Iron on your favorite image!
One of the most asked questions I get is: “How can I use a PNG image to iron it onto a shirt?” This is not only fun, but super easy too! You might be planning a Disney vacation and wanting to create matching family shirts or maybe you’re designing a birthday shirt for someone special. Whatever your reason, you will find the following instructions very helpful. And all you need is the image, transfer paper, a printer, an iron, and a t shirt!
Select your shirt
Light-colored images are best for dark, vibrant colored shirts. Dark images are better for light-colored shirts.
Choose between dark or light-colored transfer paper
This depends on the shirt color. For light-colored shirts, choose thin transparent transfers, which make the background appear clear. White parts of your image may appear clear, but that’s okay since you are using a light-colored shirt!
For black or dark-colored shirts, its best to use dark-colored transfer sheets which are thicker and have a white backing. This means the white areas of the photo will appear in the finished transfer instead of being clear. If you’re transferring artwork you may need to carefully cut out clear areas before applying the transfer.
Note: Both inkjet and laser transfer paper are popular. Make sure and check your inkjet transfer paper specifications to determine what materials work best!
Mirror your image
You don’t want your image to appear backwards on your finished shirt, so this is an important step! You will need to use a photo editing software to “flip” the image before you put a picture on a shirt – especially if your image includes text. If you don’t do this, the finished product will be a mirror image of the original. You can use any editing program including picmonkey (with paid subscription) or paint.net (free).
Print the image
Print the PNG on the transfer paper of your choice, trim any excess transfer paper around the image. Anything left over will be transferred onto the shirt when you iron the design on.
Now for the fun part
It’s time to iron your image onto the shirt. Make sure the shirt has been prewashed to prevent shrinkage that can cause pulling on the edges of your image when the shirt is washed. Be mindful that even if you purchase pre-washed shirts, they might still shrink a bit, so prewashing is still advised. Once dry, place the shirt on a table or other flat surface, and iron it to remove any creases or wrinkles. If you don’t ensure the fabric is completely smooth, when you iron on the picture, the transfer may come out lumpy, not adhere to the fabric properly, or will not last through multiple washes.
Peel the backing paper off the transfer paper and carefully position the transfer on the shirt. Take your time with this part so the image is positioned just right.
Using the transfer backing you just peeled off, cover over the top of your transfer paper. This acts as a sort of parchment paper. Now, heat the iron to the temperature recommended by the transfer manufacturer. Be sure it’s not too hot or it could melt the transfer. Too cold, and it won’t adhere properly. Beginning in the center of the transfer, gently move the iron in a circular motion to the edges of the image and back again, repeating for as long as the transfer instructions indicate. The process can take three or four minutes.
Allow the transfer to cool completely and then gently peel the paper back off. Be sure to check the transper paper instructions since sometimes it even recommends peeling it off while it’s still hot. Once cooled and the parchment paper is removed, the process is complete!
You did it!
Now you get the satisfaction of seeing something that you created yourself! My daughter and I did this last year for Father’s Day. She made matching shirts for herself and her dad with the Pocket Tanks logos since she loves playing Pocket Tanks with him! If you need inspiration for your own shirt, head over to DisynePlusClipart for PNG bundles and even single images!