Print-on-demand t-shirts are all the rage now – but people are seeking unique graphics to distinguish themselves from all the millions of done-for-you graphics already out there in the world. So, what do we do to create outstanding t-shirt designs that will catch everyone’s eye without straining our brains? Use Midjourney, the very popular AI art-generating app!
How to make the t-shirt designS on midjourney
Step 1. Join Midjourney
The first step is to create an account with the software. The subscription for midjourney starts from $10 per month. There are many free AI image generating softwares, but midjourney is a class apart, so I think if you are serious about creating a t-shirt business with AI designs, the subscription is worth it.
The versatility of midjourney is mind-blowing – You can experiment with different backgrounds, different times of the day, and different artist styles. The human faces are almost human unlike any other software I have seen.
“By accessing the Services, you confirm that you are at least 13 years old and meet the minimum age of digital consent in Your country.” Says the app. Read the terms and get a subscription for midjourney – – then it is a magical world out there.
When I say you will be making the design on midjourney it is not technically correct – you will be making it on another server called discord. Discord is a chat app, and you will be taken to this app after you take a subscription of Midjourney. Midjourney is not free but discord is. But discord is useless if you do not have a subscription for midjourney.
When you register for a Midjourney account, you will be taken to the discord app. Then you open the app on Discord. Create a Discord account and make sure that your email is verified with Discord.
What you will be doing is chatting on the discord server with the midjourney bot and it will do as you tell it to do. By sending prompts to the Midjourney bot, you can request image creations within seconds.
Step 2. Decide on the design
Ok, you can print anything on your t-shirt but if you are planning to sell it to other people and make money that is a different thing. You have to think about copyright, printing company, no of copies, type of printing that will be used, the type of customer you have etc.
There are basically 2 choices for you
1. Make t-shirt designs with simple words (a lot of best selling tshirts on online selling platforms like amazon has only one or two words- I see lots of one words – just mom, baby, sweet etc. Then another batch of best mom, best student blah blah. You don’t need midjourney for this
2. Second choice is to make complex designs . And this is where midjourney could help if you do not have serious photoshop skills.
Related post: 15 popular T-shirt design ideas.
Step 3: Generating Images with Midjourney – 15 prompts
The command you use to generate images on midjourney starts with “/imagine”
You get a variety of 4 images to choose from for each prompt. You can choose to use them as such or ask for more varieties.
Experiment with different prompts to change your design till you reach your desired style.
When you find a style that you like remember to save that prompt because you’re just going to keep using these prompts over and over again.
With just some simple variations you can create different images.
You can find some incredible ideas for midjourney prompts in this page – it is a resource with lots of styles. Add the words shown in the page and you will get similar effects in midjourney. The text you input is understood by the language to text model and it outputs the same style with your specifications
Keywords in prompts
Some of the keywords you can use are highly detailed, flat vector image, bright colors, diecut sticker border, white background, flat 2d, white background, enclosed in a circle, professional tshirt design vector, retro , vector artwork, –ar 19:20 . If you want to design for a black t shirt add “black background” so that you will know how it’s going to look on a black T-shirt
One keyword you should absolutely include is –no mockup. Other wise the app may include a t-shirt as part of the design.
Aspect ratio
You can add –ar19:20 – this tells the app to change aspect ratio of the picture. 19:20 aspect ratio is a good choice for t-shirt designs that are long and narrow. 1:1 aspect ratio can be added to get a square design. 4:3 aspect ratio is a good choice for designs that are wider than they are tall.
Important note: I have placed the object of each prompt inside a bracket. Change what is inside the brackets of each prompt, according to your preference.
