Custom Embroidery , Screen Printing, Contract Direct to Garment Printing – ThreadPerfection

Have you always wanted to learn how to silk screen at home, or are you a recent follower of the trend? Whether you’re an experienced professional or a newcomer to the craft, it is easy to learn how to silk screen at home.

To begin, you must gather your materials:

• You will need to find an image to use. You will need to have your image copied at maximum darkness onto a transparent piece of plastic (cellophane wrap or clear packaging from toys work great). You can also draw on the transparency with white out or paint. Another option is to use a flat object (such as lace) or some shapes cut out of dark colored construction paper lain on top of the transparency.
• Wooden picture frames which are completely flat on the front surface. You will also need a piece of glass from a frame smaller than the frame you use to make your screen.
• An old, gauzy curtain. The color of the curtain doesn’t matter, but the curtain does need to be in pretty good shape. The fewer the holes and the more tightly woven the fabric, the finer you can silk screen at home.
• A piece of black or dark-colored fabric big enough to put the frame on.
• A staple gun and staples.
• Photosensitive goo and activator (speedball is one of the more common brands at craft stores). You need the emulsion and the activator; they come in two different bottles which you have to mix together. Don’t bother with the screen cleaner unless want to reuse the same screen for other designs.
• Either a piece of cardboard or an art squeegee especially for screen printing.
• Screen printing ink

*    If you are printing t-shirts you’ll need paper to put inside the shirt when you print so that           the ink doesn’t bleed through the side you’re printing on all the way through to the other         side.

Next, build your frame:

• Take apart your frame and set the glass aside. Remove all of the tiny metal parts.
• Cut a piece of the curtain large enough to cover the front of the frame. Stretch the fabric around the sides (try to keep the weave of the fabric as straight as possible) and staple it into place.
• Cut excess fabric off.

Now, coat both sides of your screen with a thin, even layer of the emulsion and set it in a dark place to dry. Once the screen is dry, take it out in the sun and lay it face down on your black cloth. You need UV rays to expose the emulsion; even on a cloudy day you can get exposure, but a lamp at night will not work. Place your image inside the frame and lay a piece of glass (must be smaller than the picture frame) on top of the image. Now, just wait! The sun is going to harden the emulsion and it will change colors. Be wary of shadows, any part of the screen which doesn’t get exposed is going to wash clear. Also, be very careful not to let your image move around. The glass helps keep it in place and also makes sure no sun gets in under the edges of the image. Your exposure time will vary depending on how much sunlight is in the equation.

Once you feel that the emulsion is hardened, you will rinse off your screen.

Finally, it’s time to silk screen at home!

• Put some masking tape along the edges of the screen before you start printing so you don’t get any sloppy leaks off the sides.
• Place your fabric on some papers to protect the surface underneath. If you’re doing a t-shirt, put a piece of paper inside the shirt.
• Put the screen down on your fabric, put some printing ink along the top of the screen, and pull it over the image with your art squeegee or piece of cardboard.

*     Be very careful not to let the screen move while you are printing. Hold it down firmly .   You absolutely have to print on a good flat surface or you will get unsatisfactory results.

Now you know how to silk screen at home!

As an established promotional apparel company which specializes in embroidery, screen printing, & direct to garment printing we have come across lots of useful tools and some DUDS. Some of these tools increase productivity and save our company money and some cost us time and money. Well this post is dedicated  for one of our favorite tools, The All in 1 Hooper. Read to below to get more information about this. If you have any questions about this please give us a call. We do not sell this product or get a commission, so you would have to contact them directly if you wanted to purchase this great hooping system. Enjoy!

Your Guide to Professional Hooping

What’s all the HOOPLA?

Chosen to be on the cover of Stitches Magazine, the All In 1 Hooper ® proves to be the most innovative & exciting hooping device in the industry.

