In custom screenprinting price is always based on quantity and I will do my best to explain why. I would like to take an example of an order that we just completed to discuss the reasoning behind this.

We just completed an order that was for 500 shirts with a 2 color front and a 2 color back. If you refer back to some of my previous post on the printing process you will see some of what I am going to discuss in greater detail. With this order we had to develop film, burn screens, setup on press and print samples to get it ready to print. This all took about 2 hours to get it ready to print. That would have been the same on 36 shirts. We are able to split that cost across 500 shirts rather than 36. The printing is actually less time consuming on most orders than the prep work to get it to press. Just think on that 500 shirts we completed all the printing in about 3 hours and it had 1000 prints. This would give us a total of 5 hours on that job. On the 36 shirts we would have about 30 minutes in printing. So 464 more shirts only took 2.5 hours more to complete.

I think now that you see how much time goes into the setup you will understand the quantity pricing schedule. If not please give me a call personally and we can discuss, that’s what I love to do anyway.

Labels: custom printed tees, custom screenprinting, pricing, screen printing process

Well we are finally ready to custom screenprint t-shirts. With the hard work behind us we now are ready to set up the screens on the press. This is done in different ways depending on what type of screenprinting press is used. At www.bendershirts.com we used primarily automatic presses. This means that the printing is done by the machine rather than by hand. There are some advantages to using automatic press which we will tackle in another blog.

On the automatic press we place in screens in a sequence that best fits the design. Then we align the screens with the registration marks that were printed on each film. Once we have the marks aligned we place the ink in the screen. Now that the screens are filled with in we put in clean squeegees and run a test print to make sure pressures and alignment are correct. If there are any problems they are fix and another test print is run.

We now have a sample for our quality control representative to approve. At this point we can begin the printing. On our press we average about 300 shirts per hour. We now have a finish order that is ready to ship.

This is a general idea of the printing process. You can now see that custom screen printed t shirts is a pretty complex process that is very time consuming. At bendershirts.com we do our best to make sure your order is handled with care and every shirt goes out with top quality.

Labels: custom screeenprinted t-shirts, custom screenprinted tees, custom t shirts, screen printing process

Ok, last post we talked about deciding on what we wanted to custom screenprint on our garment. It probably is one of the hardest steps to complete for the customer. The next step falls on the graphic artist.

Once the customer tells the sales representive what they would like printed, the sales representaive passes it along to the graphic artist. The graphic artist now has the responsiblity of converting the artwork to a vector format which is compatiable with vector programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. This can be either very time consuming or easy as a couple clicks of a button. Once the artist has the artwork ready for print it is sent via email to the customer for final approval. At this point the artwork is ready and we wait for the customer to respond.

The customer will now only have to look at their custom screen printed design to see if there are any errors in spelling, color or layout. This is something customers really need to look at carefully.

Labels: 2nd step in custom screenprinting, custom screeenprinted t-shirts, custom screenprinted tees, custom screenprinting, screen printing process, screenprinted t-shirts

I am going to take the next few blogs to walk you thru the custom screen printing process. Today so many people think that all you have to do is push a print button and out pops a t-shirt. My goal is to show you how much goes into that comfortable custom screenprinted t-shirt you have on. Things have been made easier in the screen printing industry over the last 15 years, the first of which is computerized artwork.

Today I am going to focus on the first step to receiving your custom printed tee shirt. The initial part of screenprinting is deciding on what to print on your tee. This has been made easier over the years because most people have access to the Internet or to a drawing program. This gives the customer the opportunity to narrow down his ideas and know what he or she wants before contacting a screenprinter.

This seems like it should be the easiest part of the screen printing process, but it is not. Most people (myself included) don't have that artistic ability. That is why at www.bendershirts.com we only ask for the layout you are looking for and our artist will bring your idea to life on you custom t-shirts.

That is the first step in custom screen printed t-shirts---Deciding on Artwork

Labels: custom screeenprinted t-shirts, custom screenprinted tees, custom screenprinting, custom t-shirt printing, screen printing process, screenprinting process, steps to screenprinting