15 PROMPTS FOR MIDJOURNEY APP FOR MAKING T-SHIRT DESIGNS.
Prompt 1
Side profile silhouette outline of (cute girl), minimalist line art, flat 2d, white background, enclosed in a circle, professional tshirt design vector, retro , vector artwork, –no mockup, –s 600
( Any country ) flag abstract art for tshirt design, vector , –no mockup
Prompt 3
Psychedelic (Cleopatra), tshirt design, in a circle, white background –no mockup
Prompt 4
Synthwave (lion), minimalist, flat 2d, white background, enclosed in a circle, professional tshirt design vector, –ar 19:20 –no mockup –s 600
Prompt 4
Very simple vector of a (cute puppy) for a boys tshirt design, plain white background, enclosed in a square, –no mockup
Prompt 5
Lettermark of letters (S) , for a t-shirt design, –no mockup
Prompt 6
Hyper – realistic drawing of a ( japanese house) with incredible style and precision. watercolour, clean, simple, professional t-shirt design vector –no mockup
Prompt 7
Cute anime (butterfly) clip art, transparent background, –no mockup
Prompt 8
Fluorescent tshirt design, (halloween style), risograph, black, blue and aqua, t-shirt design, –no mockup
Prompt 9
Rorschach style, (elephant), clean, simple, white background, professional tshirt design vector, –no mockup
Prompt 10
Retrosunset, (guitar playing man), in a round circle shape, white background, professional t-shirt design, no mockup
Prompt 11
A detailed illustration of a (happy cat), wearing a bow, t-shirt design, light white background, cute and quirky design, watercolor effect, –no mockup
Prompt 12
T shirt design of a (icecream cone), vector, 3 colors, for screenprinting, white background, –no mockup
Prompt 13
Vector t-shirt design, vector art with black outline of (marvel superhero captain america), action pose
Prompt 14
Kawaii style, (puppy) , t shirt design, in a circle, white background
Prompt 15
Ultra photrealistic (statue of liberty), vector, –no mockup
Step 4: Editing the Images
Out of the 4 images that your prompt produces, you can select one of them, by clicking on the button marked U, or make variations of the images by clicking on the button marked V.
Once you have selected the images you like best, you may need to fix imperfections in your image. There will be some weird glitches in some images, but you can give different prompts to make this correct.
Some are really irritating like extra limbs or double heads.
Some are small and very easy to correct.
Free photo editing tools like Photopia or Photoshop can help you refine your artwork.
You may want to remove the background around the image to make it transparent, using AI background remover tools like PhotoRoom.
GENERAL MIDJOURNEY COMMANDS
/imagine – This is the basic command that creates an image with the text prompt you provide.
/fast – This activates the Fast mode. It gives you results quickly.
/relax – This activates the Slow mode. This mode takes longer to render.
/settings – This will give you access to change your settings like version, style, quality, and mode.
/private – This command will make all of your work private and only visible to you. If you are on a basic plan, it will say – Your current membership plan doesn’t include Private mode.
/info – Keep track of the hours you have left.
/ask – You can ask any question and get an answer.
/blend – You can blend styles with this.
/describe – This command describes an image that you have uploaded to midjourney.
Step 5: Upscaling and Preparing for Printing
Most of the images produced by midjourney may not print well as it is. You will need an image upscaler software to upscale and enlarge the image to the resolution that will print well. Low-resolution images often appear pixelated and unclear and quite bad when printed.
You can use AI upscalers like fotor.com (free image upscaler) or or upscale.media (free) or GigaPixel to enhance image quality.
After upscaling, you can customize and print your designs onto t-shirts using platforms like Printify. And then use it for yourself or sell them.
Step 6: Continuously Improve and Optimize
If you click on the mid-journey sailboat icon on the left-hand side of the screen it will reveal all the channels within mid-journey. These channels represent different topics or rooms within the mid-journey server. By exploring these rooms and engaging in conversations with people, and looking at the prompts used by other people and the images created with these, you can learn a lot about different prompts you can use for different purposes.
Keep generating new t-shirt designs with Midjourney and analyze customer preferences to improve your offerings continually. Test different concepts and styles to find what resonates best with your target audience.
Related post : How to start a t-shirt business; What is the best way to print t shirts ; Cut t shirt into designs
