



For merchandise and fashion there are mainly 3 particular methods of screen printing employed. In t-shirt printing, ‘Spot Colour’ printing is the most common and works exceptionally well for a great variety of graphics. Spot color printing is the appropriate procedure for graphic prints that aren’t photographic.
The colored ink that is used in reproducing graphic images are chosen by a graphic designer and more often than not are Pantone specified colors. Pantone coated or uncoated colour references are chosen to specify the ink colours of the design. Used in publishing, printing and design whereby each colour is identified by a unique pantone name and number, the Pantone matching system is an international colour reference.
When colour identity and uniformity is an issue, for example in branded promotional garments or a large selection of products, this method of spot color printing works very well.
An additional method of t-shirt screen printing used is called 4 Colour Process. This method of printing is used mainly for photographic images and illustrations that consist of a wide range of colours, tones and graduations. 4 colour process is also the same method of printing by which all images in books and magazines are printed.
The inks are transparent and blend with one another on a white backdrop to recreate each of the colours and shades that the original possessed. This is rather more difficult process to achieve on a fabric than it is on paper. However the method employed is essentially the same. This method of tshirt printing is only useful for white garments, and will not work well on coloured fabrics. The print set up costs are higher than that of simple spot colour designs and as such only suitable for larger print runs of 100+
When garment screen printers reproduce such full colour images onto coloured fabrics a method called ‘Simulated Process’ is used. The artwork is separated into various colours and shades using a method similar to spot colour printing to achieve the overall look and feel of the original image.
Most t-shirt printers use this method, and it is especially popular when used to copy fantasy and heavy metal album artwork onto shirts to be sold by the band. This type of printing is the most expensive. For that reason, it is used entirely on large print runs. This is because it costs more to set up the colour separations, and it takes a greater number of colours to print the pictures.
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