Let’s talk about AI.
We’re seeing more and more customers use AI to create artwork ideas for custom apparel and promotional products, and just about everything else. And we’re all for it.
AI is an amazing creative tool. It can take an idea you’ve had in your head and give you something to work with in seconds.
But here’s the catch: just because it looks good on a screen doesn’t mean it’s ready for production.
After more than 20 years in the custom apparel business, we’ve learned there’s a big difference between artwork that looks good digitally and artwork that works in the real world.
Every Decoration Method Is Different
At SKAZMA, we’re a full-service custom apparel shop, which means, we offer screen printing, custom embroidery, DTF, sublimation, patches, (and more), and each decoration method handles artwork a little differently.
Screen Printing & T Shirt Printing
Screen printing requires artwork to be separated into printable colors. AI artwork can have tons of colors, shading, gradients, textures, and tiny details, which means your AI artwork may look fantastic on your computer or phone screen, but trying to reproduce all of that through custom screen printing on a shirt can mean more screens, more setup, more production time, and a higher cost.
Sometimes we can get the same overall look by simplifying the artwork and reducing the number of colors. That’s where our experience comes in to save the day.
Embroidery & Custom Embroidered Hats
Embroidery is a whole different animal.
Thread can’t do everything a computer screen or ink can. Tiny details, gradients, shadows, and photographic effects don’t always translate well into stitches.
Whether you’re looking for custom embroidered hats, custom business apparel, or another embroidered product, artwork often needs to be simplified so it can actually sew cleanly and still look great when it’s finished.
That’s custom embroidery. It’s not just taking a digital image and pressing a button.
DTF, Sublimation & Promotional Products
DTF, sublimation, patches, and promotional products all have their own requirements, too.
Even when a decoration method can handle a lot of detail, artwork may still need to be cleaned up, resized, converted, or adjusted before production.
The same goes for custom promotional products. The artwork that works perfectly on a shirt may need to be adjusted when you’re putting it on a different product or material.
Here’s a Real-World Example
Rather than just tell you what we mean, we thought we’d show you.
The images below show an AI-generated concept, the artwork our team prepared for production, and the final printed shirt.
This particular example is a breast cancer awareness shirt, and it’s a great illustration of why the artwork you start with isn’t always the artwork we ultimately send to production.
The AI image gave us the creative starting point. From there, our team made the necessary adjustments to create artwork that would actually work for t shirt printing and screen printing while keeping the look and feel of the original idea.
AI created the concept. SKAZMA made it printable. And then we turned it into a shirt.
FYI: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you’re thinking about ordering breast cancer awareness shirts for your business, team, organization, school, or event, now is the time to start planning. If you need custom shirts, custom apparel, or promotional products for this October event, don’t wait until the last minute. Give us some lead time so we can help with artwork, garment selection, production, and everything else that goes into making your order right.
Why Does Artwork Sometimes Cost Extra?
This is one of the biggest questions we get.
An AI-generated image may look like a finished design, but it isn’t always an editable production file. We may need to clean it up, convert it to vector, redraw parts of it, simplify details, reduce colors, or prepare it specifically for the decoration method you’ve chosen.
That’s not us making your artwork harder. That’s us making sure it actually works in custom apparel print.
Those extra design steps take time, which is why artwork preparation can sometimes add to the cost of your project.
A Little Planning Can Go a Long Way
If you’re using AI to create artwork for your custom apparel or custom business apparel, tell it what you’re planning to do with the design.
Suggested AI prompts to try:
- Create a 3-color screen print design.
- Create a vintage 4-color t-shirt graphic.
- Use bold vector-style artwork with clean outlines.
- Use solid colors with no gradients.
- Create a simple design with minimal detail for embroidery.
- Create artwork that will work well for custom embroidered hats.
- Create artwork that will work well as a patch.
The more production-friendly your original artwork is, the less work may be needed to get it ready.
Bring Us Your AI-Generated Ideas
We’re not here to tell you not to use AI. We’re here to help you use it better.
Use it. Have fun with it. Get creative.
Bring us that AI-generated artwork, the sketch on a napkin, or whatever you’ve got. We’ll help you figure out the best way to turn that idea into finished custom apparel, custom shirts, t-shirts, hats, or promotional products.
Sometimes it’ll be ready to go. Sometimes it’ll need a little cleanup from one of our creative designers. Sometimes we’ll need to make some larger changes. We’ll walk you through it and explain what we’re doing and why.
That’s part of being more than just a screen printer.
Who is SKAZMA anyway? We’re your trusted community partner in all things custom apparel, and we’ve been helping customers turn ideas into finished products for more than 20 years.
AI can help create the idea.
We’ll help you wear it.