be used for almost all clothing styles, such as personalised hoodies, shoes, and more. You can upload your own artwork or build from scratch using the simple font and clipart options of the app after choosing your t-shirt style(s) and color(s).

The programme rather restricts you to the long sleeve, standard, or 3/4th sleeve t-shirts in front and back style only. You may also apply text with an outside mark to any of the sleeves. Send it for printing or download the files once you have the exact template you’ve been searching for.
- Adobe Illustrator — For Professionals
We would not recommend that you play with the high-end graphics solutions from Adobe in order to build your occasional t-shirts. But if you’re already a skilled, Illustrator is an excellent tool for quality shirt design. Since the graphic design programme focuses on vector graphics, you can easily scale up or down the size of a text or logo without affecting the quality.

Your design on a t-shirt would look amazing as it would look on a business card, billboard or some other content. The illustrator simplifies the process of making layered, spot-colored files that your print shop requires if you think of screen-printing your concept. Illustrator like most specialised applications has a steep learning curve. To get its users started, Adobe provides published tutorials with sample files. Dozens of sites also have models that you can import into the app directly.
- GraffixPro Studio
GraffixPro Studio is next on our Best t-shirt design software list. It provides a little more in contrast with other t-shirt design tech solutions. It’s a paid version, and for a demo you need to contact their team. For individuals who operate t-shirt printing firms, this app has several benefits. It’s also built for those who want to make t-shirt printing a livelihood.

There are over 45 fonts, more than 350 pictures and various models for t-shirts. This is easy-to-use app! And novices would be able to quickly try their hands on it. It has features designing a distressed look, incorporating shadows, and playing with the artwork. For readymade projects, either use your own artwork or use the library. In addition, the t-shirt design programme has other features such as barcoding, quote generator, and inventory control.
- InkScape — Best & Free To Use
Can’t you afford paid Design Tools? If not, then you need to look for strong and versatile free t-shirt design apps. Find this free software-InkScape. It is an open-source modelling tool based on vectors that has the same characteristics as Adobe Illustrator, but at zero cost. While there are no exclusive t-shirt temples or tutorials available with this app, it is possible to use the designs and files of other users which are free to their community.

When you’ve learned how to use this programme, applying your skills and designing attractive t-shirts becomes simpler for you. This t-shirt design app is available for operating systems such as Windows, MacOS , and Linux. It also helps you to convert an existing bitmap image into vector images, using a tracing function. It allows you to scale up and scale down any image in size as needed for the design, plus export it to a screen-printing format that is acceptable. In addition, InkScape also offers raster image formats such as.jpg and.png.
- GIMP — An Affordable Alternative
It’s a professional Photoshop substitute. GIMP is a programme for open-source graphic editing that has been around for years. This programme is a must-try for experienced graphic designers, who are cash-strapped but who are searching for a viable option for excellent design work. As you do with other high-end t-shirt design apps, you need to put some effort into getting acquainted with GIMP.

To get started, it has free tutorials and YouTube. There are also paid courses focused on developing your skills and helping you develop fantastic designs that can be exported in an acceptable format for printing. Accessible for Windows, Linux , and macOS, the app provides a number of layout and editing options.
- Placeit — Perfect For Mock-ups
This app is designed to help both newbie and experienced designers build practical mock-ups for custom sweatshirts, t-shirts etc. It is one of the best t-shirt design tools available online today. It’s simple to work with this programme, because there are hundreds of templates to start. It doesn’t have to leaf through a library of thousands of clip-art images, but a curated set based on each section of the design. This method can make some of you uncomfortable, but in fact, it speeds up the process and leads to a better outcome. Backgrounds, colours , and fonts can also be personalised.

No matter what improvements you make to the design, it is mirrored in real-time in the mock-ups. Clicking on modelled images shows you a larger version of it, and shows you several similar choices to choose from. If all you need is a mockup, it lets you upload an existing artwork. You can later download some mock-ups and sketches for a nominal charge or as part of its monthly unrestricted subscription.
- Rush Order Tee — Speedy Design Creation
It’s a breeze to use Rush Order Tee ‘s software for custom t-shirt creation. It is quick, and offers a variety of customization options. The app has a broad variety of colours, designs, and manufacturers to choose from for shirts. In order to get the exact design you need, it guides you through a series of steps.

