Customer Reviews

Avery T-shirt Transfers for Inkjet Printers, 8.5 x 11 Inches, Clear, Pack of 6 (03271)

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The first thing you should know before using these great Avery T-shirt Transfers for Inkjet Printers, is that the results you get can be perfect, when you know how to apply these like a pro! I've used these transfer sheets for years, after being in the T-shirt printing business many years ago, and they are great for beautiful personalized items. Before you begin, you should know that it's helpful to have a photo, art or printing program that will reverse your image, called mirror image or flip image. You have to print the image in reverse or flipped to come out correctly on your shirt or other cotton item you are printing on. Once you have a program to flip your photo or art on, it is also important to know that making your picture as bright as possible for printing will result in a more vivid, colorful print on cotton. Any photo or art program will do this for you, when you use more contrast and brightness to make your photo or art stand out.

Once you have your photo or art nice and bright and flipped, you will want to print a sample on plain paper before printing on the transfer sheet, to see what it will look like. It will look backwards and if it isn't bright enough, spend a little more time with contrast and brightness before printing a test page again. Remember to work with COPIES of your photo or art in case of mistakes, you can always make another copy off of your original. Prep work is everything when working with art projects. Once the photo or art looks perfect, in reverse, you can now get ready for your transfer. (If you need help with your image, Avery has free templates, tips and software on their web site.)

For the transfer, you will need the following:
White Cotton or Cotton/Poly Blend T-shirt or fabric. Make sure it is smooth and flat, if not, press it smooth and flat before transfer.
Waist high smooth surface for applying the transfer. I use a portable PXB drawing board, which I can place on my ironing board or any waist high table. I picked up a board at my local Office Max years ago, and the $20.00-$40.00 price is well worth it, as I use it for drawing as well! It has a white clean smooth surface- perfect for transfers!
Clean pillow case- pressed very smooth.
Iron set at highest cotton heat setting- no steam ever!
Inkjet Printer- the best for color photos, art and transfers.
Now that you have your cotton fabric or T-shirt, PXB board on a waist high table, pillow case, iron and printer with your flipped photo or art you want to transfer, you are ready to begin.

You will first print your art or photo flipped on a plain piece of paper to make certain it's correct, then on the Avery transfer sheet. Trim the picture leaving the tiniest edge around it. Round out all the edges, as squared edges lift easier during wear and washing. Place your PXB board on a waist high table or ironing board- I've even done it on a low table, close to the floor to get maximum pressure from my arms. Place the smooth pillow case on the board, then the smooth T-shirt or fabric on top of the pillow case. Now when your iron is very hot, never use steam or have water in your iron- you will press as smoothly and HARD as possible for 3 full minutes.(3 minutes is for a full page- time is less for smaller pages, and have a clock nearby to watch the time.) Pay special attention to use just as much pressure on the edges as you do in the middle. Go top to bottom, side to side and around making sure you press really hard. After 3 minutes, let it cool and see if the paper starts to remove easily from an edge. If it doesn't- go back to ironing another minute and cool, then try removing it again. It should remove easily, so don't force it, just keep ironing with pressure, then cooling until it removes easily. Usually, 3 to 5 minutes should do it, but I've had to use the iron with all my strength for even a couple more minutes sometimes. When the transfer sheet edge finally does pull away easily from the fabric, remove the transfer SLOWLY, because if something is still sticking- you need to iron that spot again!

Once your project is finished, remember, if it's washable, don't wash it for a few days and when you do have to wash, wash it inside out in cool water and hang dry to keep the transfer looking great for a long time! I've used Avery, HP, Epson and Burlington transfer sheets over the years, and these top name brands all work great! I have an HP inkjet printer, several photo programs- my favorite being Microsoft Digital Image Pro and the best art program- Autodesk's SketchBook Pro 2011- you can draw and color anything with this software!

I've transferred art and photos onto T-shirts and used plain cotton fabric to transfer images onto, that I've then cut out and used Tacky craft glue to paste onto purses, totes, hats, any cloth accessories, cloth Christmas ornaments and my favorite- Christmas stockings! Over the years, I took photos of children or pets and then transferred them onto plain white cotton, which I cut out and glued onto stockings, adding their names with cut out letters made of felt. The secret to great secure gluing is I use a toothpick for tiny surfaces or popsicle stick for large surfaces dipped in the glue bottle, then spread on thinly on the entire gluing surface. Even, thin gluing keeps your image beautiful! The happiness these sentimental, personal gifts bring, are worth every penny spent, and with these professional tips I've left you with, your gifts will turn out just beautiful and be treasured forever!

