Custom T-Shirt FAQs
T-shirts. Caps. Hoodies. Sweatshirts. And more.
We can print your design, artwork, or photos on t-shirts, caps, hoodies, sweat shirts, and huge variety of other apparel. Whether you need one or one thousand apparel items. We carry adult, youth and toddler sizes.
Every order gets our full attention. Whether you’re an individual, a local business, a school, or a non-profit organization, we’re here to work with you.
For bulk orders of 100 or more apparel items, please contact us to book an appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions We Receive
I'm new to all of this custom t-shirt stuff. A little help please.
That's what we're here for: to help get your design on t-shirt and have some fun because creating stuff should be fun.
What’s the minimum order for a custom t-shirt?
Just one if your design is ready to go. However, for designs that need adjustments to make your image printable onto a t-shirt, our minimum order is two t-shirts. Come into our shop or text us your design and we'll let you know if your design is ready to be printed. For more complex adjustments, we can give you a design quote.
How do you determine if my design is ready to printed onto a t-shirt?
There's a few factors here including the size and complexity of your design. It could be that we need to scale you image but avoid making it fuzzy at the same time. Or, we may need to remove elements like a solid background. But no worries because we've been doing this for years, and we can usually optimize your design for printing it on a t-shirt. Along with many other apparel options.
What's the process for printing a design of mine onto a t-shirt?
We print designs using a direct-to-film (DTF) transfer printer that can produce high definition transfers in less than five minutes in most cases. Once printed we then take this transfer sheet and press it directly onto a t-shirt using an industrial heat press.
What's a Direct-To-Film Transfer?
A direct-to-film (DTF) transfer is a heat-transfer process that involves printing a design onto a film and then transferring onto a t-shirt using a heat press. Extremely versatile, DTF can print onto cotton, polyester, blends, nylon, denim, leather, and some hard surfaces like wood. DTF has been around since the early 2000s but really started to be a popular process around 2020. On average DTF printed t-shirts can last for 50 washes.
What file types do you accept?
We accept: pdf, jpg, jpeg, png, .tif, .tiff, .ai, psd, svg. But if these file types all seem foreign to you we can help translate all this nerdy stuff.
Can you print photos from my smart phone?
Absolutely. It's one of our biggest sellers when it comes to custom t-shirts.
How about a physical photograph?
Yes, we can scan it and then print it on a t-shirt or hoodie.
My kid did this amazing drawing. Can you scan it and then print it on a youth t-shirt or cap?
Yep, no problem. And these drawings come out great.
How long does it take to get my design printed onto a t-shirt?
If your design needs zero adjustments, and depending on how busy we are, our turnaround time is around one hour. For more complicated design adjustments, we can usually have your t-shirt ready next business day.
How long does it take to get one of your in-house designs printed onto a t-shirt?
Less than five minutes, depending on how busy we are.
I have an idea for a t-shirt design that I sketched out on paper. Can you translate my sketch to a design that will work on a t-shirt or hoodie?
Most likely. We're staffed by experienced designers that can help optimize you design for a t-shirt. Wes, the owner of Megadeluxe, is a former Apple designer who is especially focused on providing expert design service.
I need hoodies and t-shirts for my business - how does this work?
Just bring your idea or design to our Oakland store, and we’ll talk about what you’re looking for and discuss timing and pricing. We know it's hard to imagine what your design will actually look like on a hoodie or t-shirt, so for larger orders we can make a single transfer and print it on the t-shirt brand and color of your choice - which you can then take a look at in person. Once you give us the thumbs up, we’ll get your hoodies and t-shirts printed and ready for pick-up in around 5–7 business days.
What brands do you carry?
Besides brands we carry: American Apparel, Comfort Colors, Bella + Canvas, (all of which are 100% cotton) we can also source other brands such as Hanes, Gildan, LAT, Next Level, and JERZEES.
What other types of apparel do you carry?
Huge variety: hoodies, sweatshirts, sweatpants, tank tops, and many more types of apparel. Our main supplier of apparel is S&S Activewear. Please visit their website to view their large assortment of apparel items.
How about custom caps?
We've been doing custom caps since 2012. We can work with your design or logo to get it on a cap whether it's a patch or transfer. We have access to a huge assortment of cap brands and styles. Our main supplier of caps is S&S Activewear. Please visit their website to view their large assortment of cap brands. We recently added Otto Cap to our hat selection as well.
What's the minimum order for a custom cap?
For caps and patches our minimum order is 24. For transfers heat pressed onto caps the minimum order is 12.
I'm under a tight deadline. Can you do a rush order?
Using DTF transfers, and if we have stock on hand, we can work with you if you're under a time crunch. Minimum rush order is $200.
I can't make it to your store during your regular business hours.
We can set up an appointment with you before or after our normal business hours. Please contact us to book an appointment.
You guys are known for custom caps. Why did Megadeluxe start selling t-shirts?
Wes here. I didn't start selling t-shirts at our Oakland store because I thought it was the smart thing to do. No, I started selling tees because I kept getting folks coming in on a daily basis asking if our store “still” sold t-shirts - even though there wasn't a single t-shirt in our custom cap establishment. Here’s the thing, there was a t-shirt shop three doors down from us that went out of business a couple of years before we opened up our cap store. (It’s now a vape shop). People kept coming in and thinking we were the same place.
So I said okay, if people keep coming in asking for t-shirts, let's give the people what they want and design a few tees and see what happens. Shortly after we started selling t-shirts, people started asking us if we could make t-shirts or hoodies for their company or event. Large orders started rolling in. Lo and behold, bulk t-shirt orders are now the biggest part of Megadeluxe’s business. So much so that we now only sell our custom caps online. Here's a tidbit I learned along the way: the average American owns 35 t-shirts. While the average American owns less than ten caps.
