So what's the latest and best method of T-shirt printing?

[OsO]

Is screen printing the most effective option? I'm trying to cut cost and I want to find the best method. Creating a new screen for every design is for the birds. I remember going to a t-shirt maker once and they took a jpeg image and put it right on a t shirt using some software, no screen involved. Can't seem to find it again though

anybody with experience in t shirt making?

Any help would be much appreciated : )

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

Is screen printing the most effective option? I'm trying to cut cost and I want to find the best method. Creating a new screen for every design is for the birds. I remember going to a t-shirt maker once and they took a jpeg image and put it right on a t shirt using some software, no screen involved. Can't seem to find it again though

anybody with experience in t shirt making?

Any help would be much appreciated : )

they used a regular printer on photo transfer paper.
there is different paper for dark and light shirts.
for light shirts you print out the mirror image because it's applied face down.

no special software unless you consider photoshop special.

 

[OsO]

they used a regular printer on photo transfer paper.
there is different paper for dark and light shirts.
for light shirts you print out the mirror image because it's applied face down.

no special software unless you consider photoshop special.

so it's called "photo transfer paper?"
how is the design from the paper imprinted on the shirt? please don't say heat transfer

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

so it's called "photo transfer paper?"
how is the design from the paper imprinted on the shirt? please don't say heat transfer

heat and pressure.

 

[Rice N Beans]

Discharge screen prints give the best results.

 

[STAN JONES]

so it's called "photo transfer paper?"
how is the design from the paper imprinted on the shirt? please don't say heat transfer

Just iron them shyts on breh

 

[OsO]

Just iron them shyts on breh

That's not going to be good quality. A couple washes and them sh*ts is done.

Plus it hurts the design because you can always tell when a design is ironed on. It looks plastic and cheap to me

 

[OsO]

Discharge screen prints give the best results.

Is this more expensive than traditional screen printing? Do you have experience with it?

 

[Rice N Beans]

Is this more expensive than traditional screen printing? Do you have experience with it?

Yes and yes. What would you like to know?

 

[chemicalsword]

does redbubble use discharge screen printing??

 

[OsO]

Yes and yes. What would you like to know?

Do you have a business with the discharge screen printing, if so where is it located?

Also what's the typical price difference per shirt between discharge screen printing and regular screen printing?

 

[Rice N Beans]

Do you have a business with the discharge screen printing, if so where is it located?

Also what's the typical price difference per shirt between discharge screen printing and regular screen printing?

I do not have a business, but I did work in a shirt printing shop in Chicago.

Price difference depended on the order amount and the type of print needed - it was difficult to get alot of discharge colors in a print, typically 3 or less was the limit due to the machinery. There was a flat ink charge and screens were charged individually. Prints were mostly wholesale so price fluxed with however many was needed.

If you can afford a little extra in costs I highly suggest you roll water discharge as the print will last as long as the fabric on the shirt does.

 

[daze23]

what are you trying to print? is it something that can be broken down to a few colors, or a 'photo'?

 

[Kartel13]

That's not going to be good quality. A couple washes and them sh*ts is done.

Plus it hurts the design because you can always tell when a design is ironed on. It looks plastic and cheap to me

How's the quality using heat transfer paper with those heat pressers? I heard it's all on the paper and ink quality.

 

[OsO]

what are you trying to print? is it something that can be broken down to a few colors, or a 'photo'?

I'm expanding my t shirt production and im looking for ways to cut costs and possibly improve quality.

How's the quality using heat transfer paper with those heat pressers? I heard it's all on the paper and ink quality.

I don't like it personally. I don't like how it looks or feels when i wear it. In my experience screen printing delivers much better quality.




This is what I was talking about before. It's called digital printing:

Digital Printing — The Way of the Future

Digital printing is the state-of-the-art process we use for items that require high amounts of detail as well as orders of a smaller quantity. Because our digital printer does not use screens, we can print a shirt with much greater detail than traditional screen printing can provide. And since there is no physical set-up, your design can be processed and printed even in small quantities — as few as one shirt at a time!

Digital printing is not a heat transfer or appliqué. With digital printing, we take your design straight from the computer and print it directly onto your garment. We've got this method down to an art form, which means that even photographic images can be reproduced in all their glorious detail.