There are three particular methods usually employed to accomplish screen printing that produces printed garments for promotions, merchandise and fashion. ‘Spot Color’ printing is the method most often used for a large variety of graphics. It is also the best suited method for such a task. Spot colour printing is the most suitable method used for the printing of graphics that are not photographic in nature.
The colours of the inks to be used in the reproduction of the graphic images are usually Pantone specified colours chosen by a graphic designer. Pantone coated or noncoated color types are selected to clarify the ink hues of the pattern. The Pantone matching system is an international colour reference used in publishing, printing and design whereby each colour is identified by a unique pantone name and number.
Spot colour printing is well suited to printing branded promotional garments or items in which colour identity and uniformity needs to stay the same throughout a varying range of items.
Another method of t-shirt printing used is called ’4 Colour Process’. This printing process is utilised primarily with photographic designs and sketches comprised of a broad variety of hues, shades and gradations. The images found in many books and magazines and printed by the 4 colour process.
The inks are translucent and merge together on a white background to reproduce all the hues and tones of the original. It is much harder to do the same on cloth rather than than paper. But the method used is about the same.
This particular sort of t-shirt printing will, obviously, only be effective on white cloth. It won’t work on coloured garments.
This type of printing is only right for use in print runs of one hundred or more. This is because it simply costs more to set it up. A process called “Simulated Process” is used in cases where t-shirt printers copy full colour pictures using coloured cloths. Much like spot colour printing, the art is divided into tones and colours to preserve the essential qualities of the original.
This is a standard method used by all printers and most popular for example with the reproduction of heavy metal and fantasy imagery taken from CD cover artwork and reproduced onto black t-shirts for band merchandise. Due to the higher set up prices which includes the separating of the colour as well as an increased amount of colours used to print the pictures, this works out to be the most expensive way of printing.
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