Source: Adobe
Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard many professional designers rely on. This design software offers rich capabilities for creating custom t-shirt designs, like background and object removal, layering, coloring, and more.
Available for desktop and iPad, Photoshop also features integrations with many artificial intelligence-powered tools to speed up the t-shirt design creation process.
Pros
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Cons
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Advanced tools to create designs
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Requires investment
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Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud, which gives you access to other Adobe products
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Takes time to master
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Suitable for design experts
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Not beginner-friendly
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Pricing
Photoshop membership cost starts at $19.99 per month.
Source: Photoshop
Valuable read: 16 Free Photoshop Alternatives
Source: Adobe Illustrator
While Photoshop is a pixel-based photo editing software, another Adobe product, Illustrator, is an application for vector graphic design.
A robust software like Adobe Illustrator is ideal for graphic designers and other experienced professionals who want to create custom t-shirt designs. Its precision tools allow for scalable, high-quality artwork tailored for printing. From creating logos to intricate illustrations, Illustrator is favored for its ability to produce clean, professional designs without losing resolution.
Valuable read: What’s the Key to a Successful Print-on-Demand Design?
Pros
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Cons
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Built-in assets and tutorials to help you with the design process
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Takes time to learn how to use it
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Can turn your hand-drawn art into a vector format
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The app is quite resource-intensive (it’s likely to work slower if you run multiple programs simultaneously)
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Integrates with other Adobe programs
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Pricing
You get a 7-day free trial of Adobe Illustrator. After that, you’ll have to pay $34.49 per month if you choose the monthly plan or $22.99 per month with the annual subscription.
Source: Adobe Illustrator
Source: Canva
Known for its simplicity, Canva is a popular graphic design tool that suits every experience level. Its drag-and-drop feature allows you to design custom t-shirts with ease.
Canva has an extensive library of fonts, design assets, images, and ready-to-use templates. You can also upload your own visuals, remove the background, and change colors, text, and the position of elements.
You can also create seamless designs for print and export them in high resolution. The platform’s collaboration features allow multiple users to work on a design, making it easy to use for team projects or group input.
Valuable read: Everything You Need to Know to Prepare the Perfect Print File
Pros
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Cons
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Beginner-friendly, easy-to-use interface
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Limited customization for advanced designers
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All pre-made elements are copyright-free
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Premium assets require additional payment
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Free version available with basic features
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Limited export options in the free version
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Pricing
You can choose between a free version with basic features or the premium monthly plan for $110 annually.
Source: Canva
Source: CorelDRAW
CorelDRAW is versatile graphic design software for creating vector art, logos, and illustrations. It’s popular among designers for its range of tools, such as precision drawing, advanced typography, and multi-page layout options.
CorelDRAW supports both vector and pixel-based image editing, offering flexibility for different types of designs. It also works with many file formats, making it easy to share or export your work.
Since this tool is packed with powerful features like color management and special effects, it can be challenging for beginners. CorelDRAW is excellent for personalized t-shirts for experienced designers.
Pros
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Cons
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Well-suited for creating vector graphics like logos, illustrations, and typography
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Not beginner-friendly
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Allows you to create realistic, detailed t-shirt designs and mockups
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Pricier than the alternatives
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Pricing
CorelDRAW has 4 product offerings, the most affordable costing $130.
Source: CorelDRAW
Valuable read: 12 Essential T-Shirt Design Tips for Your Print-on-Demand Business
Source: Inkscape
Inkscape is a free, open-source design tool that’s great for creating t-shirt designs and other graphics. It has powerful features for making scalable, high-quality images and is a solid alternative to paid software.
Inkscape is supported by an active community, which helps to constantly improve the software. Plus, it offers comprehensive written and video tutorials to ease the learning curve.
Pros
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Cons
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Zero-cost tool for t-shirt designing
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Limited features compared to paid software
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Easy to export print-ready files
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A steeper learning curve for beginners
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Tutorials available for easy learning
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Pricing
The Inkscape software is free, so it’s ideal for designing t-shirts without spending any money.
Valuable read: How to Start a T-Shirt Business in 8 Steps
Source: Design Wizard
Similar to Canva, Design Wizard is a drag-and-drop design tool.
