Which program is better for drawing images to be printed on a shirt - Photoshop or Illustrator?

[CarlieBim]

My friend wants me to draw a digital design for him to print onto some shirts. I was going to use Photoshop to draw them as I am much more comfortable with Photoshop than Illustrator. I figure that it should be in 300 dpi and CMYK mode (because it will be printed) but I just wanted to confirm if I was right. However when I started googling, I started to doubt if I should use Photoshop. Should I use Illustrator? Is it better for this sort of project? Which is better for creating material that would be printed onto T-shirts? I will be drawing with a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet. I asked him to ask the printery what format to submit the design in, like .ai, .psd, .jpeg, .tif etc.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm still a beginner at these things.

Thanks in advance.

[teachbit]

You can use both, even combine Photoshop and Illustrator. Illustrator files saved as PDF or ai are smaller than Photoshop files saved as psd, as they are vector files.

here for example a video, explaining how to combine PS and Illustrator  How to use Illustrator and Photoshop together | Adobe Photoshop CC tutorials

[Gingerdeer]

It depends on how it will be printed and the type of graphic.

Firstly I'd get the details of the printer and ask for specification directly. That will give you a big lead to achieve the best quality. Don't presume CMYK is best for print, some printers will do the conversion from RGB better than you...

Either ai or psd should be fine, use what you're most comfortable with. Just bare in mind you may need to export it to a pdf or something that the printer likes.

I hope that helps.

[Sebastian Bleak]

The short answer is Ai and the longer answer is that you could use  both, it just depends on what print method you're going with, design style and quantity ordered.

Here is a short course on how to get started with printing t-shirts:

https://www.lynda.com/course-tutorials/Designing-Printing-Shirt/598318-2.html

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learn-t-shirt-printing-and-design

I hope this is helpful!

[Nexahs1138]

If you're drawing something then stick with Photoshop.

Illustrator is good if you have a simple enough design that can be constructed with shapes.

[Trevor.Dennis]

So many opinions, but I'll add my two cents worth.

It depends on the content.  If it is photographic with tons of colours and gradients, then Photoshop.  I much prefer Photoshop for drawing and Illustration, and you did say you are more comfortable with it.  You don't actually need 300dpi for fabric printing.  Least ways not if it is something like cotton.  A very fine silk might be different though.   With jobs like that, I would always ask the printers what they need.  If you are using one of those iron on ink jet sheets, then follow the instructions — I _think_ Carlie is a girl's name, so you should be fine with instructions.

[CarlieBim]

Hi everyone, thank you all for responding and the many helpful answers.

I was able to get ahold of the print shop and the guy told me that I should be able to do the drawing in Photoshop in CMYK mode at 300 dpi and roughly around 2000 x 2000 pixels. Does this sound alright? I was wondering if there is anyway that I could make it sightly smaller to make it easier to send by email/download when the time comes (I'll most likely use Google Drive or We Transfer). I asked the print shop about this but he is yet to respond.

Also what file would it be best to submit it? the .psd file?

Thanks in advance.

[anna-kaisal]

Hi CarlieBim!

Usually print houses want products as print ready PDF -files.

[Gingerdeer]

2000px square sounds ok. When you've finished the artwork, I'd keep the psd for yourself and just send a high quality jpeg.

They don't need the editing capability of a PSD and you may even get away with a jpg that fits in an e-mail.