The All In 1 Hooper is designed to hoop all
garment sizes. It has 5 boards embedded into
1 device. Adults, Juniors, Toddlers, Infants & Sleeve
Board all collapse independently to adjust to the size
needed. The All in 1 Hooper is the only device
in the industry that works with every garment & hoop
size without having to purchase additional attachments. Everything Included at 1 low price!

If your hoop is a tubular style with arms on both side it will work the All in 1 Hooper.

(Industrial or Home machines will both work)

We have a universal hoop holder and will work with all sizes hoops & brands.

(round – square – oval)

Watch it Work

Success Stories
What customers are saying!

We LOVE the All In 1 Hooper and its flexibility!!! I think that the
All in 1 Hooper is the most cost effective hooper in the marketplace, due to its ability to work with all sizes of hoops without having to purchase additional attachments.

- Kelly Smith, For Heaven’s Sake Embroidery & Design

I bought 1 of your hooping stations, I have nothing but good things to say!
I have used the limited hoopmaster device and your ALL IN 1 HOOPER is hands down better!

- Dion Mitchell, Camo Caps

I think it is the best thing invented since sliced bread. I previously had two other brand X devices and wasn’t happy with them. Now I only need one device for all my work. I wouldn’t trade mine for anything!

- Linda, P&L Embroidery

I love the All-in-One Hooper. For a first time embroiderier this is a must have! Thanks for a Great Product.

- Shelley Pfeiff Designs ‘n Stitches

ISS Show Atlantic City in Review – UNCENSORED

So our company went to the ISS Show Atlantic City 2010 this past weekend. We had no idea what to expect since we have never been to a trade show. Our mission was to learn as much as possible through seminars and check out all the latest and greatest technology and new products in the marketplace. We do not want to leave any of our customers behind. We must say we left the ISS Show and we were more than satisfied. I will break down what we learned and what our customers can expect to see from Thread Perfection in the near future. Also feel free to contribute your experience if you or your company attended or you have any questions.

The first day we arrived we mainly focused on seminars that educated our company more in the promotional apparel business. A list of  seminars  we attended are listed below with our straight up uncensored opinion. We did try and keep it clean!

Day 1

Pricing Embroidered and Screen Printed Apparel- The Shocking Truth!

Mark Venit , founder of  Apparel Graphics Institute Ltd. was our first educator. This is was by far the most valuable class we attended. Well our company has our so called “formula” for pricing our products but we came out of this seminar with in our opinion the “real deal formula.” This new formula will help our company tweak our pricing structure, help us be competitive, while still making a profit. This is a win-win situation. No you can’t have this formula; you should make the trip to the ISS Show and sign up yourself. What you as a customer can expect now is a no-nonsense way of receiving quotes on your orders without having to speak to a “pricing specialist.”  All of our employees will be trained to effectively price items quickly and accurately so we waste less of your valuable time. So if you need a quick “quote” on custom embroidery, screen printing, or direct to garment printing we will be who you want to speak with.

10 Simple Rules for Running Your Business

This seminar was presented by Greg Kitson the Owner of Mind Eye Graphics. There was no doubt about how knowledgeable he was in the promotional apparel industry. We only added a couple things from here we felt we could improve upon. Mainly the things were money saving techniques which in turn will help us to keep our pricing down which is great for customers. For example if we use 2” tape we may could use  3” tape which would use less linear footage and save money over the long haul. Now that sounds little but trust me tape adds up when your shipping out several orders a day that savings would add up over the year. This is an example of cutting costs which will allow our company to continue pricing our products competitively.

The 10 Biggest Mistakes in Marketing Custom Apparel & Promo Products

Once again Mark Venit of the Apparel Graphics Institute Ltd. was a top notch educator. We would love to have him as our instructor for all seminars. If you wanted to make sure your marketing plan was effective this would have been a great one to attend. You could have used this for any type of business you operate.  After sitting through this we assure you we will have a published “price list” for anybody and everybody to see. We now understand the importance of a “price list” for our customers. You ask and you shall receive. We learned what percentage of our revenue should be used for advertising. Most of all, “GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE” which in turn will help turning our customers into promoters of our company.

