One of the most challenging aspects to presently your new t-shirt designs online is proper graphical representation. People don’t feel confident buying a shirt based on a mockup and poor lighting is a killer. And last but not least, don’t use your friends as models, no matter how cute you think they are. After going through all these challenges in the early inceptions of my company I decided to do things right. I built myself a light box just for taking t-shirt photos. Following my profile to a link to my site and you can see the results.
Here we go on our journey to build a light box….
MATERIALS:
- one 4’ by 4’ piece of 1/4” WHITE Plexiglas or lexan - two 4’ by 4’ pieces of ľ” MDF board - four 2’ (1.5” diameter) PVC pipe pieces - four 20” (1.5” diameter) PVC pipe pieces - four right angle 1.5” joiners - four PVC screw joiners - one tube of “5 min epoxy” (found at any hardware store) - one camera bracket (call the folks at http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com/ they will probably sell you one separately) - approx 8 yards of WHITE duvetyne cloth. It’s the stuff set designers use to dull down the refraction of light. This place is the cheapest around http://www.magnafabrics.com/category/540.htm call and ask if they have white, I believe they do. Don’t let them talk you into black duvetyne, you NEED WHITE. - 1 quart of matt white paint - Four 2’ under-cabinet fluorescent fixtures that are not rewired (no plug on the end) - 2’ lights to go with the fixtures (brightest white possible, “Cool”=blue tint, “Warm”=pink tint. You don’t want either. You want the whitest white which is usually a higher K value. Though you will get some tint no matter what Photoshop can handle it. - One orange extension cord. - One bag of electrical screw caps - Camera ( I STRONGLY suggest a Nikon, I use a D200. Canon is great but their custom white balance feature leave something to be desired, and custom white balance is KEY if you wan to neutralize the background from your tees and not have to manually edit it out, which can look janky) - One LONG (approx 25’) USB intention cord, can be bought from Amazon for usually about $10.
The Road to Success:
Cut four 20” pieces of the PVC pipe. Join together with right angle PVC pipe joiners to make a Square (you can use some Epoxy to connect the corner if the pressure fit isn’t tight enough). The overall dimensions of the square (measure on the outside) should be 4’ by 4’… adjust 20” measurement up or down as need to get overall 4’ by 4’.
Cut four 2’ pieces of PVC pipe. Attach to the corners of the Square from step 1 to create a PVC table. I attached my legs by modifying the PVC screw type joiners and attaching them to the right angle joiners with epoxy. Make sure to let the epoxy dry OVERNIGHT, no matter how dry it feels. I did this so it would be easily collapsible with legs that just screw off. This part is the hardest to explain without pictures, just make sure you end up with a PVC table in the end that is sturdy. It can be done!
Set PVC pipe table to the side for later.
Cut two 4’ by 4’ squares of the MDF board.
Paint the two squares of MDF board with the matt white paint. As many coatings as needed until the brown color of the MDF board is covered completely. Let thoroughly dry.
Cut one approx. 6” diameter hole in ONLY ONE of the recently painted white boards.
Set the white board WITHOUT the hole off to the side for later.
Get out your light fixtures (don’t put in bulbs yet). Screw down light fixtures to the WHITE SIDE of the board with the hole in it. Arrange fixtures in a “+” pattern, working around the hole in the center. Note on arrangement: do not let them get within 4 inches of the edge of the board.
Join all the loose wires of the light box together with the Screw-on wire caps.
Take the orange extension cord and clip off the female end of the cord.
Strip back the wires of the extension cord and join those wires to the recently joined wires of the light fixtures from Step 9. Screw back on the screw-on wire caps.
Attach your camera bracket to the BROWN side of the wired board, on the edge of the hole. MAKE SURE this is secure as it will be holding a very expensive camera. Personally I do not have mine screwed down, I simply use some weights to hold it in place. But a proper camera bracket holder is necessary.
Put your bulbs in the fixtures. Most likely the fixtures came with a plastic guard that goes over the bulbs. Do no put this back on, it diminishes the light.
Set Board with hole and light fixtures to the side for later.
Cut one 4’ by 4’ WHITE Plexiglas sheet.
Text lights, if they work then we are ready to assemble
Grab your white board WITHOUT hole and lay on the floor, white side up.
