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I've been reviewing online t-shirt design solutions for months now and have narrowed the selection process down to two options, Shirt Tools (ShirtTools online garment designer software) and DecoNetwork/Piki (Wilcom DecoNetwork).

The basic difference between the two tools is one is a stand-alone one-time purchase (Shirt Tools) and the other is a recurring software as a service with affiliate stores option (DecoNetwork).

Outside of those key differences, I'm wondering if anyone has recent as in 2009 comments regarding the pros and cons of the two systems. Specifically how the systems are working for your business and are they meeting your customers needs for online design and fulfillment.

Any other feedback you have regarding backend functionality and designing the site with your own look and feel would be appreciated.

Like I said, I've been researching for quite a while and would like to get some real user feedback prior to making a final decision.

Thanks for your help.

 

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swannn32

Umm - I don't have either of those, but just looking at the shirt tools one brings up some questions. . .
Since you only pay once, do you ever get an update of their software. Also, if you are doing screenprinting, then the shirt tools one is lacking in design capabilities - like, you can't change the color of the clip art and the clip art on the administration side is not in the proper format (vector) for screenprinting. If you are just printing on a direct to garment machine, then that part won't matter so much.
Wilcom is a company that has been around for awhile (doing other things too - not just this). I've never heard of Shirt Tools till just now.
So that is my opinion. Maybe it'll help?

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MissEden

I've been researching this for a while as well and hadn't heard of shirt tools before your post.
I love the idea of not paying a comission but the shirt tools site is lacking in... well in just about everything important!
there's no information there at all other than the price, a video isn't enough- where are the terms and conditions? What are you actually buying? I would need to see this kind of information in writing before I would make such an expensive purchse.
It's very quick to take you to a payment site without offering any real information.
Why is the price in dollars?? The people in the video are British and the site is based in the UK, can't really understand why it's in dollars...
In fact, the more I think about it and the more I look at the site the more I wonder about Shirt tools, it looks a little dodgy to me.


On top of that the guy in the video is a bit shifty looking for my liking...

 

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TPrintDesigner

Swann32-

ShirtTools is for DTG, sublimation in fact any sort of digital printing. You get free bugfixes for as long as you use the product. Version upgrades are chargable.

The files ARE in vector .swf format. We export to .png with transparent backgrounds.

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TPrintDesigner

MissEden-

Agreed, the main site is missing a lot of content. This will be addressed shortly after we have finished upgrading existing customers from V.1

ShirtTools started out life three years ago as a very basic online designer named "TPrintDesigner". The latest version 2.0 is a total rewrite of that early software consisting of a new UI and lots more features. The reason it is priced in $USD is because it is a worldwide product. You will find that Wilcom DecoNetwork do exactly the same. As for being dodgy? We are a registered U.K business with a clearly displayed address and contact telephone number.

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epichouse

Found something really weird.

When I clicked on BUY NOW in shirttools site, why is there a header DecoNetwork Solutions in the Paypal site?

Kinda' makes me thing that DecoNetwork and shirttools is under the same company.

Please clarify.

 

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TPrintDesigner

Hi epichouse

ShirtTools and DecoNetwork are not the same company.

DecoNetwork Solutions is the name of my company and I am lucky enough to be able to sell both systems. They appeal to opposite ends of the market so there is no conflict of interest.

You can read about my link to ShirtTools here: DecoNetwork and Wilcom. About us

Also here: Wilcom DecoNetwork.com | Wilcom Offers Support & Training For Successful DecoNetwork Stores

Regards
Dean

Quote: Originally Posted by epichouse Found something really weird. When I clicked on BUY NOW in shirttools site, why is there a header DecoNetwork Solutions in the Paypal site? Kinda' makes me thing that DecoNetwork and shirttools is under the same company. Please clarify.

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Riderz Ready

There are a lot of factors that go into the which on-line designer is best and the issue is there really is no good way to truly understand them in detail until you literally install and put them to use. We installed and used OSS Designer, RSK and Pikiware (Deco). All really different and all had plus and minuses. Piki was the best and most flexible product on the market from a feature/function standpoint and development tools standpoint especially if you are a digital printer or dye sub printer. If one was a screen printer then OSS might be a better choice. Piki was bought by Wilcom and the whole emphasis went from digital printing to embroidery. Not sure if all the features were we hoping for years back are implemented today. More important then all of this is your target market. Most of us our cumputer and design savvy thus a lot of the on-line design stuff makes sense but how many people out there can go on line and really put together a decent shirt? I can tell you not many.

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spiderx1

I went to the demo site, One problem I had was contraining the size when I made larger or smaller. Something simple I am sure.

 

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TPrintDesigner

Hi spiderx1

This is something that I have been told more than once. For this reason I have just changed the code to make ShirtTools constrain the X and Y coordinates to keep selections to scale.

Quote: Originally Posted by spiderx1 I went to the demo site, One problem I had was contraining the size when I made larger or smaller. Something simple I am sure.

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edua

I have been so interested in getting this program, the only thing that is holding me back is I have been told it can't be integrated with the shopping cart I"m using currently.
I really don't feel like changing carts again I really like INTERSPIRE E-COMERCE as a platform for selling online.

Can you let me know id this actually true? that ShirtTools can not be integrated with INTERSPIRE Ecomerce cart.

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TPrintDesigner

Hi

If we integrated ShirtTools into different carts then we would have to support those carts and keep ontop of all the updates and bugfixes that they release. That would be a huge undertaking.

Pinnacle Cart does everything we need and more, they just released version 3.7.4 which is PA-DSS compliant and has loads of new features that suit the garment business such as managing stock by attribute (size/color relationship) and web2 candy like comments and voting. I still haven't found a better cart for SEO and 3.7.4 takes it to another level. PHP Shopping Cart Software | eCommerce Website Solution | Storefront Design | Hosted Shopping Cart | Online Store Builder

ShirtTools V.3 is nearly ready for release. Follow me on twitter for updates.

Regards
Dean

Quote: Originally Posted by edua Can you let me know id this actually true? that ShirtTools can not be integrated with INTERSPIRE Ecomerce cart.

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edua

yep its totally understandable. I shall be making a decision by next month.

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ricksgan

Shirttools is now available in Canada, here is an ad from Kijiji: ** ++ SCREENPRINTERS... Online TShirt Design - City of Toronto Computer Services - Kijiji City of Toronto

 

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Daniel Slatkin

After 2 years of trying to run a piki/deco network powered affiliate system, we found support to be lacking, promised updates never came, software changed direction every time you turned around, and their pricing structure went through the roof! eventually we were forced to cancel and seek a different direction for our business.

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