ONE CAN NEVER know too much about apparel printing. Consider this: Two stacks of T-shirts folded side by side on the shelves of a trendy retailer. Pricing is similar. One stack is comprised of non-descript, white tees, while the other features shirts with members of a popular band, a funny saying or an intricate design splashed across their surface. Unless the consumer is in the market for a non-descript, white tee, he or she would likely purchase one from the neighboring stack. These days, consumers are looking for garments that pop—that say something. Apparel printing plays as important a role in customer satisfaction as does the garment itself. For distributors not familiar with the many printing processes available and for those wishing to expand their printing IQ, Promotional Marketing has compiled a directory of apparel printing terms and technical features.
Screen Printing/Spot Printing:
According to Brian Conway, owner of Collingdale, Pennsylvania-based A.I.R. Conway, this is the most common type of printing used in the textile industry. Conventional spot printing is used with a screen that has an image burned on to it that will allow ink to pass through on the areas that need to be printed. Properly prepared artwork is the key to a successfully printed screenprinting order.
Digital Direct to Garment:
Looking for the latest and most advanced type of printing for high quality, low quantity runs? Look no further than digital direct-on-garment printing, a method of decorating not to be confused with conventional screenprinting. Digital direct to garment allows the artwork to be sent directly to the machine without the use of screens that are typical in the conventional screenprinting operation. This type of printing is mainly used on small orders that call for four-color process or full-color designs.
Heat Seal:
This method of decorating uses a heat press, similar in concept to an iron, that transfers the ink from a paper substrate to a product with the use of heat. The heat and the pressure cause the image to transfer. This printing process is widely used in the short-run sector of the industry, as well as in most sports programs where small runs are required with heavy emphasis on the personalization of the garment.
Pigment Dye:
This process allows each garment to have a one-of-a-kind look and feel. Shirts are dyed in special pigment and then washed for a gentle faded, old-favorite softness and a true size that rarely shrinks.
HiRes AccuColor 4-Color Process:
The proprietary decorating technique is Target Graphics, Naperville, Ill., claim to fame. According to Cole Lohman, marketing coordinator, the process was developed more than a decade ago by company founder/CEO Tom Vann, “through extensive R&D of everything that goes into printing four-color process.” After much research, Vann was able to produce “crisp and colorful images on any color shirt.”
High-resolution artwork is required. The digital artwork is then separated into layers of colors, namely cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). When the colors are printed on top of each other, they achieve a photo-quality image with a sharp range of colors.
For dark garments, Lohman said a white underbase is first applied to the item “block out the color of the fabric,” a process similar to putting a primer coat when painting over a dark wall.
Lohman said 100 percent cotton, 6.1 oz. offers the best print quality For HiRes AccuColor. “The weight and weave characteristics found in [this material] offer the most consistent and flattest surface to print on,” he explained.
MACHINE MAN
Conway said the aforementioned printing techniques require substantial equipment investments. “Shop owners can decide to be a manual operation that requires less of a capital investment, while larger shops with greater throughput require the use of automatic equipment that requires higher capital investments,” he noted. “Shop owners who invest in the digital direct to garment [process] face even higher capital investments, depending on the type of equipment they choose to purchase.”
FABRIC FRENZY
Nylon, polyesters, 50/50 blends and 100 percent cotton are ideal for spot printing, noted Conway. Embroidery works well on almost all fabrics, as long as the substrate can accept the hoop that is necessary to attach the design to the garment. Digital direct to garment printing on a white or light-colored garment works well with 100 percent cotton and 50/50 blends.
These are some of Conway’s other suggestions:
When printing on darks, the substrate must be 100 percent cotton; 100 percent polyester works well with a white substrate only, as does 100 percent cotton canvas in a white or light color. Nylons and dark polyesters will not print using the digital direct to garment process.
INKS AND THINKS
Conway said the use of water-based inks are very popular these days, since they are safer for the environment. “The digital direct to garment printing is changing to a water-based ink system, as well,” he said. However, although greater concern for the environment is at the forefront, Conway said printing with ink will continue to outlast other forms of apparel printing. “Screen printing is much more cost effective than other decorating methods,” he said.
Conway further pointed out there are a number of specialty inks on the market that would serve the savvy consumer well. “There are many special effects inks, such as glitter, gel, high density, metallics, the wet look, as well as the suede and leather looks,” he concluded.
