textile printing.
A detailed image, a gradient, a photograph: this is where printing belongs. Flex, flock and direct digital printing: the technique changes with the image, the fabric and the quantity. We choose the one that renders your image best.
Flex suits solid areas and crisp text, flock gives a velvet feel that is pleasant to the touch, digital printing reproduces gradients and photographs. This is not a menu of options: for a given image there is one right technique, and that is the one we propose.
Printing allows shorter and faster runs than embroidery, with no digitising surcharge. It is also lighter on thin fabric, which matters for event T-shirts.
We always test on the chosen material: the same image does not come out the same on heavy cotton as on technical polyester.
from image to run.
questions we are asked.
How do you choose between screen printing, transfer and direct printing?
Three things decide it: the artwork, the fabric and the quantity. A flat two-colour design on a large run points to screen printing. A detailed image, a photograph or a gradient calls for a process that can hold gradation. A few pieces are handled by transfer, with no heavy setup. We propose one technique, the one that suits your artwork on the chosen fabric, and tell you why.
Will the print crack or come off in the wash?
Not if the technique matches the fabric. A print degrades when it is applied to a material that moves too much, when the press is badly set, or when the item is washed too hot and then tumble dried. The artwork goes through a proof before printing, and the care instructions come with the order. Washed inside out, a printed garment lasts longer.
My logo is light and my T-shirts are black. Will it show?
Yes, provided a layer of white is laid under the colours. Without it, the fabric shows through the ink and the design goes dull. This underbase is part of the work on dark textiles. It shapes the technique chosen and gives the print a little more body to the touch. The result is checked on your exact colour, since a black and a navy do not behave the same way.
I only need ten pieces. Is that possible?
Yes. Small runs are handled by transfer or direct printing, two techniques that skip the screen preparation specific to screen printing. On the garment, the result holds its own. What changes is the threshold at which another technique becomes more sensible. Give the quantity from the start, because it counts as much as the artwork in choosing the technique.
I want a photograph on a T-shirt. Will it look good?
It will, if the photograph is prepared for textile. Fabric is not paper: it absorbs, it has a colour of its own, and its weave swallows the finest detail. Images with strong contrast come out well, while dark or very subtly graded ones close up. We rework the file first, then send you a proof before the run starts.