Is there some kind of a machine that puts a picture/print on a shirt?

Answer 1

There are a bunch of different machines / ways to go about it.
You can buy stuff for printers that print iron on images.
There are also industrial printers that do the same thing.
There's also Screen printing. there are manual and electronic printing machines and there's a home-made version.
There are also special types of materials that are heat-applied to shirts usually cut with a type of cutter that resembols a huge printer with a blade instead of ink.
If you can't find a do it yourself kit, find a place in your area that does screen printing in house and they could make you as many as you want.

Answer 2

You can buy special pages (and the program) from stationary shops that go in inkjet printers and turn a picture into an iron on transfer. You can use it for images or for text.

Answer 3

Soak screening. I prefer vinyl iron on from the local swapmeets though, because they will never and when I say never I mean never fade, unlike the shirts that are printed from the factories.

Answer 4

Yes You can usually find them in the middle of the hallways at your local mall.Also there are programs that you con run off the computer that will make the transfers and apply them to your T's.

Answer 5

Computer Art onto Fabric

A different way to use family or pet photos or original art is to put it onto fabric and make the fabric into something wearable, hug-able, or warming. You print your art work on transfer paper, then iron it onto a T-shirt or onto fabric. Once on fabric, you can:

make the art-on-fabric into quilt squares for a memory quilt
sew a jacket or vest with photos on it
make a teddy bear with your favorite child's face on the ears
create Christmas tree decorations
make a picture cover for your toaster or computer printer
Getting art and photos into the computer is the first step.

If you don't have a scanner at home, you can bring your photos and art to a MacNexus meeting and have them scanned onto a diskette. Or visit a friend with a scanner. To be successful with a scanner, it helps to know what program you will be using to view and alter your photo art so the right file format can be made. The person doing the scanning also needs to know what kind of printer you have, so the scan resolution of the photo can be matched to the printer.

Another option for getting photographs onto the computer is to use a digital camera or have your film developed directly onto a floppy disk or CD by the photo developer. Payless Drug, Long's Drug and many regular photo development labs will develop your film and put it onto a floppy for as little as $7.99 in addition to regular developing costs. CD's run more. Depending on the lab, the format used is probably JPEG, which is readable by Mac or PC and by many programs.

Alter the photos or design your art.

Once you have your photos or art onto the computer, you can use a computer program to alter the photos to remove unwanted background items, or combine several pictures into one, change the coloring, remove scratches, add words, and much more. A photo manipulation program such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photo Deluxe, or Color It!, is needed to alter a photo, but you can create many great effects by just adding words or clip art to an existing photo. ClarisWorks/AppleWorks is capable of displaying a photo on screen and add words or some of its library of clip art.

Get the fabric transfer paper.

Once you have created your art work, you need special fabric transfer paper that is compatible with your printer. There are many kinds and brands of fabric transfer paper on the market. Local computer stores and office supply stores stock the fabric transfer paper. Here in Sacramento, CompUSA, OfficeMax, and Staples all carry several brands: Epson, Avery, Cannon, and HP. The paper runs about $1.50 to $2.00 per sheet with 10 in a pack.

There are now two kinds of fabric transfer paper for ink jet printers -- a hot peel and a cool peel. While both kinds require you to use a hot dry iron to "melt" the transfer onto the fabric, the cool-peel kind of transfer lets you wait to peel off the backing until the transfer cools completely. The cool-peel is definitely a step up for the technology. Avery was the first company I found with the cool peel variety, but many now have it. Epson sells it in quantity on the Internet.

The inkjet fabric transfers allow you to use cotton or polyester material, T-shirt knit material, and even satin. You may want to pre-wash the T-shirt or fabric first. The colored transfer design is not opaque, so a plain lighter fabric is better. Stripes and prints show through the transfer. But who knows? That might be perfect for your design!

Print the transfer.

You will want to print your design onto the fabric transfer paper in mirror image, especially if the design has words on it. The print driver for your printer probably has a "mirror" option to easily reverse the image. If not, you will need to do this with your art program before you print. Once printed onto the fabric transfer paper, cut away any extra transfer paper around the design.

Iron the transfer.

The next step is to iron the transfer onto the fabric. Follow the manufacturer's directions, but the following has worked for me. Instead of your ironing board, use a heat-proof counter top or board with a pillow case to protect the fabric. Set your iron to dry heat and the hottest setting. Place the cutout transfer design face down on the fabric where you want it.

Hold the iron with some pressure on as much of one side of the design as will fit. You can move the iron a little to make sure the iron's plate holes don't stay in one place, but no so much that the transfer shifts position. Hold the iron on the transfer for 15 seconds and move the iron to the next part of the design.

Hot peel transfer paper: Rub the iron over the whole design in a circular motion to reheat the sections. Then quickly pull off the transfer backing, being careful not to stretch the material too badly as you are doing it. If the transfer cools too much to pull off easily, you can reheat the un-pulled section and try again. Keep it hot and work quickly to pull the backing off.

Cool peel transfer paper: You can let the transfer completely cool, then peel off the backing paper. The transfer will have a shine and sort of decal look to it. You can also peel off the backing paper while the transfer is still warm and the result will have less shine and less decal look which you may prefer. This transfer paper is much better for kids and I have found it to be easier to use for me, too.