Garment Decoration and Screen Print Techniques:
Traditionally, when most people think of garment decoration, they think of the common screen printed t-shirt. While traditional screen printing is an important technique in the promotional products industry, it certainly isn’t the only way to decorate a custom garment. Read on to learn a little about the different techniques and possibilities available for your next project.
Spot Color Printing
Spot Color Printing - Spot Color Printing is the most common screen printing process. Spot color printing normally uses 1-4 distinct ink colors to produce the final design. The ink colors print solid on the garment, without color variations. This print process is perfect for simple vector art, and not complex photographic processes. Half-toning is often used to create blending and different color variations. It is a comparatively inexpensive method of production, with a wide range of art possibilities.
Simulated Process Printing
Simulated Process – Simulated process printing uses select Pantone colors for printing and can contain up to 8 colors. This process is perfect for reproducing photographic, complex artwork with opaque, vibrant colors. Because this process prints so much cleaner that Traditional Process Printing, it produces better on dark shirts. Because we hand pick the colors in the composition, we have much more control over the finished product, resulting in rich, vibrant, faithfully reproduced designs.
Discharge Printing – The discharge printing process consists of initiating a controlled chemical reaction removes dyes or pigments from certain areas in a garment. It is akin to a “bleaching” process. The chemicals are poured on the garment and cured, at which point the chemical reaction happens, and the design becomes visible.
Foil Printing
Foil Printing – When compared to other special effect processes, foil printing is fairly inexpensive. Foil is also relatively simply to print, and easily will catch attention from a distance when worn. With foil printing you can print an iridescent layer on top of color to create interesting reflective color effects, or you can print it in dots to simulate a sequin effect. Many consumers avoided foil printing on garments because of durability questions, but in recent times, foil printing techniques and materials have improved significantly, resulting in a far more durable and washable product than in the past.
Jelly Ink, or High Density Printing – Jelly Ink Printing produces a super high-gloss look, with a slick, tactile jelly feel. Jelly Print is very versatile in that it can be used directly on the garment, or printed on top of a color base to add some “pop” to a design. Jelly ink stretches well, and is very durable over time.
Blister Printing - Blister printing essentially adds single or multiple thicker layers of plastisol ink on the garment before it is cured. Once cured, it adds a small amount of three dimensionality to the finished product. Currently, Blister printing is very popular in consumer settings, as it creates many eye-catching design possibilities.
No Underbase Printing
No Underbase Printing - Most printing on dark materials is done with an underbase. An underbase is typically a white under print upon which, the design is printed. The colors tend to end up brighter and more clear than without an underbase. However, in the consumer market, it is very popular to print a subdued color on a garment with no underbase. This technique can be combined with varying levels of ink coverage, making an intentionally faded look.
Other Techniques – There are many other methods used in garment decoration: Rhinestones and Nailheads sprinkled-on “caviar beads”, glitter print, leather etching, etc… These other methods are less common of course, but great for consumer-direct use and for high-end garments. The possibilities are almost limitless. These techniques are often combined with the previous techniques for added effect.
The above techniques can be utilized alone or combined to give your promotional product line a unique look and feel that is matched to your organization. Call Powertex today at (800) 588-7111 , or email us at: customerservice@powertexgroup.com to learn more about how you can make your next promotional branded merchandise stand out.
Really interesting article. You seem to know a lot about the techniques used.
Silk screening your logo is cheaper than having it embroidered. If you are working on a tight budget and aiming for a wide distribution, screening is the best method to use to maximize your budget.!!!
Twitter had a tweet on bulk blank shirts, and lead me here. There are a variety of ways you can go if you want to make custom T-shirts. There’s digital printers, plot cutters, and even custom transfers, but screen printing is the best way to produce a lot of T-shirts at a very low cost per unit.
Silk screening your logo is cheaper than having it embroidered. If you are working on a tight budget and aiming for a wide distribution, screening is the best method to use to maximize your budget.!!!
I have a question (awesome blog Btw) can anybody give me some good ideas that I can have printed on some T-shirts I came across a number of blogs including this one with some great ideas. But I’m curious if anybody has some that are original. Also where can I get T-shirts printed for my blog? my friend said to use custom ink, but I came across USA tees.com and want to know if anybody had personal experience with them, thanks.
OMG loved reading your article. I added your feed to my blogreader.
Thanks for this information, I’ve had mediocre results with regular screen printing tees. I’m glad to know that there are so many other options available. What is your most popular option, and what is something that you would recommend out of all these choices?
Our most popular options are the traditional screen printing process methods; spot color, and simulated process printing. They are, by far, the most utilized methods for print.
As far as what is right for you? Well, that’s really going to come down to your branding message, your design focus, and your budget. If you are going for a really modern or heavy retail look, then you might be needing to use one or more of the less traditional methods. These methods, while great can carry a bit of a price premium. However, if you are looking for a nice, inexpensive tee to use as a giveaway, then you probably want to go with something a tad simpler. There is no one-size-fits-all solution when to comes to custom garments.
Hi Bro,
Nice site. Some interesting and knowlegeable posts man
I know, I am creeping,lol. I hope can produce something like this myself one day. Who did you source your templates from?
Hopefully some of you folks may be able to help me out somewhat here. I am looking for someone who I was reliably informed told was a member on here. They did use to use the name ‘snoopylaughs’.
Because I am hoping to start my own site on cosmetics type content for items such as: foam strips (hence the where did you get your templates from,lol) but am having realllll difficulty getting hold of dropshippers for these goods. I had been in touch with this guy but my PC got stolen and unfortunately had all my contact details on it (I know, I know, should have backed it up
)
So if you people have heard or seen anything of this guy could you send me a message please? Failing that maybe one of you guys knows someone?
Plus, which hosting do you use as I keep informed bad tales about the host I am thinking of placing my site with. Also any other helpful tips you can give re starting up my website would be most helpful and gratefully appreciated.
I hope that one of you has helpful info on this
Thanks Bro,
As far as the look goes, we started with the dfBlog by danielfajaro. We chose that template to build off of basically for the menu system, which is very nice. We then modified it heavily to accommodate our brand and content. There are a lot of customizations and other widgets on the site, so you won’t find a theme that looks like ours!
Anyways, if you are looking for themes, I would highly recommend checking out: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/. Tons of themes there (over a thousand listed). If you can’t find SOMETHING there, I don’t know what to tell you!
As far as hosting, it’s going to depend on your traffic numbers. We as a company have dedicated hosting centers for all of our sites due to security needs and traffic considerations. If you are looking at huge traffic numbers, I would recommend looking at a dedicated server.
For my own personal blog, I host with GoDaddy. I have been pretty happy with the security, ease-of-use and service with the platform. I don’t have a ton of traffic to my personal blog, so shared hosting works fine. Like I said, it all depends on what your traffic needs are.
As far as the user you were looking for, no sign of him here. Good luck finding him, and good luck with your blog!
Great Post, very informative
-Brian
Thats very good to know… thanks
[...] Garment Decoration and Screen Print Techniques: @ The Powertex … [...]
Quite useful and helpful information, thank you.
(Our company design and manufacture different kinds of garments, such as T-shirt, working clothes, uniform, shirt, advertising shirt, casual wear, caps, apron, ethnic costume, hanging garment bags and children wear etc., Our website is: http://www.chansgarment.cn )
[...] Garment Decoration and Screen Print Techniques: [...]
[...] Garment Decoration and Screen Print Techniques: @ The Powertex … [...]
[...] Garment Decoration and Screen Print Techniques: @ The Powertex … [...]
[...] Garment Decoration and Screen Print Techniques: @ The Powertex … [...]