Creating your own merchandise used to be a very hard thing to do. In the past, you had to buy hundreds of shirts and hope they sold. However, things have changed. Today, you can use print-on-demand services like Spreadshirt to start your brand with zero upfront costs. This is a huge win for creators. Consequently, I want to show you exactly how to upload a design and get it published so you can start making money.
In this guide, we will walk through the entire process of using Spreadshirt. We will also talk about how this connects to your YouTube channel. Therefore, whether you are a seasoned YouTuber or just starting, this guide is for you.
Why Choose Spreadshirt for Your YouTube Channel?
You might be wondering why Spreadshirt is such a popular choice. First of all, it is one of the official partners for the YouTube Shopping tab. This means you can show your products directly under your videos. As a result, your fans can buy your gear without ever leaving the site.
While there are other options like FourthWall, Spring, Shopify, and Wix, Spreadshirt remains a top choice because it is very user-friendly. In addition, it offers a wide variety of high-quality products. For instance, they have everything from premium t-shirts to unique accessories like aprons and mugs.
The Power of the YouTube Shopping Tab
If you want to grow your brand, having a shop is essential. When you look at your YouTube dashboard, you will see a “Shopping” section. If you connect Spreadshirt to this section, your designs will pop up right where your viewers are already watching. Furthermore, this makes the buying process seamless for your audience. Because of this, your conversion rates will likely be much higher than if you just posted a link in the description.
Step 1: Preparing and Uploading Your Design
To start off, you need a high-quality design file. Usually, a PNG file with a transparent background works best. Once you have your file ready, log into your Spreadshirt account and head to the “Designs” section.
The Upload Process
When you are on the dashboard, you will see an area where you can drag and drop your files. Alternatively, you can click the upload button to search for files on your computer.
- Select your file: Drag your design into the box.
- Wait for processing: It usually takes about a minute for the system to process the image.
- Check the status: You will see a small icon that shows if the design is published or still in the “draft” phase.
Pro Tip: If you see a little rocket icon beside your design, it means it is published. If you see a store icon, it means it is currently active in your shop.
Step 2: Choosing the Right Products
Once your design is uploaded, Spreadshirt will automatically choose a few products for you. However, you should not just let the computer decide everything. You want to make sure your art looks good on everything you sell.
Browsing the Catalog
If you click on “All Products,” you can see every single item Spreadshirt offers. They have a massive selection! For example, they offer:
- Premium T-Shirts: High-quality cotton that lasts a long time.
- Mineral Wash Shirts: These have a cool, vintage look.
- Under Armour Athletic Gear: Perfect for fitness channels.
- Accessories: This includes things like tote bags, mugs, and hats.
Even though it is tempting to put your design on every product, you should be picky. For instance, if you are a cooking channel, an apron makes sense. On the other hand, if you are a gaming channel, a mousepad might be better. To keep things simple, I usually start with the core items: men’s and women’s t-shirts and hoodies.
Step 3: Mastering Design Placement and Scaling
This is where many people make mistakes. You don’t want your design to look like a tiny stamp in the middle of a huge shirt. Therefore, you need to manually adjust the placement for each item.
How to Scale Your Design
When you click on a product to edit it, you will see a percentage scale. By default, it might be set to something small like 50%. I usually like to increase this to about 80% for t-shirts. This ensures the design is large enough to be seen from a distance.
Centering and Alignment
Spreadshirt provides tools to center your design vertically and horizontally. This is very helpful because an off-center shirt looks unprofessional. Consequently, you should always use the “Center” buttons on the side panel.
However, you don’t always want the design perfectly in the center. Sometimes, moving it up a bit toward the chest looks more natural. For my “Like, Comment, Subscribe” design, I prefer it to be slightly higher up so it sits right on the chest area.
Step 4: Selecting Colors and Managing Styles
Color choice is a vital part of your brand. If you have a red design, you probably shouldn’t put it on a red shirt. The design will simply disappear!
Deactivating Colors
Within the product editor, you can see all the available shirt colors. You have the power to deactivate specific colors. If a certain color makes your design look ugly or unreadable, just click the “X” to remove it from that product.
- Contrast is key: Dark designs look best on light colors.
- Light designs: These pop best on black, navy, or charcoal shirts.
Furthermore, you can change the default “Display Color.” This is the first color people see when they look at your shop. Choose the color that makes your design look the most exciting.
Step 5: Writing SEO-Friendly Titles and Descriptions
Now that the visual part is done, we need to talk about search engines. If people can’t find your shirt on Google, they can’t buy it. This is where how to grow your brand with SEO becomes very important.
Using AI to Help
Sometimes it is hard to think of a good description. In this case, I love using an AI tool like Gemini to help. You can tell the AI, “Write a catchy product description for a shirt that says ‘Like, Comment, Subscribe’.”
The AI will give you several options. I look for something that sounds friendly and targets my “dedicated fans.” You want your description to be between 130 and 160 characters for the best results on Google and Facebook.
The Importance of Tags
Tags are the keywords people use to find products. Spreadshirt will suggest some tags for you, but be careful! Sometimes the suggestions are very weird. For example, it might suggest “machine gun” for a gaming shirt that has nothing to do with weapons.
Always manually check your tags. Use keywords like:
- YouTube Merch
- Funny Gift
- Unique T-shirt
- Creator Gear
For a deeper dive into keyword research, check out this guide on the best tools for creators.
Step 6: Final Review and Publishing
Before you hit that publish button, do one last check. Go through each product you have selected. Make sure the design isn’t outside the “print area.” If the design is too big, the edges will get cut off, which looks terrible.
Checking the Shop View
Once you click “Publish,” your design is officially for sale! But don’t stop there. Go to your public shop page and see how it looks to a customer. Sometimes, a design might look great in the editor but look a little too high or low on the actual shop page. If that happens, don’t worry. You can always go back and click “Edit” to fix it.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, branding is one of the most important parts of a small business. Your merchandise is an extension of your brand. Therefore, taking these extra few minutes to perfect the look is worth the effort.
Step 7: Connecting to YouTube and Next Steps
Now that your design is live, the next step is getting it in front of your viewers. If you have already reached the requirements for the YouTube Partner Program, you can link your Spreadshirt store to your channel. This allows your merch to appear in a “Store” tab on your channel page.
In my next video and blog post, I will show you exactly how to set up the shop from scratch. Setting up the shop involves choosing a layout and adding a banner that matches your YouTube channel’s aesthetic.
Conclusion
Creating merchandise is a fantastic way to connect with your community and support your channel. To summarize, all you need to do is upload your design, choose the right products, and make sure your SEO is on point. It might seem like a lot of steps at first, but once you do it a few times, it becomes second nature.
If you found this guide helpful, please subscribe to the YT Torials newsletter at https://yttorials.blog/newsletter/ to get more tips delivered to your inbox. Also, make sure to subscribe to the YT Torials YouTube page at https://youtube.com/@yttorials for more video tutorials. I can’t wait to see the amazing designs you create!
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