Custom T shirts are great investments for business owners looking to increase their visibility in their communities. It’s a common misconception of many small business owners that it’s more cost effective, and therefore wiser, to take on custom T shirt design and custom T shirt printing as a DIY project. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Custom made T shirts are far more likely to turn out well when they’re designed and printed by professionals. Why? Let us count the reasons.

1. Materials are expensive. If you’re planning to create a custom T shirt by screen printing, the best method for long-lasting, quality shirts, your list of materials will be long. First-time screen printers would need to print your image on a transparency and pick up a specific type of mesh screen, emulsion or specialized glue, a scoop coater, a specialized light source or light box, a special type of squeegee, plenty of ink, and the shirts themselves.

 2. Great design is harder than you think. Before you can physically create a custom T shirt, you’ll need to develop a design. Designing for screen printing isn’t just about finding a great picture. You’ll want to limit the number of colors involved, avoid small details, and make sure you know how to separate the layers of your design. For a first-timer, it can be very overwhelming.

 3. Screen printing takes knowledge and skill. It’s a fairly involved process, and it takes a lot of practice to get good at it. Outsourcing to a practiced professional means that you won’t have to spend time and money on failed practice-shirts.

 4. The time investment won’t be worth it. If you’re hoping to get any kind of return on investment from your shirts, you’ll need to create a lot of them. As a DIY screen-printer, you’ll only be able to make one shirt at a time, which can certainly be a time investment. By outsourcing to a company that focuses solely on screen printing, you’ll be able to get more custom shirts faster.

If you’re hoping to create a custom T shirt, and especially if you’re hoping to create a large batch of custom T shirts, you can save yourself time and money by relying an experienced professional. Custom T shirts are a great way to advertise, but they’ll only be worth the cost if you know when to ask for help.