Have you wondered about the processes behind the journey from a plain T-shirt to one printed with a design in a riot of colors and sometimes with words that speak to you individually? These are the best methods used by professionals to bring these t-shirts to life screen printing portland.
- Screen printing
Screen printing is the most popular and widely used printing process for beautiful t-shirts, especially when printing in bulk. It involves using screens to apply ink to t-shirts. The resulting artwork is of very high quality and can last a long time. It is also very cost effective when used effectively. In this process, ink is applied to the t-shirt directly through mesh screens. You can get More information about screen printing here.
The screen printing process goes like this: A screen made of a finely woven fabric called mesh is stretched over a wooden or aluminum frame. This mesh screen is pressed against the fabric to place paint on the shirts in one color per screen.
The best thing about screen printing is that it is relatively very inexpensive. But since each color requires a separate display, when you have a design with many colors, it can get expensive. For screen printing to be profitable, you must print many t-shirts at once with the same design. You should keep the number of ink colors and design locations to a minimum.
If the design you have has only one or two colors, you can print in small numbers and it will still be economical. If you have a design with screen printing of up to 3 colors, it surpasses any other printing method, whether it is the quality or the long-lasting appearance of the colors
- Iron-on inkjet/laser transfer
Heat transfers are almost as popular as screen printing, especially for designs with multiple colors and complex details. In this method, a special heat transfer paper (made from special transfer vinyl) on which your chosen design is printed using an inkjet printer or laser printer. This is used to transfer the design to the t-shirt. This way you get a beautiful custom designed graphic t-shirt.
The process is like this. You will design or choose your design for the t-shirt with your own customizations on your computer. Print this image using an inkjet printer or laser printer on your special heat transfer paper designed for use with the printer. Place the transfer paper over the t-shirt design face down and apply heat with a hot iron. The amount of pressure and heat applied will help transfer the design to your t-shirt.
Remember that you should use inkjet heat transfer paper only with inkjet printer and the same goes for laser transfer paper and laser printer. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have a t-shirt that won’t take the heat from the heat press machine, you simply can’t print on it with this method. And finally, it’s not as durable as a screen-printed design: the print may crack or fade in the wash. This method is great on white and light-colored t-shirts, but may not work as well on dark t-shirts. You may have more success with special paper for dark fabrics.
- DTG (direct to garment printing)
This is the best t-shirt printing method if you are printing colorful designs for small batches, such as 5 t-shirts or less. For on-demand printing (one-off t-shirt printing or small batch printing) and for printing photos on your t-shirt directly from your computer, this method is a godsend. You need DTG machines to make this print. Mainly used for cotton blend t-shirts.
The DTG printer prints directly to the t-shirt with a high degree of precision and color accuracy.
You can use unlimited colors in this print, even 100+ colors. You can design your own prints and patterns, make your own customizations even with your name or photos. The color looks more vivid with this print than with screen printing, with a softer hand. A disadvantage is that it is not as durable as screen printing and can fade after many washes.
- vinyls cut in CAD
In this process, vinyl cutouts (in matte or gloss finish) are applied to the t-shirt with heat. The design is cut from solid color vinyl sheets, with the help of a machine. Vinyl printing is typically a one color process and is a comparatively cost effective method aside from the cost of specialized cutters. Vinyl with different types of prints and patterns available.
One problem is that each design has to be cut one by one so it is a slow process, great for small numbers but not so good for larger batches. If the design is large, it may look too rigid and heavy.
Flock printing is a printing process where, in vinyl flock, a 3D textured vinyl is applied to t-shirts with an industrial heat press. This is a variation of the CAD cut vinyl print.
- Plastisol Transfers
Plastisol heat transfers are a favorite choice for t-shirt printing because the results are quite good with a very smooth feel. This printing is also called indirect screen printing. It uses high quality heat transfer paper on which your design is screen printed to transfer the design and is regularly used by professionals.
You need a good heat press machine for this. The advantage of this method is that you can print unique orders without incurring a high cost. The results are comparable to a high quality screen printed design. The time required is also very less compared to screen printing.
