Understanding DTG Printing
and COLORS:
DTG
(Direct-to-Garment) printing offers UNLIMITED COLORS using Precision Controlled
Computer Equipment to apply High Quality Textile Pigment Ink directly to
garments or fabrics. The method used by DTG to print colors, is referred
to as four-color process printing because it uses four primary ink colors
called CMYK.
DTG Digital printing
uses permanent Textile Ink,
it is NOT an "iron-on" or any kind of a transfer.
If
your artwork has fine lines, details and suttle color, shade or contrast
variations, then Digital printing is your solution because it offers extremely
High Resolution printing at over 720 DPI with Unlimited Colors and Effects.
Print any Logo, Design, ClipArt, Artwork or Photos with all the colors and
effects you want including Shade, shadow, outlines, halftones, fades and color
gradients!
The
most accurate color printing will result if your designs are created using CMYK
Pantone (PMS) PROCESS color palettes. Pantone CMYK process colors
are created using INK versus generic RGB colors which are used for computer
monitors and websites produced using LIGHT. Since RGB colors exist only on
computer monitors, many RGB colors cannot be accurately printed with ink, which
may produce odd color results or shifts especially with blues, yellows and
greens. Make sure you ONLY select Pantone Process Color Palettes as listed
without changing variables such as brightness, contrast, hue, tint or other
variables. Any changes from the pre-assigned color values may create unexpected
results since there is no such thing as brightness or contrast in ink.
Many
popular graphic software programs including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe
Illustrator, CorelDraw, Corel Photo-Paint have Pantone
Colors built-in. All better quality graphic programs have HELP guides to show
you how to properly use Color Management Tools or give us a call, we will be
glad to help. Common programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel,
Publisher and PowerPoint create graphics, BUT be aware that those
programs can only produce files using RGB colors!
Every do-it-yourself on-line design program or simulation, may not be an
accurate representation of final printed colors, since every computer monitor
has different settings which alter the color hue, brightness and contrast of
images. All computer monitors display colors using light generated RGB colors,
while shirt printing uses ink Pantone or CMYK colors. CMYK process colors
cannot be accurately previewed on an RGB computer monitor, since CMYK colors
mostly exist in ink and not light.
Send
Original Artwork, Photos, Clipart at 300 DPI, at the true size you want
printed. Resolution of any image is very important for high quality printing
results. Please make sure that all background colors are set to transparent. Do
not send artwork with backgrounds representing the shirt color! Make sure that
any Bitmap Images including cut and paste images have clean edges, otherwise,
white halos, shadows or color blemishes (where stray pixels of colors exist)
may be printed especially on dark or colored fabrics. Images copied from the
internet always have low or poor resolution and produce extremely poor printing
and odd color results. Do not try to use graphic software like PhotoShop to
increase a low resolution image to something higher, the end result will be a
larger, fuzzier version of what you started with, you cannot magically take
something with poor resolution and make it better.
Understanding Where you
can and cannot print on a shirt:
We can
print in a variety of locations: Front, Back, Left or Right Chest, Left Sleeve,
Right Sleeve, etc
Printing cannot go to the edge of a shirt or be set
into shirt corners, Printing cannot cover the entire shirt or span from left
sleeve to right sleeve, Printing cannot go above necklines or onto shoulders,
Printing cannot curve around necklines or follow seams or hems, Printing cannot
go over zippers, stitched hems or pockets, Printing cannot wrap 360 degrees
around a shirt. Exact dimensional positioning for front, back or sleeve
printing is per our equipment requirements and standards.
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