PRINTING TERMS

Screenprinted – There is when an image is exposed onto screen and printed onto garment.

THERE ARE 2 TYPES OF INK USED FOR SCREENPRINTING:

WATER BASED

Water based is exactly as its states, they are inks with water content. They fade quicker but have smoother duller finish to Plastasol inks. Waterbased inks are often used for screenprints that are over 5 colours to get better detail as they sit better when printed over the top of each other. Waterbased inks were what all t-shirts prior to the 90’s were printed with.

 

PLASTOSOL BASED

Plastic based inks that are indestructible. They will outlast the t-shirts. They have a plastic content which gives shine to print and will never fade or crack. Bands may request not to have this ink and opt for a waterbased as they want an old school look and for print to fade.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRINTING TECHNIQUES:

GLITTER PRINT

This is an ink that is clear and has glitter put into the content. It comes out sparkling.

 

FOILING

The easiest way to explain foiling is that it is more like a paper than is transferred onto the t-shirt. It is a slow process and is like ironing on a transfer. This is the reason why it is more expensive than regular ink based prints.

 

METALLIC PRINT

Metallic prints are different from foiling as they are an ink based process. They are specially ordered and only have a limited range of metallic colours. These often held as stock items at printers and may need to be ordered in by them.

 

GLOW IN THE DARK

Ink with UV highly toxic content that when in the dark, glows a yellow colour.

 

TRANSFER PRINT

This is a plastic iron on that is printed onto paper and can be printing digitally or as spot colour print. The transfer which is highly durable is then adhered to the t-shirt by heat transfer. There are many variety of transfers which can be vinyl lettering, felt lettering, or plastic transfer.

 

CMYK DIGITAL PROCESS PRINT

This is like the process when printing posters it can digitally with aid of modern technology direct print onto fabric and allow for colours to overlay in print. It saves on setup costs on smaller runs but can only be done with light coloured t-shirts.

 

SPOT COLOUR PRINT

This related to the printing of colours. A spot colour print is one that is literally turned into small dots which is front the pixilation of the screens. The way shades of a colour are achieved are by increasing or decreasing the number of dots (like pixilation) with screen to give it the effect of shades. Spot colour prints are normally where colours don’t overlap and are printed as solids.

 

WHITE BASE

This is an extra white layer that is printed underneath print when a print is going onto dark coloured tees. It stops the colour of the t-shirt showing through with print. It will end up covering the whole surface area of the print and is considered another colour to the total print colours when working out cost. Some prints may not want this white base as they want the effect of t-shirt print not been as clear or solid.

 

FLASH CURED

This is the process where the print is put through a process to ensure it stays to t-shirt. It is a heat process where the print at a high temperature is exposed and then is cured.

 

SETUP COSTS

This is a cost incurred for printer to make films that are taken from artwork supplied. Basically the films are made for each separate colour to be printed in print. To do this we need a vectorised EPS file or a PSD photoshop file we can pull each colour layer out of the artwork. The film is like a film negative. This is then placed onto a screen which is like a fly mesh and exposed light in a darkroom. The chemicals for exposure are similar to those used to expose a photo. Once onto the screen and exposed it is washed and the image appears on screen as chemicals are washed away. You will see a ghosting of the image. After drying for a day and each colour layer of film made onto screens it is ready to go. Each colour has its own separate screen. When dry, the screens are put onto the carousal machine and registration marks are lined up so each colour of print when applied lines up perfectly. This is why setup costs are charged per screen per colour.

EMBROIDERY TERMS

STITCH COUNT

Embroidery pricing is worked out on the number of stitches in a logo. With embroidery it doesn’t matter how many colours are in the logo but just the number of stitches and time it will take embroider to do the logo.

OTHER PRINTING TERMS WITH PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS

SUBLIMATION PRINT

If you looked inside a dye-sublimation printer, you would see a long roll of transparent film that resembles sheets of red, blue, yellow, and gray coloured cellophane stuck together end to end. Embedded in this film are solid dyes corresponding to the four basic colours used in printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The print head heats up as it passes over the film, causing the dyes to vaporize and permeate the glossy surface of the paper before they return to solid form.

So the main difference between this and other types of printing has to do with heat. The vaporised colours permeate the surface of the paper, creating a gentle gradation at the edges of each pixel, instead of the conspicuous border between dye and paper produced by inkjets. And because the colour infuses the paper, it is also less vulnerable to fading and distortion over time.

 

PAD PRINTING

A printing process that can transfer a 2D image on to a 3D object. This is accomplished using an indirect offset printing process that involves an image being transferred from the printing plate (cliché) via a silicone pad onto a substrate (surface to be printed). Pad printing is used for printing on otherwise impossible products in many industries including medical, automotive, promotional, apparel, electronics, appliances, sports equipment and toys. It can also be used to deposit functional materials such as conductive inks, adhesives, dyes and lubricants.

Physical changes within the ink film both on the cliché and on the pad allow it leave the etched image area in favor of adhering to the pad, and to subsequently release from the pad in favor of adhering to the substrate (material being printed).The unique properties of the silicone pad enable it to pick the image up from a flat plane and transfer it to a variety of surface (i.e. flat, cylindrical, spherical, compound angles, textures, concave surfaces, convex surfaces).