# Photographing t-shirts for a product designer How to photograph your own blank shirts so customers can design on them: hanger or flat lay, light, a white shirt for every colour, front and back that match, a transparent background, and the print area in centimetres. **Photograph a white or light grey blank on a hanger against a plain wall, in soft, even light, front and back from the same tripod position; then cut each photo out onto a transparent background and save it as a PNG or WebP about 1600 pixels tall.** In a product designer, the photo is the product. Customers judge the shirt, the fit of their print and the colour from it, so a clean photo of your actual blank sells better than a generic mockup. You need one photo per printable side, and a little care makes those photos work for every colour you sell. ## Hanger, flat lay or model - **On a hanger** against a plain wall: the shirt keeps its shape and natural folds, the neck and sleeves read clearly, and the photo is easy to repeat for the back. This is what PrintBlob's bundled t-shirt uses. - **Flat lay** on a table, photographed from straight above: simple and even, but flatter-looking; smooth the shirt carefully, since every crease shows under a print. - **On a model:** the most appealing, but the print area moves with the pose and the back photo never quite matches the front. Better for gallery photos than for the designer. ## One white shirt for every colour Photograph a **white or light grey** shirt. A designer that recolours photos can then show every colour you sell from that one photo, keeping the folds and shading: PrintBlob does this with each colour's value (see [Colours and recolouring](/docs/colours/)). Coloured details stay as they are, so a wooden hanger or a printed label keeps its colour. If you sell a colour that recolouring can't match well, such as a heather, a tie-dye or a garment with contrast trim, photograph that one separately and give it its own mockup. ## Light Soft, even light shows folds without hard shadows: a large window on an overcast day, or two lights bounced off white boards on either side. Avoid direct sun and on-camera flash. Keep the shirt evenly lit from collar to hem; a dark lower half will look like a darker fabric once the photo is recoloured. ## Front and back that match Shoot the front, then turn the shirt on its hanger and shoot the back **without moving the camera**: same distance, same height, same zoom, same light. Use a tripod and mark where the hanger hangs. Matching photos matter for two reasons. The customer switches between front and back and expects the same shirt (in PrintBlob, printing the back is [PrintBlob Pro](/docs/pro/)); and a 3D preview built from the two photos, such as [PrintBlob Pro's](/docs/3d-preview/), lines the back up as the front's mirror image, so a back photo taken from further away won't meet the front at the edges. [How PrintBlob Pro makes a 3D product from your photos](/guides/3d-product-from-photos/) shows what goes wrong when they don't match. ## Background Cut the shirt out onto a **transparent background** and save it as PNG or WebP. A designer can then show it on any page colour, and recolouring touches only the shirt. Free editors such as GIMP can do the cut-out (its Foreground Select tool, then a layer mask to tidy the edges). Keep the hanger if it's in the photo: it helps the 3D view and makes the shirt read as hanging. A plain white background also works, but the edges of a white shirt tend to disappear into it. ## Size and framing - Frame the whole shirt with a small margin, the same way for every side. - Around 1600 pixels tall is plenty for the designer; PrintBlob's bundled photo is 1334 × 1600. The print file's quality comes from the customer's image, not from your photo. - Export WebP for a small file size, or PNG. ## Measure the print area The print area you draw on the photo stands for a real size on the shirt. Measure it on a real shirt in the size customers order most, within your printer's or press's largest print size: for example 28 × 36 cm on the front of an adult tee. Draw the area where you actually print: usually starting a few centimetres below the collar. Enter the size in centimetres when you set up the mockup in PrintBlob Pro's mockup editor (see [Mockups](/docs/mockups/)). The print files come out at that size at 300 DPI, so a correct measurement is what makes the print on the shirt match the preview. How to measure, product by product, is in [print areas and print sizes](/guides/print-area-sizes-by-product/). ## Check the result Open the designer, place a square logo exactly in the print area's corners, add it to the cart, print it, and lay the print on the shirt. If it lands where the designer showed it, the photo and the print area are right. ## Questions shop owners ask ### How do I photograph a t-shirt for a product designer? On a hanger against a plain wall, in soft, even light, from a tripod; then turn the shirt on its hanger and photograph the back without moving the camera. Cut both out onto a transparent background and save them as PNG or WebP. ### Do I need a photo of every colour? No. Photograph a white or light grey shirt, and a designer that recolours photos shows every colour you sell from that one photo, keeping the folds and shading. Photograph a heather, a tie-dye or a garment with contrast trim separately. ### How large should the photo be? Around 1600 pixels tall is plenty for the designer. The print file’s quality comes from the customer’s image, not from your photo. ### Why must the front and back photos match? The customer switches between them and expects the same shirt, and a 3D preview built from the two photos