Because the baseball image is large, a dialog box will pop up suggesting you reduce the size, so click on the Reduce Bitmap button. Use the Pick tool to select the baseball and then click the dropdown arrow beside Trace Bitmap in the property bar. This file is a bitmap and most screen-printing shops prefer vector art so we will need convert it to vector using the PowerTRACE feature.

Uncheck Print and export background then click OK and our page color is set.

Click on the Eyedropper icon in the bottom right corner of the color window and click on the t-shirt to sample the color.

Choose Solid and click the dropdown arrow to select a color.

Click on Background in the left column.

Double-click on the grey shadow at the edge of the document to open the Document Options window (or go to Layout > Document Options).

Select the shirt with the Pick tool and move shirt off to one side of the page.

This will help us see how the ink colors we choose will look against that color.

Now let’s create a background color on our page that is the same color as the t-shirt image.

TIP: Before we go any further, it’s a good idea to save your file now, and periodically throughout the design process. You can enlarge it if you like by dragging out one of the corner handles. To place the image in your document, drag to draw a rectangle on the page then release and the t-shirt image is now in your document. Go to File > Import and browse to the location on your computer where you have saved the file, then click Import.

Let’s start by importing the colored shirt our design will go on. We will also turn on the Document palette by going to Window > Color Palettes and selecting Document Palette or by checking it in the Palettes docker. When you see the bar turn grey, let go and it will attach to the interface. Click the dotted area at the top of the palette and drag it to the bottom of the CorelDRAW window. The palette will appear on the right of the interface but let’s place it along the bottom.

Coreldraw t shirt design