Custom T Shirt Printing



Posted: Monday, March 13, 2006

by Jason Gluckman

Custom t-shirts have become popular because they create a great impression and make a statement of their own. Printing of custom t-shirts can be done in many different ways including screen-printing, embroidery, heat-applied graphics and digital textile printing.

There are several special printing techniques used to make that custom t-shirt stand out as different. Among the various special printing techniques used are reflective foil, as well as puff, glow in the dark, metallic, and glitter inks.

The most popular way to customize a t-shirt is by screen-printing. This usually takes 7-10 working days. This method in which ink is transferred onto t-shirts is the most complicated but also gives the best quality. It is possible to print on any color or type of shirt. However, to make it cost effective per shirt there most companies require a minimum run of at least 36. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes longer and photographs cannot be printed.

Printing by image transfer may not give the same quality of results as screen-printing but is faster and usually takes between 1-3 working days. Here a toner is applied on a sheet of coated paper through laser technology with astonishing photographic quality using high-resolution printers. The image is then pressed onto the shirt at high temperatures that melt the ink so it will bond with the fabric. While it is still hot the transfer backing is peeled off the shirt, leaving the printed image on the shirt. Image transfers are more cost effective for smaller quantities. However cotton t-shirts do not hold the transfer ink properly and therefore 50/50 polyester/cotton blended shirts are usually used. Image transfers on dark colored shirts like black, maroon or blue are not done as the image will be distorted.

Another way to customize t-shirts is by custom embroidery. This is usually used for polo shirts and button down shirts. A process called “digitizing" makes the designs for the embroidery. There are two new techniques used for this purpose - layered 3-Dd embroidery and puff 3-D embroidery. Both give similar results, using different methods.

This Article has been viewed 3,495 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Mike
from Philadelphia, PA 2 years 146 days ago.
Hey, I am part of the screen printing production at rushordertees. If you ever need a screen printing expert for anything, let me know : )
» left by Michael 1 year 284 days ago.
Hi Mike -- I'd be interested in speaking to you. What is the best way to reach you?
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.