6 Best T-Shirt Design Software & Tools in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Do you want to start a T-shirt design business? Or you want to design your next T-shirt and you’re feeling confused? No need to worry, this post is meant for you.

T-shirts are one of the most popular clothing items due to being easy to customize for various purposes ranging from politics to religion.

There are several T-shirt design tools around and without further ado, we give you the very best T-shirt design software.

How to design a digital T-shirt?

What are the best T-shirt design software tools?

Adobe Illustrator – Professional graphic designs

Adobe Illustrator has numerous features with many fonts, sizes, shapes, and effects that can be combined to good effect to create beautiful T-shirt designs.

Illustrator implemented enhanced 3D effects options. Users can edit their vector creations in-depth, with rotating, lightning, and many more 3D effects.

It offers a range of tools such as the Pen Tool for drawing complex shapes, the Pathfinder for combining and editing vector paths, and the Color Guide for creating harmonious color schemes.

The software supports layers and masks, allowing you to work on different elements of your design separately.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

• Numerous fonts, effects, and images
• Diverse tools for creating designs
• Bonus advantage of it being compatible with making designs for various printing techniques.
• Seamless integration with other apps and services
• Compatible with any device and any OS

Adobe Illustrator is a subscription-based software. You can get it as part of the Creative Cloud, or individually. Users also can benefit from a 7-day free trial.

Adobe Illustrator

Design intricate and scalable T-shirt graphics effortlessly with Illustrator’s vector tools.

Free trial Visit website

CorelDraw Graphics Suite – Art drawings

With CorelDRAW, you can create patterns and detailing that can be easily applied to textiles.

The Apparel and textiles features within the Corel Draw Graphics suite let you visualize your design directly on garment templates.

Features like the “LiveSketch” tool allow you to draw with a natural, freehand style that instantly converts your sketches into vector graphics.

The suite also includes powerful typography tools for creating unique text effects and advanced color management options to ensure accurate printing.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

• A large number of design features
• Huge collection of editing tools
• Create beautiful artistic and mosaic patterns for designers who love comic designs
• Impact effect extensions that add perspective and give energy or motion effects
• Fully compatible with Windows (it even supports older versions such as Vista, 7, 8)

CorelDraw can be purchased as a one-time licensed product, and it is also available under a subscription plan. You can try it out for free for 15 days.

CorelDraw

Design stunning T-shirts with professional vector illustration powers to really stand out from the crowd!

Free trial Visit website

Placeit – Free mockup templates

The next mockup editor makes the perfect solution for users of all levels who need to design eye-catching apparel or t-shirts.

The platform allows you to upload your design and automatically place it onto various T-shirt styles and colors.

You can customize the mockups by adjusting angles, colors, and even adding text overlays. Placeit’s easy-to-use interface and high-quality mockups make it easy to see how your designs will look in real life, perfect for marketing and presentations.

Plus, personalization is the keyword for Placeit because you can simply use drag-and-drop to import appealing designs and apply them to the template.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

• Free gaming and video designs
• The most extensive mockup library
• Business logos and banners
• Video intro & outro designs
• Streaming avatars and overlay

Placeit

Pick from thousands of mockups and personalized designs for t-shirts and apparel.

Free Visit website

Adobe Photoshop – Industry standard designs

Photoshop has an advanced set of photo manipulation tools that allow designers to add unique spins on pictures and make great artwork.

Designers who use the Adobe Creative Cloud can get inspired by thousands of ready-made templates. These can represent a good foundation for your design and help you get started quickly.

The software has advanced typography options and lets you add different structures and shapes to your text. It gives access to tons of fonts through the Adobe Fonts library.

Lastly, Photoshop’s extensive brush library and texture options enable you to add intricate details and unique effects to your T-shirt designs.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

• Fonts auto-activation feature
• Unlimited colors, effects, layers, and masks
• Crop, remove objects, retouch, and combine photos
• Rotatable patterns to easily change the orientation of any pattern
• Object Selection tool to create fast and precise selections

Adobe Photoshop

Create one of a kind T-shirts without limitations with the ultimate powerhouse tool for design!

Free trial Visit website

Canva – Numerous designs and elements

When it comes to design, Canva is your trusted ally and you can confidently use this versatile tool to design anything from web pages with beautiful graphics to unique print materials such as T-shirts.

Canva is very intuitive and is mostly based on drag-and-drop principles. It is very easy to overlay and move around objects in order to create unique designs.

It offers a vast library of customizable templates specifically for T-shirts, as well as millions of free and premium graphics, icons, and fonts.

Features like “Brand Kits” help you maintain consistent branding across all your designs. The “Magic Resize” tool allows you to adapt your design for different products and formats effortlessly.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

• Extensive library (60M+ photos illustrations and icons, 1000+ fonts or upload your own)
• Resize to any format
• Premium animations and 20.000+ professional templates
• Organization tools (folders and storage options)

Canva is available for free, but it also has a subscription plan that includes additional options such as a background remover and access to more templates without watermarks.

⇒ Get Canva

Autodesk Sketchbook – Digital artwork tools

Autodesk SketchBook is a comprehensive digital art software solution that packs a wide range of features to cover all your drawing needs.

With a unique combo consisting of a friendly, intuitive interface and a comprehensive set of tools, you can start using it straight away to design stunning T-shirts that are guaranteed to catch all eyes.

The “Predictive Stroke” tool helps create smooth, clean lines, while the “Layer Management” feature allows you to work on multiple design elements separately.

The app also supports pressure-sensitive styluses for precise control, making it ideal for detailed hand-drawn designs.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

• 140+ brushes included plus the possibility to import more
• Supports layers, layer grouping, and various blending modes
• Up to 16-sector radial symmetry supported
• Includes fully adjustable guides, rulers, and French curves
• Scan sketches made on physical paper with your tablet or phone

⇒ Get Autodesk Sketchbook