There are many t-shirt printing vendors in the market, but how can you tell if they’re the right fit for you? When looking to get a customised t-shirt printing, the two important factors you need to know is t-shirt quality and t-shirt printing methods.
When picking a t-shirt printing vendor, do a little research and find out what’s the best t-shirt for you. If you start digging you’ll see that the Gildan design is very popular and has high rankings for a t-shirt, which is why Printcious chooses Gildan to print their t-shirts.
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The Gildan t-shirts are made out of 100% ring spun cotton preshurnk jersey knit, however some coloured shirts contains polyester. Preshrunk garments has already been washed or compacted so additional washing will not significantly shrink the garments.
It weighs about 180 g/m2 for coloured t-shirts and 175 g/m2 for white shirts. The Gildan t-shirt has a tagless design to ensure that the wearer does not experience any scratching and itching. These t-shirts are designed with single needle 2cm rib knit collars for a comfortable wear while retaining its collar shape.
They are also manufactured through tubular short construction which ensures the consistency of size and shape of the produced t-shirt and no side seams to rub against your skin. To guarantee you even more comfort, these t-shirts seams are taped at the neck and shoulders. These tape method also strengthens the seams of the design.
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The sides of the sleeves are sealed with a double needle seams and the bottom are stitched in hems. These t-shirts are available from sizes XS to 2XL. They also come in various colours such as Black, White, Pink, Light Green, Light Blue, Light Yellow, Purple and Grey.
To produce high quality t-shirt printing, Printcious uses the state of the art Direct Transfer Printer, Epson SureColour F2000. This printer provides high quality printing with a maximum resolution of 1440 x 1440 dpi for white inks and 1440 x 720 dpi for coloured inks. It could print up to the size of 16” x 20”.
The Epson SureColour F2000 uses a new pigment ink technology for cellulose based garment imaging developed by Epson. This technology ensures clean and bright colour ink performance and high white ink density without it looking unnatural. This means that the outcome of the printing is more precise and vibrant in comparison to most printers.
The printer we use is also Direct to Garment (DTG) printing, a method where you upload an image using a software in a computer and it will communicate the design to the printer, similar to printing on a paper. It is very different from heat transfer printing where you will feel a foreign residue on your material. DTG printing leaves a seamless feel on your designs without compromising your printing quality!
To get similar results from DTG printing, some vendors will use a method called screen printing, where they use a device that presses in the colours though a screen via multiple layers. However, screen printing has a few limitations.
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Due to its screening process of layering colours after colours, it cannot produce a gradient effect, unlike DTG printing. Furthermore, as a result of the screen printing mechanism, ordering a screen printed t-shirt will require a minimum order purchase.
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Another popular t-shirt printing method is the heat transfer printing. There is a special paper called the heat transfer paper used specifically for t-shirt heat transfer printing. This paper is then used to print out designs of your liking and it’s pressed on the shirt with a special machine that produces heat.
While this design can print on most materials of all designs, the printing is not embedded in the material of the t-shirt. Instead, it leaves a surface created by the heat transfer paper that consist of the design.
Printcious provides all three methods of printing. For bulk orders such as corporate t-shirt printing, Printcious will recommend using the screen printing method instead to save cost and maintain good quality printing. But for personalised t-shirt for premium gift orders, Printcious prioritise the use of DTG printing to retain precise printing quality and no minimum order purchase requirement.
To watch how we make your orders to print, check out this video below!
