Have A Better Understanding Of Printing And Embroidery

If you are considering options like company shirt embroidery you might want to know about other printing methods too. Here is a look at your options whether it is for a business, organisation or other personal reasons. They include screen printing, heat transfer, embroidering, digital printing and airbrushing or hand painting.

Screen or silk screen printing

One of the oldest methods of printing is screen printing, once called silk screen printing because that was the type of screen used. It requires certain equipment and is challenging if there is only one person doing it. Each part of the image that is a different colour takes another screen. Ink is pushed through the mesh and prints part of the image onto the t-shirt. The same screens are used each time you make that order. The more you order the lower the cost per t-shirt for your company shirt printing. That is why it is the most popular option for bulk orders and when there are not too many colours in the design. This is not the best one to do when detail is very important. But the colours last a long time, you don’t get cracking or fast fading.

Airbrushing or hand painting

This delivers a unique result but is time-consuming and harder to do. The labour and time involved means it costs more but if you have something special that you want to create and as long as you do not need a lot of them.

Heat transfers

Using an iron or a heat press, heat transfers are when an image on the transfer paper is moved to the shirt. The heat causes the design to bond to the fibres. The look can vary and the quality of the transfer depends on the printer and the equipment used. If you are doing it at home or just in small quantities you might just use the iron method. But with larger orders more industrial equipment is used. The only issue is the images can crack and the design does not stay on the garment for that long.

Embroidery

When you are considering company shirt embroidery keep in mind that the charge is per stitch so most tend to use it for small needs, designs or lettering to keep the cost down. Or they might do a combination of screen printing a larger image and then adding some detail, logo or a name in embroidery. They are not hand-stitched, it is all machine done.

Digital printing

The latest option in personal and company shirt printing is digital printing. Large inkjet printers that are very similar to the ones used to print on paper but larger are used to transfer a digital image onto your garment of choice. There are a few advantages to digital printing, you can use photos and detailed images and use multiple colours without facing higher costs. But it is slower and it does cost more. That is why a lot of companies do not use digital printing when they have large orders of printing they want to order.