Free guide, no sign-up
The Retro T-Shirt Design Lab
Turn your idea into a finished, print-ready shirt design with ChatGPT or another image tool. Copy-and-paste prompts, fifteen example designs made from them and the finishing steps that keep your work out of the slop pile.
8 MB, 28 pages. Free to share and give away. The example art is shown as a style reference. You get the prompts, not the artwork, and make your own original designs. Made by MerchZing, so we have a stake in stores.
What’s inside
Fifteen illustrated examples
Ten eras from a 1955 diner to a 2003 weird-web computer, and five more styles such as engraving, hand lettering and comic pop art. Each one shows example art on white, black, navy and red shirts. The artwork is there to show the style. It is not included, so your designs stay your own.
Prompts you can copy
A master prompt, an era template, a completed example, a character prompt that guards against lookalike mascots, and a quick four-field prompt. A plain-text file comes with it.
A brief bank of 40 ideas
Niche, concept and exact words for 40 starting points, from grill dads to night-shift workers. Make each one yours before you run it.
Finish it yourself
How to review a result, fix the small things, make the transparency real, meet your printer’s size and keep a record of how you made each design.
The originality checklist
What to leave out (brands, characters, lyrics, living artists’ names), a two-second test and what to check before you list a design. It lowers your risk. It does not clear a design legally.
From file to first sale
A plain path from a finished PNG to a first order: pick a printer, check what each order leaves you, order a sample and open a shop.
A look at the pages
AI is your designer. You are the creative director.
You bring the idea: who the shirt is for, what it says and why someone would wear it. The AI draws it. Then you check it, fix it and decide what is good enough to sell. That last part is what keeps a shop from looking like everyone else’s.
The guide starts with this, including honest answers to the questions people ask about AI art: whether it’s cheating, whether it junks up the marketplace, what about artists and who owns what you make.
When your design is ready, give it a shop.
A finished design needs somewhere to sell. MerchZing builds you a shop that looks like a real brand, brings in your Printify or Printful products and shows what each sale leaves you before you set a price. $12 a month, with no cut of your sales.
Pick a look made for your kind of shop, connect your printer and open for orders. Your customers pay into your own Stripe account.
Questions people ask
Do I need to sign up or give an email?
No. The download is a plain link. Save it, print it or pass it on.
Can I share it?
Yes. Give it to a friend, post it, hand it out at an event or put it in your newsletter, as long as it stays whole with its last page and the MerchZing name. Please don’t sell it.
Do I get the artwork in the guide?
No. The pictures are examples made from the prompts, so you can see each style. You get the prompts, add your own details and make an original design. That way no two shops end up with the same shirt.
Which image tool do I need?
The prompts were written for ChatGPT. The structure works in most image tools, and the guide says what to trim if a tool ignores long instructions. Spelling inside images varies a lot between tools, so you always check the lettering.
Is it okay to sell shirts made with AI art?
It depends on where you sell and where you live. Many marketplaces require you to disclose AI art or restrict it, and in the United States purely prompted images may not be protected by copyright, while your own changes and arrangement can be. The guide covers this in plain words. It is general information, not legal advice, so check current rules before you sell.
Does MerchZing make the shirts?
No. MerchZing builds the shop. You connect your own Printify or Printful account, and they print and ship each order. Your customers pay into your own Stripe account, and MerchZing takes no cut of your sales.
Does the guide promise I’ll earn money?
No. It teaches you how to make better designs and check them before you print. Whether they sell is up to your idea, your audience and your effort.
The example artwork was made with AI image tools from prompts like the ones in the guide and is shown as a style reference. MerchZing is not affiliated with OpenAI, Printify, Printful or Stripe. Rules and prices change, so check them before you sell.
Get the guide. Then give your designs a shop.
The download is free and needs no sign-up.
Download the free guide