Free Reference · Apparel Decoration
Shirt Design Placement
Guide: Where Designs Go
& How Big
"A little lower, maybe more centered" is not a placement spec — but it's how a lot of shirt orders get described anyway. Here are the actual numbers decorators use for full front, left chest, back, sleeves and pockets, measured from fixed points on the garment instead of guessed by eye.
Every placement with exact measurements
Adult, women's-cut & youth adjustments
Visual placement diagram
The consistency problem placement charts can't
solve
A chart like this keeps you consistent. It doesn’t do much for the customer typing “kinda centered, a bit below the collar” into an order note — the guesswork just moves to a different email. Most shops that grow past a handful of orders a week end up solving it the same way: locking placement into the design tool itself, as a fixed zone the customer positions their art inside. Nobody measures anything and every order lands in the same spot. That’s essentially what the WTPBiz Merch Designer does on a Shopify store — the placement zones are already set, and what you get back is print-ready.
Shirt placement FAQs
Where should a design go on the front of a shirt?
2–3 inches below the collar, centered, 10–12 inches wide for adults. The most common mistake is too low — favor higher.
Where does a left chest logo go?
7–9 inches down from the left shoulder seam, ~4 inches off center, 3.5–4 inches wide — over the wearer's heart.
How far down should a back print be?
4–5 inches below the collar, centered, 10–12 inches wide. Locker patches: 1–2 inches below the collar at 2.5–4 inches.
Where do sleeve prints go?
Short sleeves: centered, 0.5–1.5 in above the hem, 2–4 in wide. Long sleeves: down the forearm, 2–3.5 in wide, up to 12–14 in long.
Do placements change for women's and youth shirts?
Yes — scale down and move up. Women's fronts: 8–10 in wide, ~2 in below collar. Youth: 7.5–9 in. Measure the actual garment.
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Lock these placements into your store
WTPBiz design tools enforce print zones per product — every customer order lands exactly where this chart says.
