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Print & Embroidery
Frequently asked questions
It is a method of logo printing. Film has to be developed first, then use the logo artwork to make a silk screen with a frame on (it just like the wooden framework of a photo frame), put the paste on top of the frame, logo will form after the paste is pressed through the silk screen on the apparel. However, only one color is available on one film (silk screen), different films and silk screen frames have to be made for every single color. So, if more logo designs and colors are involved in the artwork, more films are needed and thus cost will be increased. Unit price is increased for low quantity order as there are fixed costs and the wastage is high.
It is a method using color threads and needles to embroider logo on the garments, in which auto sewing process is done by programming the logo artwork into computer. As there is thickness for the color threads and needles, the out coming effect will not be so good if logo design is too complicated and the logo size is too small. The only improvement is to enlarge or simplify the logo design. Besides, it is not recommended to do embroidery if the pattern or logo is too scattered and irregular. If embroidery logo is made of 3 colors or below, iGift charges no additional fee. But if the logo is in 4 colors or above, adjustments have to be made on sewing machines. Productivity is low and wastage is lager, so certain up-charge will be posted.
Heat transfer print provides a way to print multi-color logos, artwork with color gradient effect and even photo quality logo. These kinds of logo normally cannot be printed by screen print and embroidery. It is just like making a color print in a printer, but the process to make a print on clothes and logo production process varies. Below are some references:
1. Digital Heat Transfer Printing: Print the logo on specific heat transfer paper (either white or black), transfer the logo onto apparel by heat (factory uses heat pressing machine, but iron can be used if it is self-made). As there is restriction on printer, printing effect and fastness effect depends on the printer’s quality and also the heat pressing process. In general, such digital print logo is more prompt to be peeled off after washing, so it is more suitable to make logo on promotion uniform which may just be used for few times only. The price of this printing method is relatively less expensive.
2. Offset Printing: Make logo mold and print on specific heat transfer film, and then transfer the logo from the film to the apparel. Logo quality and logo fastness on the fabric are better than that of digital print. However, as it is quite expensive to develop the print mold, it is more suitable for big quantity order such as workers’ uniform, sports day uniform or school uniform so that the mold charge can be amortized into the unit costs with less effect.
3. Inkjet Print: Print logo on apparel directly from a specific printer, Logo quality and fastness to the fabric is the best among these three methods. However, unit price is the highest among three. Customers can refer to “Logo” category in iGift’s website regarding logo printing problems. As there are lots of logo printing techniques, customers can contact iGift for getting more information if any inquiries.
The heat transfer is the picture printed on heat transfer paper, after trimming, and then heat pressed on the hot T-shirt / uniforms. Offset heat transfer can have colorful colors and the colors are very bright, so popular for printed T-shirt / uniform. Heat transfer has its shortcomings. Its durability is less than screen printing, color wash off easily after a few times, so it needs careful care.
Digital Printing is different from traditional printing. Films need not to be made for different colors. Instead, pigments are injected directly printed on garments by digital printer. Thus, cost of making frame can be saved. As frame can be saved, the cost of making pattern with many colors can greatly be reduced. The caring method of digital printing clothing is just the same as those.
In sublimation transfer printing, solid ink sublime into gas then diffuse into the textiles materials. Perfect vivid color, clear and detailed image is produced. Sublimation transfer is not easy to fade, durable and will not crack, no plate. Besides, it doesn’t affect fabric softness and flexibility.
Features: distinct color, detailed image, permanent, soft, water-resistant Substrate: polyester fiber, polyester
Color printing offers durability, genuine images, shade fading effect of any colors. Sport-color printing also offers durability, genuine images and any colors, yet it could not create shade fading effect. Digital print is durable, real and offers shade fading effect and large color range. Heat transfer prints are relatively non-durable and unreal.
Gold foil print and silver foil print is made by ironing the gold foil and silver foil on clothes. As there are physical restrictions on foil material, the logo may peel off slightly and become dull after washing. It is suggested to turn the garment inside out and use cold water to wash the garment in order to minimize such situation
Yes. As fabric used for printing logo is elastic, it is flattened for facilitating printing during the logo printing process. The fabric will thus shrink a bit after printing. Also, logo size will be affected a bit during ironing process. In general, the larger the logo size, the larger will the deviation. Normally, the deviation will be within +/- 0.5inch.
Ranking from the most to the least: Embroidery > Screen Print> Heat Transfer Print> Gold foil print and Silver foil print It is because the color threads is embroidered onto the clothes, logo fastness for Embroidery
is the best. Screen Print is the most common logo printing method, logo fastness of the paste is also good on fabric. For Offset Print, as logo is printed on clothes by heat, logo fastness is also quite good. But for Gold foil print and Silver foil print, as there are restrictions on foil material, slight discoloration will be found and logo will be peeled off after washing for a period of time. However, proper garment care should always be applied in handling the garment. Even with the best colorfastness logo, if daily wearing and washing are mistreated (e.g. ironing on the screen print logo will result the print material to melt), garment cannot be maintained in good shape and wearable conditions.
1.As images are drawn and colored by computers, color previewed on different computers may vary due to different color contrast in different display devices. Thus, computer screens cannot be used as a standard of color.
2. There is a 5-8% error between computer design graph and finished garment (including color and thickness of the print paste). This is a limitation of screen printing technology.
a) Screen printed color is matched according the color sample like Pantone. When transferred on different materials which have different reflection rate, we will perceive as a color difference. Thus creating color difference.
b) The result of screen printing may be limited by the degree of details, print paste and environmental factor like humidity and weather. What is more, there is diffusion of print paste on the fabric when it is still wet. Thus creating a color difference from the original design.
c) Screen printing shade fading effect is obtained by adding film of different density on the frame. This type of shade fading effect is rather rough. The similarity with the original design is just around 70%.
d) Embroidery incurs movement of machine needles into the fabric. As the machine needles and the color threads have certain thickness, details of image cannot be compared with computer. The smaller the design, the more complicated will be the process, the worse will be the result.
e) As during embroidery the whole pattern is sewn continuously by color threads, long thread in between words or parts of image needed to be clear, this may create some extruding threads. For shorter threads connecting different patterns, as they are not obvious to be seen, they will not be cut usually.
f) If the embroidery pattern is too large and the central area are relatively dense. Winkle will be formed on edges and the resulting pattern will appear to be thicker. Customer should consider the effect of the out coming products before they place an order.
g) Offset printing uses four colors printing thus patterns created by this method are usually colored. The actual color of the product is different from what is displayed on the computer screen. Due to the variation in color contrast on different computer screen. Thus, there will be a color difference from the pantone color, which is around 8%. Besides, colorfastness is rather bad. Washing durability is around 10-20 times if cold water is used for washing with the garment turned inside out.
h) As Gold foil print and silver foil print is just made by ironing the gold foil and silver foil on fabrics, the fastness is relatively poor. It is suggested clothes should be turned inside out and washed with cold water. The washing durability is 5-10 times. The print will peel and turn dull afterwards.
i) Washing durability of digital print garment is around 1-2 times.
j) Washing is a random rotating process thus the effect resulted in each washing will be different. There may be peeling and some cracks form on the print after washing.
k) Color preference is just personal perception and would affect judgment towards colors.
l) Errors exist from pattern design to finishing of textiles product. The following are some common errors that may exist.
m) Errors exist from sampling to mass production as garment production (no matter in printing, sewing, etc.) involves limitations in material usage and mass human power. 5-8% error exits between sample and the final products.
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