With affordable pricing, an intuitive interface, and little to no learning required, Design Wizard can support and ease your design process. The tool comes with thousands of pre-made elements, which you can tweak to your liking. However, certain features and higher-quality images require paid upgrades, limiting some functionality for free users.
Pros
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Cons
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Easy drag-and-drop design interface
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Basic functionality compared to competitors
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Access to free stock images
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Lower customization depth for experienced users
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Affordable software
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Limited free features and templates
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Pricing
The Design Wizard has 2 plans: free and Pro for $9.99 per month.
Source: Design Wizard
Source: Sketch
Sketch is a popular app for Mac users that focuses on vector graphics. While it’s wildly known for its powerful capabilities in digital design creation, you can also use Sketch to create stunning t-shirt designs.
This software ensures a smooth design workflow and lets you use an extensive plugin ecosystem.
Pros
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Cons
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Great for scalable vector designs
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Doesn’t produce print-ready files, so you may need other tools to adjust the files
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Large collection of both simple and advanced design tools and elements
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Can be challenging for beginners
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Offers a real-time collaboration feature
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Mac-only, no Windows version available
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Pricing
Sketch offers 3 subscription plans:
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For solo designers: $120 per year (no free trial)
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For small teams: $12 monthly per editor (30-day free trial)
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For teams with 25+ people: $22 monthly per editor, billed yearly
Source: Sketch
Source: Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer is mainly aimed at professional designers. It’s a powerful tool for creating both vector and raster designs. Vector graphics are scalable without losing quality, while raster images are made up of pixels, like photos, which can lose sharpness when resized.
With Affinity Designer, you can switch between the two design types, making it great for both digital and print projects. It’s fast and feature-packed, offering a one-time purchase with no subscription.
Pros
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Cons
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Extensive toolset for professional designers
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No cloud storage or syncing options
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Fast performance with large files
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Lacks some advanced text features
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Supports multiple file formats
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Costly, compared to the alternatives
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Pricing
Affinity Designer can be purchased with a one-time payment starting at $19.99. The price depends on whether you use macOS, Windows, or iPad. You can also get a bundle deal with all of the operating systems included for $179.99.
Source: Affinity Designer
Source: inkXE
inkXE is an online product design tool that works as web-to-print software. Made for POD businesses, it supports all printing methods, from DTG and screen printing to sublimation and embroidery.
Valuable read: DTG vs. Screen Printing: Choosing the Right Apparel Printing Method
This design tool includes image and text editing, a ready-to-use artwork collection, layering, hand drawing, 3D preview, and more. Plus, you can save t-shirt design templates.
Pros
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Cons
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Supports multiple printing methods seamlessly
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Very costly
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User-friendly interface for quick designing
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Advanced features may overwhelm beginners
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Advanced editing tools
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Pricing
This software has one-time payment plans starting at $2999.
Source: inkXE
Source: Procreate
Primarily designed to create digital sketches, paintings, illustrations, and animations, Procreate is made for a unique t-shirt design with a hand-drawn touch.
This software is praised for its touch-responsiveness, extensive brush library, full color, font control, and 3D model painting features.
Pros
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Cons
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One-time purchase, no monthly fees
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Available only on iPads and iPhones
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Intuitive interface
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Lacks extensive text editing features
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Time-lapse recording of the design process
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Limited file management and organization options
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Pricing
Procreate for iPad costs $14.99, while Procreate Pocket (built for iPhones) costs $6.99. Both solutions require a one-time purchase only.
Source: Procreate
Source: Placeit
Placeit is an online design tool and mockup generator that’s well-suited for creating professional-looking t-shirt designs without any design experience. It offers thousands of templates for logos, t-shirt designs, videos, and more.
With its easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, Placeit allows you to quickly create designs and marketing assets for your business. It also allows you to create high-quality mockups for showcasing products, making it ideal for entrepreneurs, print-on-demand sellers, and small businesses.
Placeit also offers an intuitive design experience with an option to start with pre-made templates or to upload and edit your own design. It has a vast collection of mockups for men’s, women’s, and kids’ t-shirts.
Pros
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Cons
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Huge library of customizable templates
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Limited design control for advanced users
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User-friendly drag-and-drop interface
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Lower quality on free plan downloads
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No design skills required
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Pricing
Placeit offers a free plan with limited capabilities and a subscription plan starting at $12.70 per month for unlimited access to its design assets.
Source: Placeit
