Whether you're printing t-shirts for a friend group, sports team, or work event, you want to get the best results possible. T-shirts are a great way to pull a team together, but if you aren't familiar with the screen printing process, you may be feeling a bit adrift. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your t-shirt order.

1. Go High on the Contrast

When it comes to t-shirts, you want to have light colors on dark colors and dark colors on light colors. If you don't pair colors in this way, the t-shirts are going to be very difficult to read from far away. 

When looking at the images that you're putting on the t-shirts, don't rely on a single screen. Look at the t-shirts on multiple devices. This is important because not all devices display colors in the same way. If your monitor is set to high contrast, for instance, you may think an image is more legible than it is.

2. Avoid Small Text

Though the screen printing process is highly accurate, cloth usually isn't a very precise medium. Not only is it coarse in texture, but it stretches and warps. Any text on a t-shirt should be fairly large; small text is likely to be too blurry to be read. Likewise, you should try to put as little text as possible on the shirt.

3. Use the Right Colors

Some colors go well together. Other colors clash. To find out which colors work best, start from the main color you want and then look at a complementary color palette. Complementary colors are colors that are known to work well with a color. You can find complementary color palettes on may graphics design websites and many home improvement websites; you can take the colors directly off those swatches.

4. Always Order a Sample First

Even with the other three tips in mind, you should always consider ordering a sample first. Images may look vastly different in person than on a screen, and you want to know before you invest. Many services will send you a sample, though you will often have to pay a setup fee first (as the images need to be setup in order to be printed).

Your screen printing company should be able to give you more information about their own process and the best way to process your image files.