Retro Shirtz is a full service print shop and design studio, specializing in t-shirt printing using our high end garment printers.

Our high-end, cutting-edge custom shirt print shop is specialized in same day design and printing of the very highest quality of custom printed apparel.

If you are a first time customer, your first step is to visit our t-shirt print shop. Our store is located on the top floor of Westroads Mall, on the Younkers wing in Omaha.

We’re open seven day a week and centrally located in Omaha, Nebraska.

All of our staff members are expert graphic designers, and our entire front room is a large graphic design studio.

When you are ready for t-shirt design, the first available designer will provide a brief consultation. Sometimes we are on a brief wait, similar to a restaurant.

We are more than happy to offer suggestions for custom shirt colors, fonts, color schemes, and layout.

Your t-shirt’s graphic design time is provided free of charge and typically takes around 15 minutes per custom shirt. Fees may apply for longer design times.

Our graphic designers are experts in typography, fonts, and shirt layout. We also have access to a huge database containing millions of stock images in a wide range of subject matter and styles.

You may also provide your own artwork, including photographs. See our shirt design page for more information about photos on custom t-shirts. Please see specifications for provided artwork file resolution and acceptable file formats if you plan to bring in your own art.

Once you have given final approval for the graphic design, you are required to pay up front for all shirts. We do not print any orders without first accepting payment. There are no exceptions to this rule.

We accept all major credit cards, cash, and gift certificates. No checks.

We print all shirts on-site with our shirt printing machines, typically while you wait. Single shirts are often printed in around 15 minutes. Larger orders may require longer time periods to complete.

Please see out print times chart for more information.

We will give you an approximate print time for your order. You may either continue to browse through our store, grab a bite at the food-court, shop at the mall, or leave the mall entirely.

Your shirts will be ready when you get back!

Retro Shirtz operates full color + white ink industrial garment printers. Garment printers are high end printing machines designed to apply ink directly onto apparel in any design or color we choose.

Our printers can create custom ink colors in a wide range of hues and gradients not typically available through screen printing.

In screen printing, each ink color must be applied through a single custom screen. This requires one screen for every color that will be screen printed onto the shirt.

Screen printing custom shirts with more than one color can add additional costs and be very time consuming. The screen printer must create new screens and tear down old screens for every additional design.

The process of screen printing also makes it more difficult to print shirts with a different graphic on each shirt – such as the names and numbers on sports team shirts. Each shirt requires a different graphic, which requires a different screen.

Retro Shirtz uses garment printing. In garment printing, we create a graphic design on the computer, using the very best graphic design programs – Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

After the graphic design is completed, we load your shirt into the shirt printing machine, and press print. The garment printer will then print the graphic design file in full color, including white ink.

The whole process is very fast, high quality, and efficient.

Garment printers are essentially large-format high-end, desktop printers designed for printing on shirts, instead of paper.

Garment printed custom t-shirts can have several advantages.

Garment printers print in over 1.5 million colors. Full color printing is an understatement. Because we print in full color, we do not have the limitations of one color per screen of screen printing. We also charge the same price for single color up to full photo color.

Our shirt printers also can also easily print multiple different shirt graphics. This allows the names and numbers of team shirts to be printed cheaply, compared with a screen printing process of a screen for every name and number. Our bulk t-shirt printing prices even allow you to print every shirt with a different name and number.

Garment prints provide a very unobtrusive layer of ink on your shirt. The printed ink is much lighter and non-noticeable than traditional screen prints. Many non-garment printed shirts have a graphic that feels heavy, thick, or traps moisture against the body. Our printer’s technology was specifically engineered to avoid this. After several washes, it is difficult to even feel the graphic on the shirt. Garment prints also wash and wear very well, and will not ever crack or peel.

Retro Shirtz garment printers use full color CMYK format to allow vibrant full-spectrum t-shirt printing.

