T-Shirt Printing - What Is Involved?

To produce printed articles of apparel for advertising, retail and fashion, there are three fundamental methods of screen printing that are utilised. ‘Spot Color’ printing is the method most often used for a large variety of graphics. It is also the best suited method for such a task. The most suitable method used for the printing of graphics that are not photographic in nature is Spot colour printing.

Ink colours used in remaking graphic images, are usually Pantone, as specified by the graphic designer. Pantone coated or uncoated colour references are chosen to specify the ink colours of the design. An international colour reference used in publishing, printing and design whereby each colour is identified by a unique Pantone name and number and is called the Pantone matching system.

Branded promotional garments, or other merchandise where color identify and uniformity must stay constant, are particularly well suited for spot color printing.

The Four Color Process is another method used in tshirt screen printing. The type of printing that is used, relates mainly to images dealing with either photography or illustration, as well as having a large degree of colours, tones, and graduations used. The method used to print images found in magazines and books is the 4 colour process as well.

The inks are translucent and merge together on a white background to reproduce all the hues and tones of the original. It is a lot harder to process on fabric than it is on paper. However the method employed is essentially the same. This type of t shirt printing will of course only work on white garments and will not be suitable for coloured fabrics. This type of printing is only right for use in print runs of one hundred or more. This is because it simply costs more to set it up. A process called “Simulated Process” is used in cases where garment screen printers copy full colour pictures using coloured cloths. The artwork is separated into various colours and shades using a method similar to spot colour printing to achieve the overall look and feel of the original image.

Most t-shirt printers use this method, and it is especially popular when used to copy fantasy and heavy metal album artwork onto shirts to be sold by the band. Due to the higher set up prices which includes the separating of the colour as well as an increased amount of colours used to print the pictures, this works out to be the most expensive way of printing.