- Dye sublimation printing
This print is done on white polyester t-shirts; In fact it works best with man-made fabric. It also works on 50% polyester blend t-shirts and even pre-treated fabrics, but with a varying degree of success.
In this process, the dye turns into vapor and is absorbed into the polyester fabric of the shirt. This is a very durable printing method for 100% polyester t-shirts and the result is similar to DTG, with a great softer feel. Usually all designs are used for sublimation printing. The advantage is that you can print even small batches.
As said, it is best for full color designs on white or light colored t-shirts. The downside is that the print does not work on cotton t-shirts: the color of the prints will gradually fade.
- Print download
This is a different reverse method of printing on t-shirts. In this process, the shirt is bleached with discharge inks that remove the dye from the shirt instead of putting a color on top of the shirt, leaving the print on the surface. This is made on natural fabric such as a 100% cotton t-shirt. The effect of this print is a vintage look that is attractive. But this is not the easiest way to print and can be expensive - Screen Printing Variations
a) Puff pastry stamping technique.
Puff Printing is a variation of the screen printing technique with an embossed effect. An additive is added to screen printing ink during the screen printing process. This results in an expansion of the paint resulting in a 3D puffy effect. You can create designs with multiple colors with this technique
b) gel printing
A layer of clear gel is added over the screen printing.
c) crackle finish
In this variation, the ink is broken after drying for a beautiful cracked effect.
d) glow in the dark end
In this variation of screen printing, the ink absorbs light and glows in dark places.
e) UV gloss finish
The ink glows when exposed to UV rays.
f) suede finish
The additive added to screen printing ink causes the printed image to swell to a suede-like finish.
g) glossy finish
Here glitter is added to the screen printing ink.
- Strap Print
This is the screen printing process that gives you large prints all over the t-shirt, even along the seams. The very expensive strap screen printing equipment used for this printing can print the entire front of the t-shirt or the back or even together in one go. Due to the cost of the machinery used, prints turn out to be very expensive, so despite the beauty and coverage of this process, it is not widely used. - cut and sew
This is not a printing process as such, but as the name implies, it is cut and sewn. In this process, custom printed fabric is used to make the t-shirt. You can make a unique designer t-shirt this way after printing the fabric in the designs of your choice. You can use thedifferent fabric printing methodsto create your own prints.
Related post:How to Do Inkjet Printing on Fabric at Home.
- Template printing
This is not a commercial printing method as you cannot print on a large scale using this method. Using stencils to print on fabric is a lot of work, especially when there are many t-shirts involved, but for a DIY t-shirt version, this is the best method. Check out this post aboutsome tips for making a templateandMore details about 7 stencil painting techniques.
One problem with a template is the limitation on the type of layout you can use. Design areas need to be connected and that is not very easy to do with some designs.
- Dyeing resistance
Simply dyeing a t-shirt does not make any impression on the surface of your t-shirt. But when techniques like Batik and tie and dye are used, there are beautiful prints and patterns made on your t-shirt. Tie and dye and Batik are heavy duty methods of dyeing fabrics: in tie and dye, the t-shirt is wrapped in threads in areas where you don’t want color and then dyed. Batik is another resist technique where wax is applied to areas where the color is not desired and then the t-shirt is dyed; this results in beautiful patterns
Most of these t-shirt printing processes work very well on some level, it all depends on the quality of the supplies and equipment used and the skill that executes them. If you are thinking about starting a t-shirt printing business, knowing all or some of them can give you great variety and flexibility.
Embroidery is a very popular method of getting your design on t-shirts. It is durable and looks very elegant when made correctly, with high quality and precision threads. Industrial sewing machines with specialized embroidery capabilities are used for large-scale embroidery on t-shirts. You can do regular flat embroidery or 3D embroidery.
Generally, small designs are embroidered on t-shirts due to the thin fabrics of most t-shirts. If large layouts are used, there are many open spaces left to make the layout less dense. You can get more information about thet-shirt embroidery here