Tee printing has become a trend of late, with people wanting to print customized tees for themselves, or gifting one to someone loved. The steps you might need to follow whilst you are one this venture are pretty simple. Design, send the image to the printing firm, choose the type of print you want, and get your print (at least to an onlooker). But the third step listed there, that’s not easy if you do not the kinds of print available out there, and you just might regret your choice later on, if you find that the end result is not what you saw coming.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of printing – screen-printing and heat pressing. This article aims to give you an insight on both the types of printing with pointers on which type to opt for in case you are planning on printing tees anytime soon.
1 – Screen Printing
Firms do this kind of printing only if you order more than 500 pieces of whatever it is that you’re ordering, as this kind of printing can be done on a myriad of materials including wood and ceramics along with clothes (obviously). The process is quite simple in theory. You will need a (nylon) mesh that is knit in an extremely close manner. The mesh is turned into a blocking stencil with the help of photosensitive ink (which is blocked by the pattern from hardening). Then, a squeegee is used to rub the design onto the material (after applying the required color).
One disadvantage of this method is its expense. It’s extremely pricey in case you want to print copies less than 500 in number. Also, the process is such that hard designs with more than 3 or 4 colors will make the process labor intensive. Thus it becomes necessary to stick to designs with two or three colors at max in case you want the job to be easy.
2 – Heat Pressing
The second type of printing is heat pressing – https://heatpressreview.com/. In this type of printing, the design to be printed on the tee is printed on a sublimating paper (with sublimating ink) beforehand with reduced gaps and redundant spaces. The pattern is also printed in a horizontally flipped manner, the explanation of which will follow in the coming lines. This paper is then flipped (with the pattern facing down) and then kept on the heat press machine in the orientation required. Then adequate heat and pressure is applied to the cloth for a given time. This leads to the design being embossed on the cloth.
The advantages here is that the complexity of the design is not a hindrance to the printing. However, with extreme wear, there is a high possibility that the pattern will crack in between, damaging the look of the tee.