Where can I get a 4-color (cmyk) tshirt design printed?

[shocksyde]

Anyone have any experience with this?

Here's a link to the design. I want it printed on a black tshirt.

 

[Modelworks]

open up the phone book and look under screen printer/printing.
They do them all the time.

 

[PricklyPete]

Anyone have any experience with this?

Here's a link to the design. I want it printed on a black tshirt.

I can't view your pic at work, but I've had good experience with thegraphiccow.com

 

[brblx]

i think you'll have to find a pretty high-end operation to get a graphic like that printed on black.

 

[Modelworks]

i think you'll have to find a pretty high-end operation to get a graphic like that printed on black.

Most screen printers can do that design but they are going to require a purchase in quantity to make it worthwhile. Most will require at least 25 shirts on the order as a minimum.

 

[shocksyde]

i think you'll have to find a pretty high-end operation to get a graphic like that printed on black.

Yeah, that's what it looks like it my Google searches. How do places like threadless and designbyhuman sell their shirts so cheap? I've gotten shirts with colors like my design on black for $25.

 

[Modelworks]

Yeah, that's what it looks like it my Google searches. How do places like threadless and designbyhuman sell their shirts so cheap? I've gotten shirts with colors like my design on black for $25.

Most of the work in screen printing is the setup. You have to make screens for each color used. So if you make 1 shirt or 2000 shirts it doesn't matter it still takes all that setup time to get started. Once created the only cost is ink and time. Online sites that sell designs to the masses can defer the setup cost into the quantity sold.

 

[clamum]

What's the 4-color/CMYK difference, better color transfer or something?

Serious question; my t-shirt creation abilities only go as far as printing an image off onto iron-on paper.

 

[gaidensensei]

Someone in the FS/FT forum mentioned that he can do custom shirt decals, for pretty cheap.

 

[Modelworks]

What's the 4-color/CMYK difference, better color transfer or something?

Serious question; my t-shirt creation abilities only go as far as printing an image off onto iron-on paper.

CMYK is the format used in printing in everything from magazines to shirts. Anything in another format is converted to it before printing, so the source format doesn't matter if you make sure the color transfer is correct.

You can find the individual colors that were used on most items.
Look on something like a magazine for small blocks of color on one of the pages, usually in the binding or on the edges, that is each color the printer used for the process.

The reason they use CMYK is because it stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, K=brightness/black levels
Ever try to make pure yellow from red, green andr blue ? It is a lot of work mixing inks to get it.

 

[KingGheedora]

Anyone have any experience with this?

Here's a link to the design. I want it printed on a black tshirt.

Just out of curiousity, why do you need "4-color (cmyk) ... printed"? Can't you just get this design printed by any tshirt printer?

I know very little about this but am curious. If the image file is in cmyk color space, couldn't you convert it to rgb and print it at any place that will make custom t-shirts?

 

[arkcom]

http://www.printfection.com/customer/custom.php?rootid=7&invoptid=2619

 

[shocksyde]

Just out of curiousity, why do you need "4-color (cmyk) ... printed"? Can't you just get this design printed by any tshirt printer?

I know very little about this but am curious. If the image file is in cmyk color space, couldn't you convert it to rgb and print it at any place that will make custom t-shirts?

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

T-shirts that use a couple of spot colors are easy to screenprint, but my design is basically the same a photograph, it has many, many colors in it.

 

[shocksyde]

http://www.printfection.com/customer/custom.php?rootid=7&invoptid=2619

I'll try that out, thanks.

 

[Modelworks]

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

T-shirts that use a couple of spot colors are easy to screenprint, but my design is basically the same a photograph, it has many, many colors in it.

They still use the same process. What changes is that multiple layers are used with color separation software . So if you wanted a light green the shirt would be printed with a cyan layer then printed with a yellow layer in the correct amount for the color over that before the ink dries. It takes multiple passes for each color needed and is mostly done by automation though I have seen it done by hand, it just takes a lot of time.

The best quality is from a combination of half tones, like newspaper , and CMYK but that is very expensive to get done.

Here is a rundown on the types;
http://www.undergroundshirts.com/?standard=true&p=sprinting

 

[Miklebud]

I'm an artist for a silk screen printing company. We get orders for stuff like this somewhat often. Taking something from the internet(RGB) and converting it to screen separations is a pain in the balls. So, we bought a digital ink printer (a modified desktop printer), where we actually print white ink down and then print the CMYK ink on top of that. This is different than screen printing, which uses individual screens for each color. They're not the greatest quality, and the color fades over time, but you can do A LOT more with it than with traditional screen printing. And with a file like that, you'd need a LARGE (300dpi full size) image to get the best result.
The going rate for one from us is $17.99 plus shipping for a Black shirt, or $15.99 for a white shirt.