screen print tips and money saving hints for your custom t-shirt order   Home  |  Catalog  |  Ordering Info. |  Price Quote

T-shirt screen printed and printed apparel  information,  with money saving tips

Important information to help get the highest QUALITY order !

MINIMUM order is 24 garments combined.

T-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts and the like CAN be combined to reach a quantity price break. Combine items

 

Emailing your artwork / design:

Yes. Sending your artwork via email is common. We receive many emails with attached artwork each day. Please be sure and use the above information and file formats. You can reduce the size of the artwork to an acceptable level for emailing as we will enlarge or reduce to fit the smallest garment in any order. After re-doing your artwork into our graphics system, we will email to you for your approval.

We suggest that you first "test send" your email with artwork to yourself, before sending to us. Simply attach your graphics file to an email addressed to your own email address, then send. Usually, what you receive (see) is what we will see.

The MAXIMUM file size for email is 8mb. We will scale your design to fit the garment, so no need to send us a 100% scale.

Mailing your artwork :

Yes you can "snail mail", or Fed. Ex (our preferred way) your design to us on paper (hard copy - black ink on white paper only please), or on a disk. We are PC base so your disk should be a PC disk and your artwork should be in the desired file format as indicated above. We can accept art files on 3.5" floppy disks or on Iomega 100 Zip disks. Artwork and getting it into a useable format is the basis of any order for a quality final product.

Screen printing General Info: (scroll down)

Screen printing is the process of placing a wet ink on a substrate (item) - like t-shirts, sweats, aprons, towels, poster board, vinyl, glass, wood, etc. The wet ink is then cured; in the case of garments, through a conveyorized heat oven at about 320 degrees. In "spot color" screen printing each color requires it's own screen.

Each final design (artwork) is sized according to the SMALLEST size garment in each order. Example: in an order of 20- youth mediums, 10 adult mediums and 3 adult XXLs, the final design is made to fit the youth mediums.

You can COMBINE our t-shirts, short sleeve t-shirts and long sleeve t-shirts to reach any Quantity Price Break (ie: 36, 48, 72, 100, 150, 300) as long as each garment will get the SAME EXACT imprinting - ink colors, location on the garment, etc.
T-shirts and sweats CANNOT be combined with Aprons, Stickers or Labels, Caps, or Tote Bags since these require different print tables, different screens and different printing processes.

Screen printed image sizes are:

Youth sizes: "full size" back or front is about 8" wide. Adult sizes:about 10-11" wide. "Left-chest" or "right-chest"  imprint sizes are usually 3-4" wide. A sleeve imprint is usually 2-3" wide. We can imprint a "center-chest" from 3 to 6" wide. We can also imprint a "center-back" from 3" to 6". Height of design is sized accordingly since a t-shirt limit is it's width - longer than it is wide.

If you have a specific size for your image imprint please advise - indicate on your design or via an email. Same for location of print. If nothing is indicated on our Order Form, or via email, we will process your order as being a "full-front" or "full-back" image. If you indicate neither front, nor back well will contact you.

Remember imprint locations are: "full-front","full-back","center-chest","center-back", "left-chest", "right-chest", "left-sleeve", "right-sleeve"- all as if you were WEARING the garment.

Dark Color t-shirts or garments versus printing on White or Light Color Garments:

Like painting a house that is dark brown (black, red, navy, forest, etc.) using white, or light color of paint, it may need two coats or an underbase. The same holds true for screenprinting any LIGHTER color of inks on a DARKER color of garment.When printing light color inks, especially white ink, on certain dye colors (red and orange are the worst) there is a possibility of "dye migration" - the dye from the garment material can transfer to the white ink and cause the ink to be discolored. We cannot guarantee the final results of any order using a white ink on a darker color garment (substrate), especially on red.

When printing on dark colors of garments a separate screen of white underbase is highly recommended. This underbase keeps the "top" (viewed) colors from "blending" with the dark background (garment dye) which produces a muted image color (known as bleeding). If white ink is not one of your design colors, then you need to ADD this white screen to the total colors in your design - can increase you costs. Also the graphics for printing on dark colors are more "bold" - without fine details since a heavy layer of light colored ink must be applied in order to cover the dark substrate and prevent bleeding.

Photographs (black and white, or colored) are not useable for textile printing. Photos are composed of fine dots which get lost in the screen mesh and in the course weave (woven, not smooth like paper, vinyl or you monitor) of the garments. For the same reason avoid shades, blends, and shadows in your artwork for screen printing on textiles. Anything composed of dots should be avoided.

The BEST artwork for printing on textiles is: - the bolder, the less complicated, the more eve-appeal (like reading a highway billboard - only a quick view to get the message).

Please email us with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your artwork, layouts, imprint sizes / locations, etc. Voice: 1-805-466-6609. Fax: 1-805-466-7169. Snail Mail: ASAP, 8793 Plata Lane, Suite E, Atascadero, Ca 93422. The fastest way to reach us is via e-mail as it is extremely difficult to answer questions on the telephone since we may not have the needed information at the ready. We do NOT take orders via telephone. We answer all emails within a very short period of time.

Money Saving Tips:

  • Print fewer ink colors (each color requires a separate screen)
  • Print on fewer locations (like front only instead of front and back)
  • Use White or Ash Grey t-shirts (other colors cost more).
  • Order in larger quantities (price breaks at 36, 48, 72, 150, 300, etc)