I love these! T-shirt transfers are a great way to keep the kids occupied on a rainy afternoon. None of the major mess of tie-dyeing or fabric paints but still a fabulous way to create fun, personalized apparel.

Do pay attention- these are for INK JET printers and COTTON, LIGHT colored fabric. There are separate transfers for different types of printers and material/color fabrics.

How these work is you load them into your printer and from almost any application that can print, you can create a design that will turn into a very professional looking iron-on transfer. I used photoshop and was able to create transfers with photos. My ten-year-old has been writing her own comic for language arts at her school. She was really excited when I scanned one of her strips into the computer, touched it up in photoshop and then printed it on a transfer. She was able to iron it right onto a t-shirt- and is now very proud of her work!

These are great if you have a small event or group that you want to make t-shirts or other swag for without spending a fortune. Each sheet is 8.5x11 and so you can print a logo or small design several times over.

Lots of fun and there are tons of great ideas and projects out on the internet to help you make the most of these.

A couple of tips: you'll want to make sure you print a mirror image of whatever your design is- many programs have the ability to manipulate a design and if for some reason your software isn't capable- often the printer interface will have an option to mirror or invert, careful when you pull your printed transfer out- let it sit for a few minutes to avoid any smearing. Always print a preview on a regular sheet of paper first!! That way you won't waste a transfer if it doesn't turn out. DO not use a steam setting! You want the iron to be hot but the transfer will not adhere properly and may peel later if you use steam.

BTW- though I mentioned my kids- these are fun no matter how old you are. I think I probably got way more into this project than the kids did. Beware, it may seem like a cool idea during the first flush of transfer-love, but trust me when I say that you can go too far, and if you find yourself trying to iron stuff onto your pets or the lid of your toilet- seek help.

Happy transferring!

Please go buy another product. If you want to do iron-on transfers, there are MUCH better options than this one. First complaint: the "clear" portion of the iron-on quickly turns a shade of "cream" the moment you finish ironing it in place. Second: it looks and feels like you have ironed a place-mat to the shirt, which then quickly wrinkles, fades, and peels off, even after just the first wash. Third: the iron-on does not stretch with the shirt behind it: it cracks! If you purchase or use this item, I guarantee you disappointment. I have tried it three miserable times, and would never in this lifetime use it again on anything I intended to wear or give as a gift. I am throwing away my remaining sheets.

Only after opening the package was I able to read that I have to do this on a hard, smooth, heat-resistant surface. These instructions, of which there is no hint on the outside of the package, state that I cannot use an ironing board, glass, granite, concrete, heat sensitive or heat-sink surfaces. They specifically recommend formica, but I don't have any!

Also, nothing here says I can use a 100% cotton t-shirt, but I couldn't find white cotton/poly blends.

And this doesn't apply to me, but they do not put this on the package and I think it's pretty important. This paper will not work in HP Deskjet 1200C and 1600C printers because they apply heat.

I understand simplicity of package design, but they are missing some critical info. It dupes people into buying what they cannot use. But then, maybe that's the point.

You need not be a designing master in order to fully tap the possibilities of Avery T-shirt transfers. Some patience and attention to detail are necessary, but with a minimum of skill, the product is primarily practical, fun, and rewarding.

You must follow the directions included. DO NOT use an IRONING BOARD; press the iron on the t-shirt, reinforced with a smoothly ironed pillow case on a hard surface for three minutes--with twenty-second intervals at first left-to-right, then up-and-down. DO NOT USE WATER OR STEAM.

Besides these warnings, the instruction sheet provided will give you a list of Avery websites and links to click in order to find the right T-shirt transfer. Get the right one that includes t-shirt transfers. Otherwise, you'll be toggling around blindly getting business cards, labels, or other products, but nothing for T-shirts. "Avery Design Pro" is about the fourth download option, and it worked just fine as a download to my Windows XP system. Do some searching, but getting the right product is not a big deal. You will be given a list; click or highlight it; and it will be chosen into the right-hand column.

