Screen Printing

Screenprinting and silk screening are different names for the same process. It is a method for putting painted designs on fabric and other surfaces. The image is imposed on a screen and blank areas are coated with an impermeable substance. Inks are forced through the mesh onto the fabric. Each color is on a separate screen and is printed onto the surface one at a time to make up the complete design.

Because we do the work in-house from design to printing, we take the time and go the extra mile to ensure that your screenprinted logo or design is crisp and bright. The design will remain sharp through many washings.

Our prices are all inclusive. We never charge you an additional screen charge.

If you don’t have a design, our graphic artist will work one up for you, based on your idea.

See our full apparel selection in the categories at the top of the page.

Screenprinting Pros

• Perfect for larger designs consisting of one or more colors.
• Ideal for printing onto cotton and poly cotton clothing items.
• The garments with silk screen printing can withstand the roughness of machine washing as the ink is heat dried.
• The print will be bright even on the dark fabrics.
• Softer feel than transfers.
• Cost effective on larger quantities.

Cons

Click the GALLERY link below to view some of the work we've done for our happy customers.

Gallery

Sublimation

What is sublimation?

In simple terms, it’s a method of printing that transfers a design into a material or fabric using ink and heat.

So how does sublimation work? Well, sublimation printing uses heat to essentially bring ink and fabric together as one.

First, a design is printed onto special paper. The inks that are used turn into gas when brought under heat, then combine with the fabric and permanently print onto the fabric. The effects are permanent and less prone to fading, as the ink is embedded in the fabric or substrate rather than simply laying on top like a normal print.

The process is almost like a tattoo, but instead of for your skin, it’s for your chosen product. The heat opens up the pores of the fabric, then with the applied pressure the ink cools and returns to a solid form.

The result is a permanent, full colour image that won’t crack, peel or wash away from the substrate. The process allows the ink to go from a solid to a gas without turning to liquid, a bit like dry ice. The conversion is initiated by heat and controlled by pressure.

Pros

• Good for full-color designs on light garments, can be used on non-textile products
• No feel to ink

Cons

• Only works on polyester white shirts and limits your selection
• Quite expensive
• Does not fully print in all creases – leaving the white blank area on side seams and arm pit area of shirts

Direct-to-Garment Printing

What is direct-to-garment printing and how does it work?

DTG printing is the process of using a modified inkjet printer to apply digital designs directly to fabric. Direct-to-garment, or DTG, is a printing method that directly sprays the ink onto the garment. It’s like printing on paper with your ink jet printer, but on clothing. The ink then soaks into the fibers of the garment.

DTG printers use aqueous textile inks (water-based chemistry) that require a unique curing process. Since D2 inks are water-based, they work best for printing on natural fibers such as cotton, bamboo, hemp, and linen. In addition, pre-treatment is typically applied to the garment before printing. The pre-treatment is heat-pressed into the custom t-shirt causing the fibers of the shirt to lay down. The pre-treatment also allows the water-based inks to bond more fully to the garment. This is especially important when using white ink on dark garments.

Pros

• Unlimited colors at no extra cost
• Perfect Pantone color match
• Versatile: works on almost all fabrics

Cons

• Expensive for smaller order quantities
• Expensive for very simple designs
• Longevity and vibrancy of colors decreases over time

Heat Press

Heat transfer is a process of printing garments in which the printed design is transferred from the paper to the garment through heat and pressure. In this process, art work is printed with specialty ink on specialty paper and then transferred to a garment by applying heat with a heat press. Heat-applied materials contain a heat-sensitive adhesive on one side and when heat is applied by a heat press to the material, the material adheres to the substrate to which it is being applied. Transfer printing is rapidly gaining importance in the textile industry. This process lets you to print full color images on garments. The recent advancements in heat transfer technologies have made this process better and it is also easier to make this type of printing on garments, but this is a time consuming process. On average, it takes about three minutes to print an item.

There are different types and sources of transfers. Generally, a transfer is made up of a carrier paper and inks. When heat and pressure are applied to this paper the inks are transferred to the substrate you wish to print on to. Some transfers are topical, the image is applied to the surface of the substrate, and some other transfers are absorbed into the fibers of the material and they are called sublimation transfers.

Heat transfer Pros

• Heat transfer printing is clean and environmentally safe, which makes it appealing in today’s health and safety conscious work environments.
• Use of specially formulated inks, and advances in graphics and software packages give the operators’ greater control and flexibility which results in better quality end products.
• Can use several colors, as long as they do not overlap.
• Photographic material can be pressed.
• They can be inexpensive for small runs of printing.

Cons

• Expensive set-up costs and expensive on large quantities of garments.
• The print does not breathe well and may provoke sweating.
• Cannot iron the print.