HTV Shirt Decal Placement and Size Tips and Resources

One of the main questions about working with Heat Transfer Vinyl is how to know where to place the decal on a shirt.  For instance, exactly what is the correct pocket logo placement and how far down from the neckline should a large centered decal start?

Today I'm going to share some tips and resources I use when placing heat transfer vinyl on blank shirts.

Find the Center of a Shirt for Decal Placement

The first thing I do is find the exact center of the shirt.  The easiest and fastest way to find the center of a shirt is to fold the shirt lengthwise lining up the shoulder seams at the neck.  Be sure the bottom hem is aligned too.



Fold the shirt in half at the bottom of the arm pit (the shirt will not be folded evenly in half).  Press the shirt with an iron or heat press to create the two creases.

When you unfold the shirt the crosshairs mark the exact middle of the (upper) shirt.  The vertical line is the most important, in my opinion, because once you find the middle of your decal you can easily center your design along that line.

Fold your Heat Transfer decal in half - with the carrier sheet sides together - and crease it.  This will give you the exact center of the transfer.

Now you can line up the crease on the HTV shirt decal with the crease on the shirt. 

For adults,  measure down 3" from the neckline along that vertical crease and that's where the top of the decal should begin.  For kids, which is what I was working on in this example, I start a little higher, usually at about 2" below the neckline.

HTV Pocket Decal Placement

If you are adding a pocket-area design to a shirt that does not have a pocket it can be confusing where the design should be located.  To find the correct placement for a heat transfer vinyl pocket size decal, lay the shirt out flat.  You want the design on the left side of the chest.

Looking at the shirt, at the seam where the right shoulder hits the neck opening draw a visual line down...at the same time from the right armpit seam draw a visual line in.  Where these two lines meet is where the pocket HTV design should be placed.  It may seem like this pocket decal placement is too far towards the center of the shirt, but any further to the right and the design will start to creep under the arm slightly.

Back Heat Transfer Decal Placement

Back designs should be placed using the center crease and four inches down from the center of the neckline.

There are more information on applying to backs of shirts and other size shirts in this tutorial. 

Recommended HTV Decal Sizing

Another common question is what size should the HTV decal be.  I think it all depends on the size of the shirt and if it will be worn by a child, youth, man or woman.  I make children's pocket size decals 3"x3" and adults about 4"x4" making the design slightly large for XL and XXL men's shirts.

Centered designs for children I typically make between 5"-6" and 7.5"- 9" for adults.  123Stickers.com has some good guidelines for design sizes as well.

Just remember...the cardinal rule of HTV measure twice, press once. And if you do make a mistake don't worry, you can remove HTV with this little trick.

Oh and if you're in need of Heat Transfer Vinyl - check out the single sheets, rolls, and bundles at Swing Design!  Use code SISER25 to get 25% off!

What tricks do you use for placing decals on shirts?  Share your secrets in the comments.

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