Branded company apparel is a must. It’s a great way to brand your employees AND your customers. Often times branded apparel is given as a promotional freebie, but it can also be sold for profit as well. Either way, you’ll want to be aware of some technical things that may affect your project when taking your order to your silkscreener.
5. Location or Locations? – Often times clients come to us wanting a small upper left chest imprint and a full back imprint, but they don’t want to pay the price for two imprint locations. So you have to determine what is more important – cost or the look of the shirt? One sided shirts are just as common as two-sided, it’s all about preference, just remember, if you have multiple imprint locations, it will slightly increase the price. Additionally, each imprint location will likely have a setup fee associated with it.
4. Big or Small? – For the most part, when we silkscreen an upper left/right chest imprint, it will be about 3.5” max width. For a full back/front imprint, we will make it as large as we can while still fitting onto the smallest size apparel that is in the batch (if you have both adult and child sizes, you might have to pay additional setup fees since the imprint sizes will greatly vary). Just keep in mind that small lettering and thin lines do not silkscreen well and may come out looking blurry and illegible. Our graphic designer and silkscreener may suggest making certain letters bigger/bolder or some lines thicker to increase the quality of the imprint.
3. Full Color or One/Two/Three Color? One color imprints seem to be the most popular option, as it is the cheapest. But something about a full color imprint that really gets people excited! Things to consider when thinking about the colors you need in your imprint:Is it more like an image with lots of colors and gradients? Then you’ll need a full color imprint.
- Can it be turned into a one color imprint without losing effectiveness? If yes, then you might want to go with a one color imprint to save money.
- If the art is 2 or 3 colors, are the colors touching each other? When solid colors touch each other (maybe there is a solid white circle inside of a solid red heart), this means there is “tight registration” and might increase the price a little.
- Can you use the shirt color as part of your artwork? For example, if you a imprinting a black shirt and your logo has a black graphic inside of a white circle, you could get away with a 1 color imprint by letting the black shirt show through for the black areas of the logo.
- Do you have shirts of varying colors in the same order? Typically all shirts in an order are the same color, but they don’t have to be. You won’t be charged an additional fee if the ink color will be the same on all shirts, however, if you have the same artwork, but the ink color has to change for a few shirts in your order, it is likely that an additional fee will be charged.
2. Fuzzy or Flat? Keep in mind that “fuzzy” fabrics won’t silkscreen very well. For example, if you are looking to go with a fleece jacket, your best bet would be embroidery.
1. Standard or Normal Turnaround? There may be times that you need an order completed asap, don’t hesitate to ask if we can meet your fast approaching deadline, often times we are able to switch around production schedules to accommodate, however, we may have to charge rush fees. If possible, try to get us the order and art approval at least 2 weeks from the date you need them to ensure to no additional fees. Remember, our art department will need time to either develop the art from scratch and/or properly prepare any client-provided files.
Hopefully this list will help you have more of an understanding of what to expect when placing a silkscreened order. Remember, if you have any questions about an upcoming silkscreening project or you would like a quote, please call us at 978-632-5300 or contact us via our website.