Guide to having clothing printed
This guide will help ensure you’re well prepared to provide a print-ready file to your manufacturer, who will be printing on your T-shirt. This way, you’ll save time on frustrating changes that take up both your time and the manufacturer’s.
At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a mock-up that you can download for free, into which you can insert your design if you’d like to see how your print would look on a T-shirt from teeshoppen.com. However, you’ll need Photoshop to use it.
Correct product, quantity and delivery
It is extremely important that you have a thorough discussion with the manufacturer about your ideas for the clothing. This may involve specifying custom sizes as well as the type of print you require. It may also be worth agreeing on the order quantity (how many you need) and the delivery time to avoid any issues later on.
Remember to use the correct colour settings for printing
It is common for many people to work in the RGB colour mode, but this is only used for digital displays and is not suitable for printing. Here, you need to use CMYK colours to match the colours that the printer can produce. If you do not do this, you will find that the colours you have been working with look significantly different once they are printed.
You should also bear the following in mind:
When you select black in Illustrator, it is not necessarily a true black, but rather a brown. Here, you should use the CMYK colours: C = 50, M = 50, Y = 50, K = 100.
File format for the printer
You can send all sorts of file types, but the results will vary considerably. Let’s say you send a JPEG file to the supplier; you will usually end up with a poor print quality unless it is in a large format. I therefore recommend that you always send a scalable PDF or vector file to the supplier to ensure the best possible print quality.
You can also send an .eps version to the supplier.
If your file contains any text, remember to ‘expand’ it so that it is no longer a font but individual objects. This can cause problems at the print shop.
Resolution
A very important point is the resolution you use. Here we’re talking about DPI. As a general rule, you should always create your print files at 300 dpi. It’s simply a must. It’s often said that you can’t tell the difference between 150 and 300 dpi from a distance, but when it comes to garment printing, it absolutely must be done at 300 dpi. This ensures you get the best possible print.
Cropping
When it comes to cropping, you should seek advice from your manufacturer. You may need to add a bleed around your design or perhaps even a stroke (a line along the edge) around it.
If you’re unsure about this, I recommend taking the manufacturer’s instructions to a designer who can help with this part, as it can be tricky.
Free mock-up
Finally, I promised I’d provide a free mock-up that you can use to place your design into. You can download it here.
Enjoy,
Kiranan Luxmy
Grafikr.dk – Grafikr ApS
