Creating T-Shirt Mockups With Silhouette: A Step-By-Step Guide

Creating a t-shirt mockup in Silhouette Studio is a great way to showcase your t-shirt designs to customers without physically making each product. This process is especially useful if you offer various colours, designs, and personalisation options. The first step is to create your design in Silhouette Studio, saving it with a transparent background. Next, layer the design onto a photo of the t-shirt. You can take this photo yourself or use a stock photo, ensuring you have the rights to use it commercially. Adjust the design's angle, size, and colour, and use the Fill Tool to fill the design with the colour of vinyl, paper, or paint you plan to use. Change the line colour to 'transparent' to remove any red lines. Finally, save your mockup by taking a screenshot or using a virtual printer like Bullzip to save it as a .jpg or .png file.

Using your own stock photos

Taking Your Own Stock Photos:

• Set up your product blanks (such as blank t-shirts) with a professional-looking background. You can use poster board or large bulletin board paper rolls. Choose a background colour that complements the colours of your blank items.
• Use natural lighting or photo studio lights to illuminate the setup. Take multiple clear and straight-on photos with a camera or phone, ensuring there are no unwanted elements in the frame, like finger marks.
• Transfer the photos to your computer. Select the most well-lit and clear photo to use as your mockup base.

Preparing Your Design:

• Open your Silhouette Studio software. Create your design with the specific dimensions you plan to use for your final product.
• Fill your design with the colour of vinyl, paper, or paint you intend to use. If you're using a specific brand, such as Siser Easyweed Heat Transfer Vinyl, open their colour chart to ensure you get the exact shade.
• Save your design with a transparent background. You can do this by changing the line colour of the design to "transparent" in the Line Style Panel or the Quick Access Toolbar.

Combining the Design and Photo:

• Import the stock photo into your Silhouette Studio software by dragging and dropping it onto the design workspace or using the "File > Open" function.
• Scale and centre the photo on the design mat. You may need to adjust the size further to fit your project.
• Use the Drawing Tools to create a rectangle on top of the photo. Select both the image and the rectangle, then choose "Crop" in the Modify Panel to remove any excess background.
• Open your saved design and place it on top of the cropped image. Scale the design to fit the t-shirt or product appropriately.

Finalising Your Mockup:

• If your design has cut lines visible, change the line colour to transparent or match it to the design colour.
• Save your mockup by selecting both the background image and the design. Go to "File > Save Selection > Save to Hard Drive", and choose the desired file format (jpg, png, pdf, svg).
• Alternatively, if you don't have the Business Edition upgrade, use the Snipping Tool on Windows or the built-in screenshot function on Mac to capture the mockup image. Then, crop the image in another program.

Now you have a mockup of your design on a t-shirt, and you can use this technique for various other products as well. This process allows you to offer a wide range of products to your customers without having to create each one physically.

Using Silhouette Studio

Firstly, you will need a stock photo of your blank product. For example, if you are selling t-shirts, take a photo of a plain t-shirt. You can also use stock photos from the internet, but be sure to check the licensing agreement. If you are using your own photos, it is best to use a high-quality camera and take the photo in natural lighting, or use photo studio lights. Take the photo straight-on, and ensure the product is smooth and looking its best.

Next, open Silhouette Studio and bring your photo into the software. You can do this by going to File > Open, or by dragging and dropping the image into the design workspace if you have the Designer Edition upgrade or higher. You may need to scale the image down to the right size.

Now, you can add your design on top. Scale the design to fit the product, and adjust the angle if necessary. Use the Fill Tool to fill the design with the colour vinyl, paper, or paint you will be using, and change the line colour to 'transparent' to get rid of any red lines.

If you want to offer different options to your customers, you can duplicate the design and change the fill colour, sizing, or orientation.

Finally, take a screenshot of your mockup. On a Mac, you can use the 'Grab' tool, and on a PC, you can use the 'Print Screen' function. Now you can share your mockup with customers, or use it in your Etsy listing or on social media.

If you want to save your mockup as a file outside of the software, you can use a virtual printer like Bullzip to save it as a .jpg or .png file. Alternatively, you can take a screenshot and crop it in another program.

Creating a design

The next step is to take a photo of the item you will be applying the design to. This could be a T-shirt, pillowcase, or any other item. It is recommended to use your own photos as this creates a more realistic look for the mockup. However, you can also use supplier photos or purchase blank mockups online.

Once you have your photo, you can drag your design onto it and adjust the size and angle to fit the item. You may also need to change the line colour to transparent to get rid of any red lines.

If you want to offer different options for your design, you can simply duplicate it and make the desired changes, such as changing the fill colour, sizing, or orientation.

Finally, take a screenshot of your design in Silhouette Studio. This can be done using the "`Grab`" tool on a Mac or the "Print Screen" function on a PC. Now you have a mockup that you can use for your Etsy listing, social media, or to share with a customer.

Layering the design onto a T-shirt image

Once you have your photo, open it in Silhouette Studio. You can do this by going to File > Open and selecting the file, or by dragging and dropping the image onto the design workspace if you have the Designer Edition upgrade. The image will likely be quite large, so you may need to scale it down. To do this, click on the photo, then select the Scale option in the Quick Access Toolbar or under the Transform Panel.

Now, you can add your design on top of the T-shirt image. Open the design and place it on top, scaling it down to the size you want. If you need to adjust the angle of the design, you can use the green circle on top of the design's selection box.

If you are using cut lines, you may need to change the line colour to transparent or the same colour as your design to get rid of any red lines. You can do this in the Line Style Panel or the Line Style in the Quick Access Toolbar.

Finally, you can save your mockup by going to File > Save Selection or File > Save As. Select both the background image and the design, then choose where you want to save the file. You can save it as a JPEG, PNG, PDF, or SVG file.

And that's it! You now have a mockup of your design on a T-shirt image.

Saving the mockup

Saving your mockup will depend on the software you are using. If you are using Silhouette Studio, you can save your mockup as a .jpg or .png file by using a virtual printer, like Bullzip. First, install Bullzip, then from Silhouette Studio, click 'File', 'Print', and select 'Bullzip PDF Printer'. Create a file name and select the file format, and Bullzip will virtually print it to your computer. Depending on your computer, you can also take a screenshot (CNTL + ALT + PRTSCN) or use the snipping tool. After getting your image out of Silhouette Studio, you can crop it in any photo editor and add your watermark.

If you are using Photoshop, you can save your mockup by first, opening the PSD file. Then, find the Smart Object Layer that contains the project. Double click on its thumbnail, and a new window will appear. Here, you can paste your new design. Save the file, close the window, and your project will be pasted into the mockup.

If you are using Illustrator, you can follow similar steps to Photoshop.

Frequently asked questions