Cash Flow: The Lifeblood of Your Business

This seminar was presented by Greg Kitson from Minds Eye Graphics, Inc.  You could tell this guy really know what he was talking about but not the best at keeping your attention.  I did take some things away from this class that I will use in my everyday business life.  The main thing that I took away from the class had to do with quick books.  I have been struggling to decide if I was going to use PO’s for all of my orders or not.After taking this class I have decided it is very necessary to have a PO on all orders at all times.  This will help in tracking and reorders to say the least.  Over all it was kind of a boring class but there was definitely some very good parts that came out of it.

10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Promote Your Embroidery Business

This class was presented by Jimmy Lamb of Sawgrass Technologies.  This was my one of my top pick classes other than the pricing class.  I learned a great deal in this class starting with a small fact here sewing on felt.  Your portfolio should be in felt but not the sew outs you are going to present to your customer.  This one you want to keep on some sort of fabric to which the customer is going to pick this way there are no surprises to what the logo will look like because felt hides all imperfections. You wouldn’t want your customer to see a great logo on felt and then see jagged edges on pique or waves on spandex. Another big idea I got from this class is the news paper.  Use this to your advantage and write articles (press releases) to new equipment new ideas anything new you could write about that might interest readers.  Also a lot about addons, always send one add on.  There is much more great information that I have gotten from this class and I would advise you to take this class if it comes available to you. Great information.

Day 2

Social Media Marketing for Apparel Decorators

This seminar was presented by Josh Ellsworth of Cad Cut Direct. I would highly recommend this seminar for any beginners trying to get into the social media frenzy. If you would consider yourself as doing a pretty good job so far in social media then you may want to skip this class. We did get an idea from here that I personally think will we be a brilliant idea but we have to test it out first. If it works out we will be more than willing to share this idea with you as it would work for any type of business whether your online or not. From our personal experience, Facebook (check our Thread perfection Fan Page) does the best job of driving traffic to our website and storefront. So if social media is going to take up a lot of your time, which it can, I would recommend starting with Facebook first. Hopefully next year there will be an advanced version of this class.

Revive Your Corporate Clients’ Old, Boring Logos with CorelDraw X4

This class was overall a really good class.  The first part of the class to me was just going over the same thing over and over again but after we got past that part it was a great class.  In this class we went over wire-frames and how to tell whether the logo was tampered with in the past and how to take a customers logo and make it look different in 10 different ways.  If you come across this show at a future show then I suggest you should take it if you use Corel Draw and want to learn how to change a logo in little ways to make is better.

Special Effect Shirt Treatments

This is a “must take class” for all experienced screen printers.  The instructor was a great speaker who knew what he was talking about and could give some great great tips.  Unfortunately I am not an experienced screen printer and it was way way over my head.  Half the time I had no idea what he was talking about.  I think it needs to say on the class description for experienced “screen printers only!”

Double Your Production in 30 Days or Less

If your company has several employees attend this class. Right now I am not an extremely large company and this did not seem to help me much. I will keep note of what I learned so when I reach that point.  The class was mostly on how to move things around on the floor and on the work order to make things go smoother. You may not think about the little things that hamper production but trust me there are several that do. With less production that means less money.  When my business grows and I have several employees this class would have given me some great direction on how to make things flow better and it will for you.

Venit`s 21 Ways to Get Customers to Love You

If you are not making every single one of your customers love you than you may “NEED” to attend this one. I am not going to list every one of these ideas but I will tell you there were more than 21 ways listed and I guarantee if follow these rules you will never lose a customer again.  Aren’t customers who love us what we want and need? I know it sure doesn’t seem that way with a lot of companies so this as an easy way to stand out above the crowd. Just remember every “happy customer” most likely will promote your service and products for “FREE.” I guarantee you if you ask any successful business owners they will say word of mouth marketing is there number 1 source of business hands down! Are you the owner of your business? How many times have you called a customer and just said, “Thank You.” How would that affect you as a customer? Have you ever put a little surprise in a customer’s package just for the heck of it? Well maybe you should be doing both. To learn more I suggest this class to you. If you have anything to add to this please post a comment at the end of this post.

