Yes, customers can design both sides of a T-shirt on your Shopify store, in one session and with one add to cart. The same works for a business card or a double-sided sign.
It's a built-in feature of the Product Designer in Appify Custom Product Options. You switch on a Front and a Back design surface, and each side gets its own layout, its own options and its own files.
This guide uses the T-Shirt Single demo as the example, a shirt priced by print location with a design editor for every face.
What does the customer see?
On the product page, the customer picks a color, a size and where the prints go. Front and Back are two of the print locations, and both start selected.
Design Shirt opens the editor on the front of the shirt. The customer adds their artwork inside the dashed print area.
Then they tap Back in the tabs at the bottom of the canvas. The view turns to the back of the shirt, with its own print area, and they lay out a separate design there.
- Each side keeps its own design until they save. Switching sides never wipes the other one.
- The full toolset. Text, clipart, shapes, their own images and layers, on each side.
- The real shirt behind the design. Each side shows a photo of the shirt from that angle. The photo is a preview and never prints.
- One save. The customer finishes once and adds the shirt to the cart, with the live total in view the whole time.
How do you add a back side?
In the calculator editor, open Step 5 and choose Designer mode. Then use either route:
- The + on the side control at the bottom of the canvas preview.
- A Back side visibility binding in the canvas bindings. Adding it turns the back on for you.
The gear beside the side control sets the Front label, the Back label and the Back orientation, which is how the back is derived from the front. Most products use a horizontal flip. You can rename the sides, so a shirt says Front and Back while a card says Face and Reverse.
To change a side's options, switch sides at the top of the right panel. Each side is set up on its own. The canvas bindings guide has the full steps.
How do you charge for the back, and show it only when it's paid for?
In the T-Shirt Single demo, the back is a print location. Back is one of the location buttons, and picking it adds 25.00 to the shirt, the same as the front.
To show the Back side only when the customer picks that location, open Side settings and set the Back side's When customers see this side to only for some choices. Map it to the Back button. A customer who wants a front print only never sees a back to fill in.
For a product without print locations, such as a card or a sign, add a Sides swatch with the choices 1 and 2. On the Front, add a Back side visibility binding and map each choice:
- Choice 1 maps to Hide back side.
- Choice 2 maps to Show back side.
Like any choice in the calculator, the 2 choice can carry its own price. Custom apparel pricing on Shopify shows how print locations, setup fees and quantity breaks add up around it.
What is shared between the sides, and what is separate?
Size and cut come from the print area. Looks and options belong to each side.
| Setting | How it works |
|---|---|
| Artboard size | Set for each print area, as a fixed size or taken from an option such as Width and Height |
| Cut line, bleed and safe zone | Set for each print area |
| Background, product image, scene and preview overlay | Separate on each side, so the back shows the shirt from behind |
| Options in the right panel | Separate. A back print color can appear on the Back only |
| When the customer sees the side | Always, or only for some choices |
So the front can be a full-color design while the back offers a smaller print area and a different background. Nothing is copied across unless you want it to be.
Two sides, one session. The customer designs each face separately and saves once.
How do you handle a pocket, a sleeve or a matching back?
A shirt often has more than two print places. The T-Shirt Single demo has four sides: Front, Back, Left and Right. The Left and Right sides each hold two print areas, a shoulder and a side.
Open Side settings from the gear beside the side control. Three controls cover most garments:
- Add side for another face, such as a sleeve. Name it, then set when customers see it.
- Add artboard for another print area on the same side, such as a pocket next to a full front.
- Lock size, cut, and position to another artboard, so a back print area always matches the front. Drag it into place, or type an offset.
Each print area can take its size from an option, such as Width and Height, so the canvas follows what the customer chose.
Is this the Product Designer or a personalizer?
Appify Custom Product Options has two different tools, and this article is about the Product Designer.
- The Product Designer is a full design editor with a real artboard, a cut line and design files. Front and Back belong to it.
- Personalization shows a customer's choices as a live preview on your product photo. It's the lighter route, for a name on a shirt.
They can sit on the same calculator for different option flows. For the fuller picture, read how to let customers design their own products.
What does production get?
When the customer saves, the order carries a visible Design Files link. It opens one page for the whole job.
- The front produces the main proof and files.
- The back appears as its own section on the same page, under your back label.
- Each side has its own files: a proof PNG, a print-ready PNG, a cut-line SVG and canvas JSON, when you've turned those outputs on.
- A production manifest lists layer positions, sizes and the customer's option values.
A low-resolution warning flags a small logo before it reaches your printer. Generating production-ready print files covers the files in more detail.
FAQ
Can customers design the back of a T-shirt on Shopify?
Yes. Turn on Front and Back in the Product Designer, and the customer designs each side in one session. The T-Shirt Single demo shows it on a live product.
Can I charge extra for a back print?
Yes. Make Back a priced print location, as in the demo, or add a Sides swatch where the 2 choice carries a price.
Can I show the back only when the customer pays for it?
Yes. Set the Back side to show only for some choices, and map it to the Back location or the 2 sides choice.
Do the front and back need the same size?
No. Each print area sets its own size. Or lock the back to the front when they should match.
Can I add sleeves or a pocket?
Yes. Add a side for each sleeve, and add an artboard for a pocket next to the front print. The demo's Left and Right sides each hold a shoulder and a side print area.
Does the order include files for both sides?
Yes. The Design Files page lists the front and the back, each with its own files.
Front, back and sleeves, designed in one session.
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