CMYK is the color format used in all desktop printers, paper copy/print centers, sign making companies, and any company with a shirt printing machine, like a garment printer.

When our store produces graphic designs, we design on a computer screen – which is RGB color format.

RGB and CMYK display and print very differently. See the model to the above right.

Because we print CMYK onto a 3-dimensional surface (a shirt in this case), it is very difficult to get precise color matches. When going from a screen display of the graphic design, to final product printed product on a shirt, there will always be a color difference. Our designers are familiar with the process and would be happy to assist in color selections.

T-shirt printing is not performed onto a uniform surface. An example of a uniform surface is a piece of glossy photo paper. Uniform surfaces easily and uniformly absorb and display ink. Shirt printing involves printing onto a very non-uniform surface. The surface of a shirt is composed of many strands of string that have been knitted together, forming a lattice of tightly packed cotton. These fibers will cause minor distortions when they absorb and display ink. This can slightly impact precise colors, depending on the background color of the shirt.

We always gauge our best for desired color matching, but we do not promise exact color matches due to the difference in the visual spectrum between CMYK and RGB colors.

File resolution represents image quality, and often the file’s physical dimensions.

Very low res (low resolution) images will appear blurry when viewed on screen, and will definitely print blurry on your apparel.

High res (high resolution) images will appear very crisp and distinct on the computer screen. There will be no blurring and no pixelated edges. High res images print great.

Determining File Resolution

File resolution can usually be determined on a computer screen by zooming into an image in the computer’s image viewing program. On Macs, this is usually the Preview application. On PC’s this is usually Windows Picture Viewer.

Once the file is opened on the screen, zoom in on the image until it is approximately the same size on the screen as desired for printing on the apparel.

If the image should be 8 inches across on the shirt, it should be 8 inches across on the screen. A ruler is helpful for this.

Images that look blurry, distorted, or has jagged edges will often result in poor prints. Look for instances of poor image quality. Are there discolored areas or patches? If there is text, is it readable and centered? And finally, are the blurriness or jagged edges acceptable if it appeared the same way on a shirt?

If image quality is acceptable, then it is generally good to print. Some exceptions exist, feel free to contact us with any questions! Our graphic designers would be happy to assist with design and quality related questions.

Retro Shirtz accepts a wide variety of file types. The following are the preferred file formats that we are able to print on t-shirts.

.ai – Adobe Illustrator file format

.psd Adobe Photoshop
file format

.eps Encapsulated Postscript Vector file format

.pdf – Portable Document Format

.jpeg/jpg – Joint Photographic Experts Group

.png – Portable Networks Graphic

Generally, non-graphic designers will not be able to open the top three file types. However, these files will provide the best quality prints on your apparel.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about file formatting.

Retro Shirtz Apparel Selection
We always fully stock our print shop with blank apparel for custom t-shirts, baby clothes, sweatshirts, tank tops, and hoodies.

All of our stocked apparel is 100% cotton and we keep the most popular colors and sizes in stock at all times.

***T-shirt orders of 50+ may be subject to availability in certain colors and styles. These orders might take a day or two longer than typical orders. We can usually get additional shirts ordered within a few business days.***

Special Apparel Orders
We are also able to make special custom orders through our blank shirt wholesalers. If you need a specialty non-standard shirt color, size, or style, we are more than happy to place a special order.

***Special orders can take at least 2 business days to complete, as we receive blank apparel out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.***

Customer Provided Apparel & Fabrics
As the customer, you may also bring in your own apparel and fabrics for print.

All provided items must be either:
1)
80% cotton or more.
2)
A light colored fabric, with a dark colored print. Please contact us for additional information.

***We do not offer any discounted printing prices on customer provided apparel and fabrics.

Customer Provided Apparel & Fabric – Print Times & Prices
Many provided apparel and fabric pieces are not eligible for same day printing. These items are typically ready for pick up next day.
Please contact us about the print schedule for customer provided items.