Decorating Strategies for Athletic & Performance Apparel

This class was presented by Chris Bernat partner of Source Substates. He was a great speaker but honestly didn’t take much from this class.  The main things you can take from this class are the sports apparel market is the fastest growing in the apparel market. I believe he said, “This is $3.1 billion a year market.” That being said make sure your company doesn’t miss the boat on this market.

Day 3

Embroidery Goofs

If you are a beginner this class may be something you want to attend. In my opinion it will be completely unnecessary.  Nothing against the instructor but this was a very boring class for me.  The class consisted of how to remove stitches from garments, how to cover up holes and I don’t think I remember the rest.

Direct-to-Garment & Digital Transfer Profit Strategies

This class was taught by Chris Bernat of Vapor Apparel. This class seemed to be more of his success story than anything. I was hoping that I left this class with some profit strategies but truthfully I really didn’t. In my opinion to sum up this class is that more and more things are going digital in the apparel industry and without digital capabilities for customizing your orders you will be left behind. Everybody today is looking for customized apparel and that is why your company will need digital printing capabilities. If your company isn’t capable of this I suggest you start planning as soon as possible. Make sure you research what your customer base will be and make it happen. If you have any profit strategies what are they?Please share them!

ISS Show Atlantic City – Exhibitor Experience

As for the exhibitors at the ISS Show Atlantic City there were so many it was a little overwhelming. Fortunately everyone there generally was helpful and we didn’t experience any real pushy sales pushers. Our favorite part was meeting the people in person that we have worked with over the phone numerous times but that we have not met in person.  There was more screen printing equipment there than anything. We saw a neat little portable screen printing setup that was a little pricey that I wouldn’t see how it would be cost effective but it was indeed very nice. From there we saw every size screen printing press up to the awesome looking automated press from M&R. There were several options for direct to garment printing machines. Whether you wanted to start off with a basic DTG printer or the Mac Daddy DTG printers you were sure to see hands on action. If you needed any type of supplier you would have had no problem finding one here for any niche. We are definitely are going to give a few vendors a shot which we never would have seen if it was not for the ISS Show Atlantic City. Other than small minor things we found this as a great show for getting information for beginning or established businesses in the promotional apparel industry.

In conclusion I am better off since attending this show versus not. Our company Thread Perfection learned a lot in the seminars which will help us out with the learning curve in certain aspects of this business. If you or your company is considering getting into the promotional apparel business I highly recommend attending as ISS Show regardless of the location.

If you attended this ISS Show please share your comments as we would love to see what you took from the show.

Peninsula Town Center Grand Opening

So the big day for the Peninsula grand opening has came and passed. Was it worth all the hype? Is it all that they say it is? We want to hear from you. Once we have 50 comments we will pick one random winner and give away a $25 gift card to any shop to your choice. Also our company Thread Perfection will give another winner 1 white custom printed  t-shirt.(A $30 Value with your logo, photo, or just a funny saying.)  There were more than 50 tenants that opened shop. That’s not bad considering today economy. To view an up to date list of the tenants click this Peninsula Town Center Tenant List to view. The big names that are now open for business are New York & Co., H&M, Hollister, The Limited, & Chicos. A few of the restaurants, that I will definitely give a shot are Frank Beamers American Grill (I am a big VA Tech Fan.) I am sure this will be a big hit since Frank Beamer recruits this heavily. Other restaurants include, BDS Mongolian Grill ,Five Guys Burgers & Fries ,Q Barbecue, Chipotle & several more.

As the businesses at “The Peninsula Town Center” get up running smoothly this will be great for the local job market. All these new stores will create many more jobs. The city of Hampton will love this. Check out these up and coming events: Strolling Entertainers March 19, 2010, March 26 & April 2 Strolling Entertainers & Easter Bunny, & finally an Easter Egg hunt on April 3, 2010. I am sure there will be loads of family fun with the Easter egg hunt. We will post more updates as they come.

