Print Techniques

Screen Printing and Embroidery

SCREEN PRINTING

Beyond simple color or ink choices, the style of print can also give a variety of results.

We offer many styles of screen printing and would like to go into some detail on each so you have enough information to make the best decision for your project. Many of the styles below can be used together to create tons of different outcomes.

SPOT COLOR

Refers to 1-8 solid individual colors without any blending etc. If you just want a printed shirt and don't want to over think it, you are looking for a standard spot color print. 99% of the screen printed t-shirts you see daily are spot color jobs.

HALFTONE

A halftone image is made up of a series of dots rather than one solid color. the dots can be different sizes. Larger dots are used to represent darker, more dense areas of the image, while smaller dots are used for lighter areas. If you are printing a photograph or any sort of gradient, your job will employ the use of halftones.

DISTRESSED

A distressed print actually appears cracked and broken. This is a process that alters the artwork to mimic the way an old shirt may appear.

DISCHARGE

Discharge printing is a method that actually removes (or discharges) the dye of the garment where your artwork lies. The result is a print with NO hand whatsoever (you cannot feel the print at all). The concept / result could be explained as a type of “bleaching” but without any harm to the fabric being discharged.

Because discharge removes the dye and relies on the natural color of the garment underneath, this process can offer slightly different results for each print.

PROCESS

Process printing, 4 color process printing or CMYK printing is an advanced method of printing that uses 4 colors to reproduce every visible color in a given image. Its an amazing procedure but honestly its way to involved to explain in detail. To keep it simple, if you want a full color design or photograph printed on a white shirt, this is the method to be used.

SIMULATED PROCESS

This method mimics the blending and separation used as described in process printing above but works on all colors of shirts, not just white. Our standard for simulated process printing rarely uses less than 7 colors. This style offers the highest level of detail and color range on colored shirts.

SPECIALTY INKS

There is an ink to do just about any look and feel you are aiming to achieve. We have quite a few in stock and can pretty much make something look how you want it to. Silver and shimmery or a glow in the dark monster …if thats what you are aiming for.

EMBROIDERY

NEEDLE PULLING THREAD.

Yup, that is exactly what it is. And we offer a few styles of it depending on the look or size you are shooting for.

Let's brag . . . we have state of the art, on site, computerized embroidery machines that will stitch your design or logo quickly and with precision. We have many embroidery thread colors to choose from that are extremely durable and will wash and wear well.

Not only do we do thread designs, but we also create custom appliqué, laser cut, and garment etching. Its cool stuff . . . if you really want to stand out or make your company be the leader in fashion . . . consider it as an option against the main stream.

ART WORK

We have over 20,000 embroidery designs that are currently in stock and require no digitizing. If needed our designers can custom fit any one of these designs for you.

Already have a logo or design? That's great. We create all of our own digitizing in house and have complete control of the final product.

Keep in mind there are some limitations in regards to art work for embroidery and we will need to see it prior to giving you a quote. Digitizing fees start at $50.00.

SUBLIMATION

VOODO, MAGIC, THE DARK ARTS

Print art in reverse, add some heat and pressure, and wallah you have a sublimation printed item.

Not quite, but that is most of our customers, friends and families impression when they see it transform in front of their eyes.

What it really is: Sublimation ink is unique in its ability to convert from a solid to a gas without going through a liquid form. (Just like dry ice.) The conversion is initiated by heat and controlled with pressure and time. Hard items such as ceramic, fiber board, metals, etc. requires a special coating to accept the sublimation inks.

We can print directly to 100% polyester apparel and transform it into your design. Tech-shirts, socks, ties, towels and more. Also, puzzles, can coolies, clocks, plaques, trophies . . . and way more than we could list here. Its an amazing print process and were excited to be able to offer this technique.

DTG

WHAT EXACTLY IS DTG PRINTING YOU ASK? WELL LET US TELL YOU.

It stands for Direct to Garment but is sometimes referred to as Digital Garment printing, Digital Apparel printing, and Inkjet to Garment printing.

DTG printing is a process of printing graphics onto textiles and garments. It uses modified inkjet technology to print whatever graphic you want onto the shirt. Think of it like a giant inkjet printer, except rather than printing out boring thesis papers on molecular biology, it’s printing bad ass dragons jumping through hoops of burning unicorns on a t-shirt (Or whatever kind of graphic you like, we prefer bad ass dragons though).

HEAT PRESS

HOT OFF THE PRESS - LITERALLY

Heat press, heat transfer, transfer paper, vinyl cut . . . or for the love of God "iron on," all refer to the process of printing with pressure and heat using any number of techniques and substrates.

We mainly use it for names, numbers, rhinestones, foil and specialty prints. Its a quick and often times inexpensive way for you to have have a few shirts printed that are custom and look way cool.

If you have made it this far reading, wow, we are impressed! And if it seems overwhelming . . . it sure can be, but not to us, we know what we are doing and will gladly help you choose a technique or help steer you in the right direction. Call and ask . . . or better yet stop in and see the techniques in person!