Its vast library of over 50,000 clipart photos ensures you get fantastic t-shirt graphics. If you have something special in mind, the app allows you to upload your own layout as well. The firm’s in-house team tests every quality design. If there is one, they correct errors and then submit it for final printing. There is also a web chat and telephone help available for extra assistance.
- CorelDraw Graphic Suite
It is one of the common software solutions ideal for designing t shirts. It comes in with a free trial lasting 15 days. You can purchase it outright after that, or go for its annual subscription. One of the best aspects about this software t shirt design is that it produces vector graphics and also helps you to work with other formats.
Therefore it does not limit the quotient of versatility. With this app, it’s easy to design your shirt but you can also use it for other design projects. Its comprehensive collection includes over 7,000 clip art images, 1,000 high-resolution images, 150 ready-to-design models, 1,000 typefaces, and 600 fountain, bitmap, and vector files. The full-image editing programme allows you to add text , graphics and join various images. It provides tutorials for those who are new to the graphic design services

For designers who need realistic materials, its pre-designed models, as well as pictures, are perfect. It also allows some attractive features to be used, such as shadows, symmetrical compositions, mosaics and more. A new feature the programme has is-Non-Destructive Effects.
This feature allows you to play with different effects on your image without altering the source image. It could take a bit of time to build the best design using the CorelDraw Graphics Suite. But once you get acquainted with it, your imagination will have no limits.
- Fatpaint — Free To Use
This app for shirt design is ‘free to use.’ One of this software’s most valuable benefits is that it does not need to be downloaded or installed. All you have to do is log in and begin to create your masterpieces. However, you’re going to need Adobe Flash, and that’s all. Even if it’s free, it packs some additional features including — more than 900 styles, 3D models, and a massive vector clip arts set. This app for t-shirt design makes it a breeze to create 3D graphics and pictures that make your shirts pop.

Using an artwork of your own or make a new one. Modifying your design with other elements and resources is really very easy. The only downside to this free t-shirt design app is ads. You can get a little irritated with commercials showing up. But if you want to stop the advertisements that make you shift, become a Pro subscriber.
- Design ‘N’ Buy
It is Web-to-print programme for shirt design, which is incredibly budget-friendly and easy to use. This app is right there to help you, even if you’re someone who doesn’t know how to make your own shirt. For assistance, it has live training sessions and user guides by experts. In brief, this app for t-shirt design is perfect for beginners. Some of its best features include colours and clip picture borders.

It helps you to use text in several lines, spacing changes and much more. The app has a series of t-shirt design templates which can be edited to make custom t shirts. In addition, the app allows you to upload photos from your smartphone or from Flickr, Instagram, and Picasa. Its advanced image editor and an image health monitor also help you verify the print quality.
- InkXE — Use Across All Devices
This web-to-print app can be used in all web browsers and computers. There are several functionalities to its user-friendly interface. Business owners as well as experienced graphic designers may take advantage of this t shirt design programme. It supports nearly all forms of printing methods as far as features are concerned, including heat printing, sublimation, DTG printing, and more. It allows users to upload photos in any format from their smartphones, as well as from social media sites.

The programme automatically checks the resolution of the image. The masks and philtres added to the programme allow you to change or exclude colours in real time from your design. Convert or conveniently vectorize the images to grayscale. Beside t shirt concept models and forms, there are more than 10,000 free cliparts. Use these elements or, using their method, build your own design, form, or clipart. What else? The modelling programme for the t-shirt has pre-installed context patterns.
- Customily
This t-shirt design programme enables customers to create their own design by selecting from different models, fonts , colours, and other things. In simple words, for those who want to start their own custom t-shirt company, it’s more customer-friendly. Typically helps you to quickly integrate your Magento, Shopify, and Bogcommerce store.

When you plan to sell your goods across these channels, it’s helpful. Customers may create a t-shirt design, after which a file is created. Without any trouble, they may send the file directly to the creator. The easy sharing of designs through the Web helps to lower costs.
- Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Suite is part of this programme. But it is not an algorithm for the vectors and has various applications. It enables you to create special effects and edit designs and photographs of high quality. You should work at Photoshop just like Illustrator

The only difference is that there are no vectors to its images. It means any designs you make would not suit screen printing. But for DTG printing, it may be suitable.
- Snaptee – Ideal For Mobile
Although most t-shirt applications or apps work best for desktops or computers, Snaptee works well for mobile devices. This is specifically designed for cell phones. This app lets you choose from a range of uploaded designs. Also you can select from user-uploaded templates, and then use them in several ways. The app allows you to choose your style and basic layout for the shirt after selecting the template you wish to start with. You can use the current graphical elements from there, or upload your own template from various sources.

It takes only a few minutes to adjust to its gui, but it’s quick and efficient enough, even for simple designs. With colours , fonts and other elements this programme manages all the tweaking. You can submit your design to Snaptee to print your custom long sleeve shirt or whatever you want, once you are pleased with the result. The payment process is quick, with either Google Pay or Apple Pay options.
Bottom line
If you’re looking to make your own t-shirt or start a custom t-shirt design company, software solutions are available for support. Get your creative juices going, run your imagination wild as the exact support you need will be given by these solutions.