Please make sure you comment and let us know what you think about the new Peninsula Town Center. You may just when that $25 gift card or 1 custom printed white t-shirt.(A $30 Value with your logo, photo, or just a funny saying.)

Utilizing the art of embroidery in the workplace in the form of embroidered polo business shirts is an economical, convenient, versatile method that provides benefits not only for the owner of the business, but also for the staff.
Because embroidering polo business shirts is so cost effective, the business owner has the opportunity to get more for his money. By being able to distribute more shirts, he can share his logo with many more people. In these tough economic times, businesses are getting more and more competitive and it is therefore even more crucial to share your logo anywhere possible. The convenience of embroidered polos doesn’t just stop at the monetary level, however. Polo business shirts come in a wide variety of styles, colors and sizes allowing everyone in your business to be not only included, but satisfied. Embroidery is also one of the most long lasting ways of transferring design to fabric. Even if the clothes are washed frequently and worn every day, the stitching can survive the tests of time.

A staff adorned with matching embroidered polos creates a uniform presence which emits the idea of organization, intelligence and professional expertise to customers. A polo shirt looks much more sophisticated, stylish and attractive versus a t-shirt, and is accepted in places with more affluent employees, clients, and potential customers. Also, because many people (including your customers) are visual learners, seeing your name and business logo will help them later to recall your organization and your name will stay fresh in their mind. Employers can also take advantage of the wide range of colors that can be used by color coding your different departments.

The organization of embroidered polos has multiple benefits for your staff as well. Because they will make your employees feel like a single, cooperative unit, embroidered polos help to build confidence and competency within your work force. By giving everyone matching polos, you also show that you care enough to provide them with professional looking clothes to wear and they won’t have to spend their own money on a uniform.
Custom embroidered polos have many uses. Just as they can be used to unite the players of a sports team, polos will unite the players of your team: our staff. Embroidered polos are seen everywhere from pubs to clubs and throughout many work industries. They are also useful for door to door businesses as they help establish authenticity and professionalism. Your polos can also be used purely as advertising. Hand them out during benefits which are important to the company such as the anniversary of the founding of your business, a celebration of a recent achievement, big trade shows, exhibitions, presentations, important negotiations, seminars etc. You can also send a polo shirt with your logo embroidered on it as a gift to your business partners, and new customers.

Everybody wants to know where you can get embroidery with no minimum quantities or fees.  Thread Perfection is one of the very few custom embroidery businesses that require no minimum for custom embroidered items. If you do not believe “Google” custom embroidery companies and look at their website’s or give them a call and let me know what you find out. Below is a couple of our top selling products you may be interested in for your custom embroidery needs.

So you ask, “How do you offer embroidery with no minimum quantity or no minimum fees.”  It’s very simple. We feel that our service along with quality will keep you coming back time after time. We are looking to build long lasting relationships with all of our customers whether you’re getting a shirt embroidered for a gift, outfitting a small business or a corporate giant such as UPS or FedEx. Surprising your top client or clients with custom embroidered apparel is another great way for our ” no minimum policy”. This will keep you from having all those extra items just lying around and not being used because you ordered 12 when you only needed 4. We also have thousands of stock pre-digitized designs which will be more than enough to choose from. Check out Dakota Collectibles here and see what you like. Don’t worry about the cost as we have purchased all these designs. If there is nothing there that fits your needs just contact us and let us know what you’re looking for and we will take care of the rest.

We look forward to working with you in the near future. Please contact us via telephone at our toll free number 1-877-778-1470 or just place your  order online with our easy ordering process.

Ordering custom embroidery online can be a very difficult and frustrating thing to do. This should not be the case, wouldn’t you agree? The main reasons for this are the many variables that calculate the cost for custom embroidery. It makes it almost impossible to calculate this online without some high dollar software and an I.T. team to maintain. We are going to break this down for you.

