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Screen Printing

What is Screen Printing?

Screen Printing, also known as silk screening, is the process of pressing ink through a mesh screen onto fabric. The ink, also known as plastisol, is then heated on the fabric. The ink cures on the fabric leaving the design you had on the mesh screen.

Considerations for Screen Printing

Artwork

Your image needs to be properly formatted in what’s called a vectored format. Read this page to learn about your artwork.

Colors

The more colors you have, the more complex the process can be. It will also drive up the cost of a custom shirt. This is due to each color requiring an individual screen for that specific color. After one color is applied to the shirt or garment, the color needs to be heated just long enough so the next color can be applied without distorting the previous color.

Type of Fabric & Style of Apparel

The type of fabric can determine what type of ink plastisol may need to be used. For example, some ink is more rigid than others, so for a sports team jersey or a dri fit t-shirt may require an ink that is flexible. Also, fabric that tends to be fluffy instead of flat may require a different ink.

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We carry and have access to a variety of apparel textures, blends, and brands. Here are few ways to help you with your selection of the perfect custom shirt.

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Types of the most common blends and fabric:

  • 100% Cotton

  • 100% Polyester, known as a Dri Fit or Performance Shirt

  • 50%/50% blend of Cotton & Polyester

  • 75%/13%/12% Tri-Blend of Poly/Cotton/Rayon, known as a soft

 

Common Brands we carry:​​

  • Port Authority

  • Port & Company

  • Sport-Tek

  • Red House

  • District

  • CornerStone

  • Nike & Nike Limited Edition

  • OGIO & OGIO Endruance

  • New Era

  • Eddie Bauer

  • Carhartt

  • Red Kap

  • Bulwark

  • Alternative Apparel

  • BELLA+CANVAS

  • Hanes

  • Jerzees

  • Fruit of the Loom

  • Anvil

  • Comfort Colors

  • American Apparel

  • Gildan

  • Rabbit Skins

  • Russell Outdoors

  • Ourey

Number of Locations

Each screen printed location for your custom t-shirt or garment requires a different screen. The more locations and colors you have will increase the cost of the t-shirt. Common locations include full front, full back, left and/or right chest, and left and/or right sleeve/pants.

Screen Printed Hoodie
Client branded t-shirt
Screen Printed Tank

Quantity

Having a low quantity of custom shirts printed is not necessarily the most cost effective way, however, it may be just what you need. The more you do, the less it is per shirt or garment. For less than 12 quantities there are other print options available, like vinyl & heat transfers (provide link)

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The same setup that goes into one shirt is the same for 1000 shirts.

Direct to Garment

This is an alternative to the traditional screen printing method. It’s typically used for shirts that have very high complexity of artwork with many colors. The process works much like your printer at home, except instead of inserting a piece of paper, you insert a shirt. Then you have to cure the ink. There are two downsides to this process. It cost a bit more per shirt and the ink will eventually wear off. It’ because you can’t get as much ink on the direct to garment shirt compared to a plastisol ink screen print.

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You can do On Demand Shirt printing with this method. This basically means, when you need one shirt, we can print it as there are no setup fees. We just need the artwork and colors.

Coozie

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Pro's

  • Durable & Longevity

  • Large images

  • Fine details, very high quality

  • Applicable to many types of materials

Con's

  • Multiple Colors can get expensive

  • Minimum quantity of 12

Ideal for the following:

  • T-shirts

  • Hoodies & Zip Up Hoodies

  • Sweat pants

  • Umbrellas, Coolers, Napkins, Plastic Bags, Canvas Bags, Tablecloths

  • Mugs, Tumblers, some pens

Screen Printing Machine
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