Place Plexiglas sheet on top of the board.
Grab your new fully assembled (and structurally sound) PVC table and place on top of the Plexiglas. You should be starting to see this come together now.
Grab your mass of duvetyne and drape it around the PVC table’s top square to create walls. I suggest draping it so that it so that the PVC legs are on the outside and the cloth is on the inside.
Grab your white board with hole and light fixtures and place on the top of your table with the lights facing down into the table.
Now you should be looking at a 4’ by 4’ by 4’ light box. The order from bottom to top is:
White board Plexiglas PVC table White Duvetyne White board with light fixtures and hole Camera bracket on top.
Turn on the light box and watch it glow!
ADDITIONAL instructions about Camera functions
Take a picture inside the light box and set your camera to read that picture as it’s white balance. Again, I can’t emphasize this enough, NIKON is the best for this. I made the mistake of buying a Canon 20D at first and I got inconsistent results. Many people will most likely post comments defending Canon, but PLEASE trust me when I say the high end Canon’s have inconsistent white balance results. Canon’s white balance is perfect for everything but digital product photography. It likes to compensate for the user too much (even on manual settings) and leaves you with faint grey splotches when you are taking a picture of something perfectly white. And when I mean I am looking for white I mean 255, 255, 255 in Photoshop. Anything else is unacceptable. I have confirmed this with others in the field who are much more successful than I… same issues.
Connect your USB extension cord to your camera and your computer. I use my computer to control the camera and snap pictures. A lot of smaller cameras offer this software feature as well. Again, don’t cheap out on the camera. Do it right the first time. I suggest the Nikon D200. NOTE: The Nikon D100 isn’t as good as the D70 if you want a cheaper camera. And if you get the Nikon you will have to buy the Nikon Camera Control software separately.
Attach your camera to the camera bracket so the camera lense I down in the light box a little.
Place your first shirt in the light box and snap your first photo using your software camera control on your computer. NOTE: you are taking a picture of a flat surface so set the camera to Manual Focus. You will have to use your hands to set the focus just right. But once it’s set it’s done and you don’t have to set it again.
I suggest setting your camera to MANUAL. It will take some time but play with the Settings until you get a decent photo. Use RAW image format, not large JPG, you will need the extra detail. (I can check my camera later if someone wants to know the right settings)
When you then bring the photo into Photoshop usually Auto Color or Auto Levels works MOST of the time, but not all. You may have to tweak it a little. I also suggest going to “Levels” (not Auto Levels this time) and select the “white point” tool and click on a white part of the picture (not shirt). This will neutralize out any remaining inconsistencies in the white background of the photo. This is after all a homemade light box.
Your work is done. You could probably charge for this service now!
Hi Jonathan, thanks for posting this! Very helpful
Quote:
People don’t feel confident buying a shirt based on a mockup and poor lighting is a killer. And last but not least, don’t use your friends as models, no matter how cute you think they are.
I don't really agree with this though. There are several successful online t-shirt stores that JUST use mockups, so I don't think a mockup is necessarily a bad thing.
Also, if you can take a decent photo, using your friends or model shots can also work very well. It helps the customer see how the shirt actually looks on people.
A quality product image, whether on a mockup, model or white background with a lightbox, is definitely key.
I wouldn't just put a square image of "just" the design if you can help it. People need to see how large the image is on the shirt, where it is positioned, etc.
I completely agree with Rodney's assessment. However, I would argue that there are different levels of product representation needed for different stores. ie UrbanOutfitters couldn't really get away with not photographing the actual shirt either by itself or on a real model. But it is perfectly fine for a small store to use friends as models or mockups... threadless is a good example of this.
I would say the rule of thumb is the more accurate and clean you can make the images the better, but there is a lot of wiggle room for other methods of presentation.
But it is perfectly fine for a small store to use friends as models or mockups... threadless is a good example of this.
Threadless are a good example that any rule you can come up with that applies the majority of the time, there will be exceptions that some few people can get away with it
Now you should be looking at a 4’ by 4’ by 4’ light box.
Wouldn't it be a 4'x4'x2' light box?
I'll have to see about making something like this, though my cam is nowhere near good enough. Hopefully it will give me enough to sell enough to get a cam to get pics to sell more :P
Instructions: Building a t-shirt light box 