Typical Ways of Ordering Custom Embroidery Online

The most common methods of ordering embroidery online are through online t-shirt designers, filling out request a quote forms, download a printable form, print it, fill it out, then fax or mail it in to the place of business, or email your logo one day have it evaluated the next and then you may place your order. All these methods do work but some are more difficult than others. We here at Thread Perfection wanted to come up with a method that is easier than all those listed above

Online T-Shirt Designer Method

Ordering custom embroidery online  through one of the many online t-shirt designer’s are used mostly by customers looking to create a design. Don’t get me wrong these are very very nice. The only downside to this is for all those not so savvy  CPU users out there this can get a little tricky. With the t-shirt design studio calculating pricing may also be difficult. It is possible you may get a call that you were UNDER CHARGED. This software can also be very pricey which in return may be passed on to the customer. Somebody has to pay for it right?  Check out the online t-shirt designer below.

Request A Quote Method

Another common technique is a “request a quote form” that you fill out online and then send it on it’s way in which an estimate should be returned to you within 24-72  hours. This is an old school way but can be very effective. Actually we are in the process of setting this up on our website. Stay posted. Due to the  numerous amount of people online that do not feel that online transactions are secure this may not be a preferred method either. Do not worry about that with Thread Perfection as every transaction is secure here if online ordering is your way to go.

Download A Form, Print It, & Fax It Method

Another way is download and print off a form, fill it out , and then fax it off. This is typically a 24-72 hour process for most custom apparel companies.

Thread Perfection Method

Our team at Thread Perfection wanted to make ordering custom embroidery online a very SIMPLE process  and painless as possible. Our SOLUTION, a  1- page checkout process with all the  pricing built into the cost  to make it plain and simple. Below is screen shot of our top selling t-shirt for custom embroidery. As you can see you can do everything on this one page and all the fees are up front. What you see is what you get. After you pick your size, quantity, color, upload your image and hit ADD TO CART you will go to your shopping cart to check out. In the cart you will see a thumbnail of your logo so you do not make any mistakes uploading the wrong logo. This is located in  Image#2.

Checkout Page(Image #2)

There is nothing wrong with any of these methods above. Everybody is entitled to there opinion. We do believe our process is as easy as it gets if you already have your logo. If there is an easier way to order custom embroidery online we want to know. We strive to be the online leader for custom embroidery and we appreciate any feedback we receive.

What is Embroidery Digitizing?

Embroidery Digitizing is converting regular logo artwork into a format that embroidery software and machines can read. It is the placement of stitches to create a detailed logo that looks just as great in stitch form as it does on paper. Below is an example of a very detailed  logo design and then how it appears when it is digitized.

Original Logo

Digitized Version of This Logo

Why does it cost to have my logo digitized for embroidery?

Embroidery Software cost thousands of dollars to purchase and maintain. It is an art form that people study for a long time to get just right.  Just think of your logo as a regular image and then trying to create that image with thousands of small threads.  You have to lay each thread just right to get the effect of each individual logo that you creating. So when you look at it that way its not so easy is it.  There are several considerations to take into account for example the type of material you are embroidering onto.  Whether its leather, cotton, canvas and many more or whether it is thick or thin.  Whatever the case may be you have to digitize different for each one.

Why can’t you just take my digital image and print it?

Embroidery is nothing like screen printing or direct to garment printing.  Every time the needle drops a piece of thread into a garment it must be placed just perfectly to get the logo and the machine to look and run properly.  It is something that takes digitizer’s years of experience to perfect.  If you have an inexperienced digitizer you run the risk of the logo not having straight lines or even the lines not matching up properly as well as the machine not being able to run the design properly if you do not place the threads properly. You could get excessive amounts of thread breaks or even bunches of thread in the same place.  This can ruin the look of your logo as well as the quality of the embroidery. (and product)

Our digitizer has been in the business for well over 20 years and does a great job at small or large designs.  We can get some over the smallest of details into a logo that a not so experienced digitizer wouldn’t be able to do.

