Screen printing is a printing technology which is widely used. So does the screen printer. Here is a few tips for people looking for fast turnaround screen printed t-shirts. Digitally printed t-shirts are done in a different process than screen print t-shirts, they have the advantage in speeding up the process since they do not need color separation and screen burning process. However screen printed t-shirts have better imprint color quality as well as better imprint longevity. Flatbed printing is a fashionable and advanced technology today. You can choose the screen print if you like.
In the first group, paintings, photographs, printed materials or the similar are scanned and save as digital files of your artwork. Quality of your digital artwork has a lot to do with your scanning resolution. Normal requirement is 300 dpi (dot per inch). However keep in mind that your reproductions will not be better than your originals. So no matter how high your scanning resolution is, you are simply not getting a better reproduction image if your original is not. So in a nutshell for people using this group of artwork, find the best quality original you can. Scan it at 300 dpi or better. Save it and send it to your printer without re-sizing it. The file size of your scanned image will potentially be big. However, supportive printer should be able to accommodate your file sending by either increasing the mail box size or arrange a FTP transfer for you.
The only requirement for this group is to make sure they are created in actual imprint size (or close to actual imprint size), and are in 300 dpi as original resolution (not resample resolution). The file size of this sub-group is potentially big, make sure you talk to your printers about the size of your artwork file before sending. The second sub-group is called vector based images such formats as ai, eps. They are resizable, non-resolution dependent artwork. Their file size are usually reasonable. They are very welcome by most printers due to their non-resolution dependent nature. When you submit vector based images, just make sure you create outlines for your type (so your printer won’t run into missing font problem when opening your artwork), your image is created at actual size or close to actual size. And of course if you have a printer who is knowledgeable and capable in preparing artwork for you for a reasonable cost, that could be your best bet in making sure you don’t waste time going back and forth on artwork format and requirement with your printer.
Do you research on t-shirt styles ahead of time will not only save you time, it will allow you to find the best style for your event. If your custom t-shirts job requires individual names or numbers printed (such as team numbers), prepare a list to indicate the names or numbers and their sizes to expedite the process.
If there is dead line to meet, make sure your printer is aware of it as well as taken shipping time into consideration. Ask if your printer has any kind of ready art library that you can pick and ask them to modify to fit your requirement. It will be much faster than having yourselves starting from scratch.
Give your printer the Pantone number to indicate your imprint color when submitting your t-shirts order. This will save some time in communication and help speeding up your order.
Your printer should provide a paper proof for you to review the accuracy of your custom screen print t-shirt order. As soon as you finish your review, get back to your printer immediately so they can process your order right away.
Last but not least, there are shipping options such as 3-day select, 2nd day air and next day air to accommodate your need in speed. Ask for full price quote with different shipping options from your printer. Flatbed printer is a brand new digital product on the market. We always called it digital flatbed printer.