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Every coin has its flip side and the methods of T-shirt making also have
their pros and cons. Be it Screen Printing, Heat Transfers, Digital
printing, Dye Sublimation, Vinyl Cutters or Direct to Garment printing;
each have their own problems and merits. This article focuses on the
advantage and disadvantage of the prevalent methods of T-shirt designing
to provide you with a brief idea as to choose a method according to your
suitability after minutely judging their merits and demerits.
Screening Printing
Screening Printing is a quality, cost effective technique that lends
durability and a professional touch to your T-shirt. It is a simple
process that offers a clean solid bright coloured print even on dark
T-shirts.
But it has its disadvantage as well; it requires a separate screen for
every colour and hence not beneficial enough if not printed in bulk for
cost effectiveness. It is also time consuming and messy. It requires
much time and effort to set up and clean the screens. It incurs a
one-time investment to set up the screen initially. If you are using
photographic images then it results in poor quality.
Digital T-shirt printing
Digital printing offers the added advantage of on demand printing.
Based on a nascent technology it is a good investment for people willing
to enter the custom T-shirt industry. It allows an organized environment
and is good at making photographic prints, logos and multi coloured
designs.
Yet, digitally printed T-shirts are not long lasting and cost higher.
The machines pose problems like clogging of print heads and deposition
of ink. The use of white ink necessitates a base coat.
Heat Press/INKJET/LASER Transfers
It allows the ease of printing multi coloured complex designs without
having to apply each colour separately. Hence, it is good for lesser
numbers of customized shirts.
The designs feel heavy, as the cloth appears much brighter. Designs fade
easily and are not good for dark shirts.
Heat transfer printing
Being an inexpensive method it is often favoured by the home user. It
enables photographic and complex multi coloured images while assuring a
clean work environment.
The process is time consuming and is unpractical for larger runs.
Designs are non-durable as ink has a tendency to bleed on washing. They
are best for lightly coloured T-shirts since the colours are dull and
look quite unprofessional, stiff and un-precise. The print being
un-breathable provokes sweating.
Having known the good and bad of the different T-shirt designing methods
you now have the option to select the one that most aptly suits your
purpose.
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