adobe illustrator t shirt design tutorial

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR T SHIRT DESIGN TUTORIAL HOW TO

To add text, select the Text tool on the left toolbar then click on the page and start typing. Click the Group Objects icon in the Property bar to regroup the baseball into one object.Use the Pick tool to lasso the baseball, which will select both the ball and stitches objects.This will change the color of the stitches. Click the Bright Red swatch on the Pantone color palette.Press the Tab key on your keyboard and now the red stitches will be selected.Select the grey ball then click the White swatch on the Pantone color palette we placed at the bottom of the interface.This will separate the grey ball and the red stitches. Select the baseball and click the Ungroup icon on the Property bar.We’d like to change the colors of the baseball so that it is white instead of grey, with a different shade of red for the stitches. Repeat this process for the grey colors then click OK.Select the first red color on the list, hold down the SHIFT key and select the other reds.Next, we need to simplify our colors by merging them. This will save time and allow you to convert the entire image to spot colors. First, you have the option to change the Color Mode to Pantone Solid Coated. Now click on the Colors tab so we can make some changes in here.

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR T SHIRT DESIGN TUTORIAL HOW TO

To learn more about PowerTRACE, watch our full tutorial How to Convert JPG to Vector.

Image: Delete original – we don’t need it anymore.

Objects: Merge adjacent, Remove overlap and Group by color (this allows you to easily change a group of objects from an RGB or CMYK color to a Spot color and get them all at the same time).

On the Settings tab choose these options: The PowerTRACE window will open and you will see the top image is the original bitmap and the bottom is the trace result. Because the baseball image is large, a dialog box will pop up suggesting you reduce the size, so click on the Reduce Bitmap button. Use the Pick tool to select the baseball and then click the dropdown arrow beside Trace Bitmap in the property bar. This file is a bitmap and most screen-printing shops prefer vector art so we will need convert it to vector using the PowerTRACE feature.

Uncheck Print and export background then click OK and our page color is set.

Click on the Eyedropper icon in the bottom right corner of the color window and click on the t-shirt to sample the color.

Choose Solid and click the dropdown arrow to select a color.

Click on Background in the left column.

Double-click on the grey shadow at the edge of the document to open the Document Options window (or go to Layout > Document Options).

Select the shirt with the Pick tool and move shirt off to one side of the page.

This will help us see how the ink colors we choose will look against that color. Now let’s create a background color on our page that is the same color as the t-shirt image. TIP: Before we go any further, it’s a good idea to save your file now, and periodically throughout the design process.

You can enlarge it if you like by dragging out one of the corner handles. To place the image in your document, drag to draw a rectangle on the page then release and the t-shirt image is now in your document.

Go to File > Import and browse to the location on your computer where you have saved the file, then click Import. Let’s start by importing the colored shirt our design will go on. We will also turn on the Document palette by going to Window > Color Palettes and selecting Document Palette or by checking it in the Palettes docker. When you see the bar turn grey, let go and it will attach to the interface. Click the dotted area at the top of the palette and drag it to the bottom of the CorelDRAW window. The palette will appear on the right of the interface but let’s place it along the bottom.

Adobe illustrator t shirt design tutorial