You may need some additional advice, though. They provide holiday and other generic, clip-art type designs. All you have to do is find the right tools on the left, add a new shape or delete any generic shape given; then upload an image (picture, etc.) from your computer; and you will have a favorite picture or design ready for a t-shirt. Like MS Paint has a text bar option, you will also be able to add a caption to your picture. Make sure you preview the print, and place the product insignia on top of your paper in your printer tray. (It prints on the opposite side, which sometimes can be counter-intuitive.) My print preview didn't indicate that my t-shirt print would be cut off at the caption, so make sure you put your words up a bit on the picture of the page. (Two inches from the bottom should be the lowest you place your text [ie the picture caption.])

I made two other mistakes I should mention to (hopefully) help you with your projects: Do not use any other color than white. My color t-shirts mixed with the transfer and made my t-shirt too (eg red) for display. Also, don't try to put one design on the front and another on the back. It will bleed or make the first design you ironed on the shirt look molten.

Despite some caveats and a bit of trial-and-error, I still believe the product is fun to use and has great creative appeal. (Six transfers are included. I had two that worked great; two were mediocre; and two were fair to poor. If you follow the instructions and my advice, you will do far better than I did.) Enjoy. ;>) JP

Having never used a product like this before, it was with some reservations that I decided to make a birthday T shirt for my son, with a photo of his baby daughter on the front. The process was surprisingly easy, and the T shirt was a big success. So far, 3 or 4 washings have had no ill effect upon the image on the shirt. More time and wear will tell, but I'll be using these transfers again for sure.

I picked up this to create some fun homemade t-shirts with my 3 year old. Working with her on the computer to pick out pictures and clipart then print out and iron them on a fun t-shirt was very engaging for her and utimately worth the money tenfold in the experience. I had little hope for commerical grade results, and my expectations were mildly exceeded.

We discovered that using a full sheet, much like other reviewers, made a less flexible shirt and the material has less longevity. Instead of using a full sheet picture, we printed out many small items and ironed them on individually... the resulting iron-ons lasted longer through the wash and maintained color for at least 8 washes with a mild dreft detergent and cool cycles.

We used a HP C5550 inkjet and HP vivera inks, so YMMV using reloads or offbrand inks. It would be useful to find someone who would make a more colorfast ink for washing machine abuse :)

I do a lot of crafting, particularly stenciling with fabric paint to create screen-printed looks on shirts. So when i saw this new paper designed for ink jet printed t-shirt transfers, i knew i had to try it out.
The paper is easy to use - just find your image, flip it, and print it! You have to make sure to cut a small margin around your image (like the directions say!) and iron it the way the directions indicate, and you'll get a great final product.
My only qualm with the paper is that it does feel like a standard iron-on; a little crispy and crunchy even after washing the shirt. It also cracks and looks worn-out sooner than using stencils and fabric paint. However, due to how EASY this product is to use, i think the negatives are worth it. I will definitely be using this product again in the future!

I've used Xerox brand iron on transfers for white shirts before and have had good success. I tried these Averys because it seemed they would be more suitable for non-white backgrounds. So far, I've used the Avery transfers on two 100 percent cotton t-shirts, one light gray and one fairly dark tan. The images were block color pieces of artwork, very bright.

I followed the instructions carefully and did one shirt right after the other. In one case, the paper just didn't pick up all the ink from the printer in one small sliver (about 1/8" by 1/2"). When I applied the transfer to the gray t-shirt, two other areas showed small color drop outs. It's not bad, but the end result certainly doesn't look professional.

With the other transfer everything worked well from start to finish. The image came out clean and even though the t-shirt was rather dark, the colors were still vibrant.

In both cases, the border of the image was clear right after I pulled the transfer off, but turned creamy white after a first washing. As a result, I would not recommend using these iron ons with free floating letters on anything but a creamy white background. The same could be said for the Xerox iron on transfers.

I don't understand the difference between the two results for the Averys since everything was done during the same time period and the same method was used. Perhaps one of the pieces of iron on paper was simply not up to snuff. I haven't had this problem with Xerox brand iron ons. Overall, I'd say the Averys produce more vibrant colors, but perhaps provide less consistent results. Also the brighter colors of the Averys come with the downside that the iron on seems a bit thicker and makes the shirt drape less naturally.

This product works great. I created T-shirts for my daughter and her friends for their school talent show as well as some silly boxer shorts for my husband for Father's Day. Both item have done well in the wash and are just starting to fade a little after over two years. Will be using again to create hoodies for my daughters' dance school.