HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING RETAIL-QUALITY, CUSTOM PRINTED MERCHANDISE?
Jon Ladd of Terminus Tees explains the "Do's and Don'ts" of choosing a screen-printing company for your next order. He reminds us that shirt printers are not all the same and most do not have the right machines and equipment to deliver a retail quality promise. No matter who does your printing, make sure they can clear this list.
Or.. Just hit us up and get ready for a care free merchandising experience.
RETAIL QUALITY CHECKLIST
1. LASER EXPOSED SCREENS
The first step in the printing process are the screens. The highest quality screens are made by etching your t-shirt design into the screen itself using and exposing it with lasers.
You can see every little pixel, every single line. Every detail you as an artist put into that art design, it's gonna show up on that screen. You work so hard on that artwork. You wanna see all those details.
Who makes the BEST screen exposing equipment?
2. AUTOMATIC PRESSES
You've probably seen many videos of people pulling a squeegee across a screen. That is using the power of a human hand and the inconsistency of the human hand at that. Using automatic presses means the pressure that's getting pushed through that screen with your ink onto that shirt could literally tear your arm off.
It is so powerful, but what that really does for the shirts is lay down a nice thin line of ink that just glazes the top of the shirt. You don't want that thick caked kind of ink, just a nice little layer to get your image onto that shirt.
What type of printer is BEST for screen printing?
3. GAS DRYERS
The problem with an electric dryer which most printers have, is that you're just cooking the top layer of the ink. You have to go with gas to cover the whole shirt, all of the ink through and through.
Using an electric dryer is like taking a turkey and putting it in a toaster oven - just broiling the top of the turkey. You're gonna cut into that and it's gonna be raw in the middle. What happens when you get raw ink in the middle of the print, is it just falls off the shirt. It peels off the shirt, it cracks.
That's the most detrimental part of this whole process - using gas dryers.
Who makes the BEST gas dryers for screen printing?
4. CUSTOM INK COLORS
Whether you're an artist, a brand, a band, etc. When you get your t-shirt, you wanna see that it has some beautiful colors on it.
Custom mixing every ink color to your art is a must. Meaning, if it's got a unique mint green with a turquoise, with a salmon pink, and lavender chartreuse burlap.You're gonna see that.
By doing this, it's gonna make your art stand out against the rest. You're gonna look unique, and you're gonna love the end result of that.
How to mix the BEST custom ink colors?
5. DIGITAL PRINTING
In screen printing, you have a screen for every ink color in your design. You're gonna pay per ink color as they set up the machine.
Direct to Garment (DTG) digital printing comes and does a totally different thing. It says, you’re only going to pay one price to do the whole shirt, whatever colors it takes. A million different colors on one print? Boom. There you go.
No screens are involved. It's a digital print head, and it's a totally new super detailed look. The DTG is totally new technology and you're gonna be blown away by that result.
Which DTG is BEST?
6. UNRIVALED APPAREL SELECTION
A lot of shops say, “hey, it's a lot easier if we just offer the top two or three selections that most people know about”. A top tier printer will have access to thousands and thousands of brands, stuff that you couldn’t even dream of.
Find a printer where you won't be afraid to ask about new brands, new items or new cuts of shirts that are coming out. Stay on trend with a personal account manager who will be there to let you know what garments are new and perfect for your next project.
What t-shirt brand is the BEST quality?
This Retail-Quality Checklist makes sure that you have amazing looking merch. Do not go with anybody who cannot meet most of the standards on this list. Terminus Tees has spent so many years refining their process to give you the best tee shirts ever, and now all they need is your ideas to make them come alive.
#THEBESTTEESHIRTEVER
YOU NEED BETTER MERCH.
© 2024 BETTER MERCH