Screen printing vs. direct to garment printing is one of the biggest questions and debates in the promotional wear industry. These printing methods are most commonly used on t-shirts, sweatshirts, & jackets.  Screen printing has been around forever and direct to garment printing is fairly new. Each has its pros and cons just as anything else. We are going to break this down and let you decide which method you would prefer.

Screen Printing

Screen Printing is one of the most commonly used methods in apparel decorating and was first patented in 1907 in England by Samuel Simon Matthew Atere-Roberts. With screen printing there are setup fees unlike direct to garment printing. The fees are needed for setup due to a screen needing to be burned for each color in the design. Once the screens are burned there will be an ink charge for each color used in the design and for any dark items there is a white under base that needs printed first. Screen printing is best used for larger orders that do not require a very detailed design.

Pros of Screen Printing

• Cost effective & high quality
• Professional looking.
• Long lasting & durable.

Cons of Screen Printing

• Setup fees for customers.
• Minimum quantity orders are needed.
• Can not do just one shirt. (Nobody will do just one shirt.)

Below is an image of a basic screen printing press.

Direct to Garment Printing

• Direct to garment printing is the process of printing directly onto a garment or any other type of printable object such as a mouse pad or coaster to name a couple. Direct to garment printing is fairly new and a great option for small run orders. Unlike screen printing direct to garment printing typically has no setup fees which is why this is great and the only option for low run orders. The reason for this is to print a shirt or any other object all that has to be done is load the design on the CPU, send it to the printer, print it, and then cure it in the heat press. It is that simple. With direct to garment printing the color palette is unlimited which allows you to have anything printed with any colors. Therefore you could have a photo printed on a t-shirt and give it to grandma. Another bonus is name dropping on each item. This can not be done with screen printing since a screen would have to been burned for each name and this is just not feasible. Most direct to garment printers do not print white ink therefore your design/image must be printed on a light colored garment. With technology emerging, printing on dark shirts is now possible but due to the pricey nature of these machines there are not many out there. I am sure this will change as it always does with technology.

Pros for Direct to Garment Printing

• Specializes in low run orders.
• Can print one at a time.
• Prints full color prints that have intricate details.
• Designs are not felt on the garment.
• Garments are easily customizable and little tweaks may be made.

Cons of Direct to Garment Printing

• Many direct to garment printers do not print white ink therefore your garment will need to be printed on a light colored shirt. Some do print on dark colored shirts.
• They take longer to print than screen printing.
• Ink is a little more expensive than inks used for screen printing.

Below is an image of the Brother GT 541 Direct to Garment Printer which we use here.

3 Types of Printing Scenarios

Below are three scenarios you may encounter along. I will include an image for an example along with what is the best method.

Scenario A – Customer emails a photo of here fathers baby picture and wants this printed on 1 t-shirt that say “Happy 50^th Birthday Dad, We Love You”  or just any old photo with text on it Direct to Garment Printing will be used. (Create your own custom printed shirt here.)

Scenario B - Customer has a very basic logo design with about 4-8 colors and wants to order 12 of these on black t-shirts. Screen Printing will be used. (Check out our catalog out for a large selection of apparel.)

Scenario C - Customer has a very detailed logo and wants to have six printed on a white t-shirt along with a different name on each shirt. This is a prime example where only a direct to garment printer would get this done for you. . (Create your own custom printed shirt here.)

Thanks for reading this article. Hopefully we were able to help. Do you have anything you would like to add or any experiences with these two types of printing? We want to here from you.

We’re so excited to have launched our new blog here at Thread Perfection today.  We’ve been busy making new and improved updates to our website and thought we needed a place where we can share the latest news and connect directly with our friends and customers.  This blog will serve the purpose to allow us to keep you up to date on our products, services and much more.  We also hope to be a hub for small business owners to join in the conversation together to talk about marketing strategies to help grow your respective businesses.  We have many things planned here at Thread Perfection in the coming weeks, months and years and we’re glad you’ve taken the time to stop in and see what’s going on.

Welcome!