Screenprinting
is no doubt the most popular way to print on apparel. Basically,
ink is pressed through a stencil (screen) directly onto the
shirt, sweater, etc. In most cases, a stencil is needed for
each color (exceptions being full color work).
The
following animation may take up to a minute to load depending
on the speed of your internet connection.
The
animation above is close to the actual speed of an automatic
screenprinting press. However, even though it takes just a few
seconds to print on a shirt, it might take an hour to prep the
design and setup the press.s
SETUP
FEES
Setup
fees are standard in the screenprinting industry. The most typical
method (and our method) is to charge for each color location.
However, most screenprinting businesses either don't mention
these fees upfront, or do not explain the fees clearly enough.
The Graphics Factory always tries to provide the customer with
the final per shirt price. This is the total price with
setup fees, art charges, and even tax figured. We do this to
make purchasing apparel more understandable.
WHAT
COUNTS AS A COLOR LOCATION?
Let's
say you want 50 black t-shirts with a 1 color print (red) on
the front, and a 2 color print (red, white) on the back. This
counts as 3 color locations, even though red is used on both
sides. If the images are different, then different screens must
be produced (independent of color).
CAN
I HAVE A SCREENPRINT ON JUST ONE SHIRT?
In
practicality, no. The setup costs are too dramatic to make this
an economical option. Even though we try to stay at a twelve
shirt minimum, six is really the least amount we can print.
If you think this is the only method that will work for your
order and you are unsure about setup costs, feel free to call
or email us.
REAL
WORLD EXAMPLE
Let's
say you want 30 t-shirts with a 3 color front and a 3 color
back. The t-shirts are $10.00 a piece and the setup is $75.
The final t-shirt price is really $12.50. If the order were
for twice as many shirts (60) the final t-shirt price would
be $11.25 (because the setup cost is averaged over a larger
quantity). Actually the price would be even lower because we
also give quantity price breaks. How does this affect you? Instead
of ordering two sets of thirty shirts, try to order all sixty
of them at a time. In this example it would save you at least
$60.
LIMITATIONS
Even
though screenprinting is the most widely used method, there
are some limitations. Photos, for example, demand high resolution
and often thousands of colors. Even though CMYK process and
others can provide the means, the setup time is restricting.
Laser or Resin
transfers are popular alternatives (which we provide). For athletic
names and numbers, check out cad-cut
numbers and letters as a perfect alternative.