lines the back up as the front’s mirror image, so a back photo taken from further away will not meet the front at the edges. ### Can I use a flat lay or a model instead? A flat lay works but looks flatter, and every crease shows under a print. On a model the print area moves with the pose and the back never quite matches the front, so model photos suit the product gallery better than the designer. [See the bundled t-shirt in the designer](/#demo), or read [how the print files are made](/guides/print-ready-t-shirt-files/). For a brand selling merch on its own product photos, see [a merch shop for a brand or a creator](/situations/brand-and-creator-merch/). ## Get PrintBlob Pro Pro adds print-ready files, back printing, a 3D view and a production print queue to the free designer. Paid with Stripe in US dollars, no tax added; one domain per licence. - **$69 a year**: [Buy the yearly licence](https://printblob.com/pricing/#buy). Full refund within 14 days. - Limited-time offer until 31 December 2026: **$99 once**: [Buy the lifetime licence](https://printblob.com/pricing/#buy). Full refund within 14 days. ## More guides - [How to make a custom t-shirt website with WooCommerce](https://printblob.com/guides/sell-custom-t-shirts-woocommerce/) - [Print-ready t-shirt files: format, transparency and resolution](https://printblob.com/guides/print-ready-t-shirt-files/) - [What size should a t-shirt design be? Sizes by placement in inches, centimetres and pixels](https://printblob.com/guides/t-shirt-design-size/) - [WooCommerce product designer plugins compared](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-product-designer-plugins-compared/) - [Let customers upload a logo or photo to a WooCommerce product](https://printblob.com/guides/customer-image-upload-woocommerce/) - [Add custom text to WooCommerce products: names, slogans and messages](https://printblob.com/guides/custom-text-woocommerce-products/) - [How to price custom t-shirt printing](https://printblob.com/guides/price-custom-t-shirt-printing/) - [Sell custom hoodies, mugs, tote bags and caps in WooCommerce](https://printblob.com/guides/custom-hoodies-mugs-tote-bags-caps-woocommerce/) - [DTF vs DTG vs screen printing for a small print shop](https://printblob.com/guides/dtf-vs-dtg-vs-screen-printing/) - [What size should a logo be on a hat? Cap, beanie and bucket hat sizes for embroidery and print](https://printblob.com/guides/hat-logo-size/) - [What size should a hoodie design be? Hoodie and sweatshirt print sizes in inches, centimetres and pixels](https://printblob.com/guides/hoodie-design-size/) - [Mug design size: 11 oz and 15 oz sublimation template sizes in inches, centimetres and pixels](https://printblob.com/guides/mug-design-size/) - [Print areas and print sizes: measure your products and set each side](https://printblob.com/guides/print-area-sizes-by-product/) - [Tote bag print size: design sizes in inches, centimetres and pixels](https://printblob.com/guides/tote-bag-design-size/) - [Team and group orders with names and numbers in WooCommerce](https://printblob.com/guides/team-orders-names-numbers-woocommerce/) - [A checklist for running a WooCommerce print-on-demand shop](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-print-on-demand-checklist/) - [How PrintBlob Pro makes a 3D product from your photos](https://printblob.com/guides/3d-product-from-photos/) - [Artwork approval for custom prints: a live mockup or emailed proofs](https://printblob.com/guides/artwork-approval-live-preview-vs-email-proofs/) - [DTF print file requirements: PNG, 300 DPI and a transparent background](https://printblob.com/guides/dtf-print-file-requirements/) - [Set up an Instagram shop with WooCommerce for custom prints](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-instagram-shop-custom-prints/) - [WooCommerce local pickup for print shops: set-up and common problems](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-local-pickup-print-shop/) - [WooCommerce order statuses for a print shop: custom statuses for artwork, printing and pickup](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-order-status-print-shop/) - [How to add a size chart in WooCommerce for t-shirts and hoodies](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-size-chart-t-shirts/) - [WooCommerce personalised product plugins: product add-ons or a product designer](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-personalised-product-plugin/) - [WooCommerce colour swatches for t-shirts: swatch plugins, variation photos or one recoloured photo](https://printblob.com/guides/woocommerce-colour-swatches-t-shirts/) - [DTF gang sheet builder for WooCommerce: sell gang sheets and transfers on your own website](https://printblob.com/guides/dtf-gang-sheet-builder-woocommerce/) - [What you need to start a t-shirt printing business: equipment, supplies and an online shop](https://printblob.com/guides/start-t-shirt-printing-business/) - [Jersey name and number size: back, front and sleeve numbers by sport in inches, cm and pixels](https://printblob.com/guides/jersey-name-and-number-size/) - [What size should a sublimation design be for shirts? Paper sizes, design sizes and the file format](https://printblob.com/guides/sublimation-shirt-design-size/) --- Page: https://printblob.com/guides/t-shirt-photos-for-a-product-designer/ See also: [docs](https://printblob.com/docs/index.md), [features](https://printblob.com/features/index.md), [situations](https://printblob.com/situations/index.md), [compare](https://printblob.com/compare/index.md), [demos](https://printblob.com/demos/index.md), [tools](https://printblob.com/tools/index.md), [themes](https://printblob.com/themes/index.md).