A t-shirt mockup generator composites your design onto a photograph of a shirt so buyers can see the printed result before it exists. PSDmate does it from the PSD templates you already own: it reads the template's Smart Object layer, applies your artwork through the same warp and fabric shading Photoshop would, and repeats that across every colourway and model shot in one batch. A twelve-colour apparel listing that takes an hour by hand comes back as a ZIP in minutes.
How it works
- Upload your PSD templates. PSDmate finds the Smart Object placeholder in each file — no layer renaming, no setup.
- Add your artwork. One design or a folder of them.
- Render the batch. Every design against every template, at the PSD’s native canvas size, returned as a ZIP.
- Publish to Etsy. AI writes the title, description and 13 tags from the rendered image, then posts the draft listing to your shop.
PSDmate does not supply t-shirttemplates. It renders the ones you own — bought from Creative Market, Envato or Etsy, or built from your own photography. That is the trade: your scenes stay yours instead of appearing in every other shop’s listings.
T-Shirt print specifications
| Typical DTG print area | 12 × 16 in front (some suppliers 14 × 16.5 in) |
| Artwork resolution | 3600 × 4800 px at 300 DPI covers a 12 × 16 in area |
| File format | PNG with transparency for the design; PSD for the template |
| Colour mode | RGB for screen, sRGB profile embedded |
| Etsy listing image | 2000 px on the shortest side or larger, square crop |
These are the common figures across major print-on-demand suppliers, not a guarantee. Your supplier’s own spec sheet always wins — see the DPI and resolution guide for how to check a file before listing it.
What makes a t-shirt mockup convert
Fabric texture must survive
A design pasted flat onto a shirt photo reads as fake instantly. The template needs a multiply or overlay layer that lets the weave and folds show through the ink.
Colour match on the garment
Render each colourway from a template shot on that actual garment colour. Recolouring one white-shirt photo produces grey shadows that no buyer believes.
Print placement height
Standard placement sits roughly 2–3 in below the collar. Templates vary — check the placeholder against a real product photo before rendering a hundred files.
Model vs flat lay
Model shots convert better as the primary image; flat lays read cleaner as the second or third. Render both from the same artwork rather than choosing.
Choosing a t-shirt PSD template
- The Smart Object should be the shirt front only, not the whole canvas — a whole-canvas placeholder cannot follow fabric folds.
- Look for separate shadow and highlight layers above the Smart Object; that is what makes ink sit in the weave.
- Check the template exports at 3000 px or more. Many cheap apparel PSDs are 1500 px and will not meet Etsy's image quality bar.
- Buy templates in sets shot on the same model and lighting, so a listing's images look like one photoshoot.
Why bulk rendering matters here
Garment colour × model pose × flat lay × close-up crop. A ten-colour apparel design is routinely 30–40 listing images.
Rendering that by hand is the same six Photoshop steps repeated until the drop is live. PSDmate runs the whole grid as one job, which is the difference between listing a design the day you finish it and listing it next weekend.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make t-shirt mockups for Etsy without Photoshop?
Upload your PSD t-shirt template and your design to a PSD-based renderer such as PSDmate. It reads the template's Smart Object layer server-side and applies your artwork with the template's own warp and shading, so no local Photoshop install is needed.
What size should artwork be for a t-shirt mockup?
Match the print area, not the mockup. For a standard 12 × 16 in DTG area, 3600 × 4800 px at 300 DPI is the safe target. The mockup template scales that down for display; starting smaller means the print file is unusable even when the mockup looks fine.
Can I render every shirt colour at once?
Yes, if you have a template per colourway. PSDmate takes a folder of templates and a folder of artwork and renders every combination in one job, returning the whole grid as a ZIP.
Go deeper
- T-shirt mockups that sell: the complete Etsy guide — the full guide to this product
- Hoodie mockup generator
- Etsy image size requirements
- DPI, resolution and colour for print-on-demand
- All mockup generators by product
Render your first t-shirt batch free
14-day trial on the Pro plan. Upload a template and a folder of artwork, and see the whole set rendered before you pay anything.
Start the free trial →