Oh, and my free trial is about to expire.

I think you can :)

it's all about the layers baby!

how far have u gotten?

the help page is good for getting quick answers.. type in what you want to know in the search...

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Blue bane.

I'll try there, angelito. Thanks for the idea.

As for my progress...I've loaded the template and scanned my images. I can't figure out how to put the two together.

Very simple, but hard to explain :( ...

Photoshop Coloring Tutorial

^Those are the basics.

I think I know what you're asking. First of all, read through the tutorial. I hope you have all of your colors in layers because that would help. You'll want to make sure your background color is the same color as the t-shirt. Temporarily flatten your image (do NOT save it after doing so) by going to Layer: Flatten Image. Do a select all by going to Edit: Select all. Copy. Then go to your template image and paste it in. Then go to Edit: Free transform. Using the the points at one of the four corners of the bounding box, you'll see your mouse turn into a diagonal. Hold down your shift key to constrain proportions, click and hold the mouse and drag the design to the desired size. Hit return or enter to get rid of the bounding box. If you see some of the design background going over the shirt, use the eraser tool to get rid of it.

This isn't the best/crispest way to do it, but it's the easiest way to do it. Good luck!

Eh, just work with it, experiment... that's how come I'm good with photoshop. All of my shirts in my critiques were made 100% in photoshop... of course I've been using it since it first came out (and I was a kid) although I have to bootleg the latest versions because the first copy was free and then after that discovered it was $200 and now it's even more!

But yeah, you just experiment with it! Discover how the different effects work, the layering system, etc.

Honestly if it's a black and white drawing you're putting on a white shirt you just copy and paste the image into the template, use "Free Transform" to size it and position it, then change the layer type to multiply. Vice versa, on a black shirt? Press ctrl I to invert it, do the same exact steps, only set it to screen. Experiment with it and come up with a medium that feels comfortable with you.

:) ok ???

If reading through tutorials isn't helping, then you should do a couple of searches on Youtube. I find it's much easier to learn something when it is happening in front of me (just type Photoshop Tutorial into the search field to see what I mean).

Also, users of art communities like DeviantART make tutorials sometimes too. Like this: http://kuitsuku.deviantart.com/art/Photoshop-Lineart-Coloring-Tut-56907784

Tutorials, however, usually assume you already know the basics. If you still don't know how to use all of the tools, I suggest buying a really good book. Not an expensive one, and certainly not the official CS3 manual, just something with basic tips to get you started.

And if you simply want to drag one image into the other? Open both images, then choosethe "move" tool. All you have to do is drag the first image out of its window and into the window of the second image. Tada! Easy.

My tutorial assumes you don't know $h!† about Photoshop and walks you through the process of actually coloring in a design for Threadless. It's completely geared for taking an initial scan all the way up to a finished piece with a presentation and thumbnail.

I agree that it's good to watch something be done because that can be easier to understand. But at least give the Photoshop Coloring Tutorial a go since it's meant for Threadless noobs :-)

v&v's tutorial kicks ass

Yes, her tutorial is excellent, and very specific to Threadless. I gave it a once-over before, but I read all the way through it this time. However, if Korie is a complete noob to photoshop, hopefully my comment will help too!

Thanks everyone for the advice.

If only I could find a way to get an extended trial of photoshop. Right now I can't swing the $600 for the software.

haha...