Always start with the basics. Nothing is wrong with mastering the fundamentals – they will actually take you further if you know the requirements of printing at heart.

Removing Problems in Printing Before they Start

Spare yourself the trouble of finding out to late that you could have fixed the problem early on. This simple checklist can help you avoid the common careless mistakes other people have made.

1) Send the right file.

• You’d be surprised at the amount of people who make this simple mistake. Maybe because they save their files in a single folder or they use the same file names over and over again, make sure you know you have sent in the file you really wanted printed.

• Double check your files before uploading them. Check once again in the shopping cart or in the job management portal for the preview of the file you have uploaded.

• Find a printing company with a free file preview. These same companies have a free digital proof that gives you a last minute chance to make corrections before they send your file for production. Please take these precautions seriously, don’t waive your right to proof unless you’re absolutely sure you have everything in place.

• Sending in the right file can also mean that you need to send it in the right file format. Review which acceptable file formats are printed because some printing companies vary with their requirements.

• File for offset posters, custom posters and even large format prints may vary. Check to see in which print process your poster files falls under and see if you are sending in your files in the needed formats.

2) Scale your Image to Poster Size

• Standard offset posters sizes are 11×17, 18×24, 24×36, and 27×39 inches. Be sure your posters are designed to meet these specifications.

• You can print your posters in custom-sizes with high-gloss and semi-gloss posters coming in at a maximum of 58” x 100” with half-inch increments.

3) Check your resolution

• A problem with resizing a poster is that it may lead to distortion, thus changing the resolution and possibly affecting the quality of the image. When you’re resizing your image, remember to make it as minimal as possible. Whenever possible, acquire images in the size you need to print them.

• It’s a common misconception that the smaller the size, the fewer dots per inch it needs to generate high resolution images. Smaller sized posters need higher resolution of at least 200-300 DPI because they are subject to closer inspection. Large format prints should have at least 150 DPI.

• When saving your file, avoid file formats that uses compression like Jpegs. They can ruin the quality of your poster, so opt for lossless files. If you’re file is too big to be sent via the website, call the printing company and ask assistance to transfer files via the file transfer protocol or ftp.

4) Bleeds and Allowances

• Posters are cut in thick stacks. It is possible for the sheet to move when cutting so you should place an extra .25 or 1/16 inch allowance for your poster design. This is called the bleed. Through this, it avoids cutting your offset posters with visible white spaces too.

• You have to also secure your important images and text within .25 inch of the exact size you want your posters printed. This perimeter is called the safe zone where the important elements are secured from being cut off.

The specifications may change from company to company. Make sure you call your poster printing company ahead of time so you can prepare your files.

1. ARTWORK.
This can be a picture, drawing, cartoon, or words you want to put on your t-shirt. This is the starting point of screen printing your t-shirt. This can be done in many different ways using many different software packages. What is key is that the art must be done in vector format. The the main programs professionals (and amateurs) use are Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw.

2. SEPARATIONS or “SEPS”.
Once your art is created, each color must be printed on clear film called separations. These will be used to burn the images for each color into the screen.

3. THE SCREEN.
This is a square metal (usually aluminum) or wooden frame with a screen made of mesh material very tightly stretched over it. It will be used to burn your seps into and to print on the actual shirt.

4. MESH.
This is the material which is stretched over the silk screen frame itself, (as in number 3 above). This mesh material, as its name suggests, has holes in it that can vary in size. The holes allow ink to flow through onto your fabric, in varying quantities depending on your t-shirt design. Different screens have different mesh counts. The lower the number, the more ink it allows in.

5. EMULSION.
This is a substance that when put into the screen, and dried in a dark room it blocks the mesh, preventing the ink flowing through onto your fabric. In areas where the emulsion hardens (by exposure to bright light), the screen is blocked so no ink can pass through. This is imperative to ensure that nothing other than the image you intend to print appears on the final print.

6. COAT THE SCREEN.
This simply means putting the emulsion onto the screen before you begin to burn your artwork to the silkscreen. See number 5.

7. BURNING A SCREEN.
This is the process of using a halogen light (or very high wattage light bulb) to burn your artwork image to the silkscreen. In areas where the emulsion is kept soft (by your image blocking the light) and is eventually washed out of the screen, the ink will pass through to produce your print.

8. HALOGEN OR HIGH WATTAGE LIGHT BULB.
These lights are used to permanently dry the emulsion onto the screen, so no ink can flow through to the screen. It’s used to burn the artwork image onto the screen, so only holes where the artwork blocked the hardening of the emulsion as in 7 above, ink can easily flow through onto your t-shirt creating your design.

9. SQUEEGEE.
This is a tool with a flat rubber blade on one side used to pull ink evenly across the screen mesh.

10. PLASTISOL.
The type of ink used for screen printing. The ink has unique properties, for example, it will not dry even when left out until it is cured under a heat source of 320 degrees.

11. FLASH UNIT.
A device used to dry ink enough to print another color on top of it, but not enough to completely cure it. It is essential when printing colors on top of each other.

12. PALLET.
A piece of rounded wood that you place the shirt on to be printed. There are various sizes to fit various jobs.

13. AUTO PRESS or “AUTO”.
This screen printing press is a very large piece of equipment that once set up properly, will print up to 14 colors automatically. All you have to do is put the shirts on the pallets and take them off.

14. CONVEYOR DRYER.
A large dryer that has a conveyor belt on it so shirts pass through it and then out the other end.

Here are the following custom options you may want to take advantage of:

Small Orders

If you are dealing with a commercial, offset printing company, any print job that is below 250 is considered as a custom print job. Sometimes, even lass than 500 is may also said to be custom printing.

Usually, you had to print a few hundred copies of each print. With digital technology, you can have as little as one. The idea of being able to print a few pieces should instantly start the light bulb in your head.

• You can now employ a more personal advertising strategy. Instead of having generic posters printed by the thousands, you can now print a few dozen posters targeted to a specific customer profile.

• You can send marketing materials more often. Instead of having a thousand pieces of the same material printed once, and sent once, you can have a few hundred prints every now and then. Print a separate advertising material for Christmas and for New Year!

• You can print several pieces to test your market. See how receptive they are to your marketing advances. With fewer prints, it’s easier to use trial and error strategies. You can edit your design several times so when you are ready for the big order, you are confident of how the market will receive it.

Print Sizes

There are different size templates per item. A business card is usually set at 2×3.5 inch while a calendar may either be 11×17 or 12×24. These sizes are the popular print product sizes where most would fit well within accessories, envelopes, and such.

• With custom printing, you have more freedom to explore and go against the common standards. So go ahead and print in sizes that will unleash and liberate your creativity.

• Small but Terrible. Printing in the right size, which may be smaller than the usual, can be just as trendy or even more functional. Use custom printing to start your own fad. Use it too to make it more advantageous for you to make your prints handy. Only a few magazines had dared publish in a small size, but now, fashion magazines know just what market they have for printing magazines at half sizes.

• Large format prints on the other hand is getting bigger. Make full use of glass windows that you can embellish with large static clings or adhesive vinyl. It pays to have flexible size options to measure exactly what will fit your given space and not work the other way around.

One of a Kind Material

• The standard printing material is the bright white semi-gloss paper. With custom printing, you may have paper ordered specially for you. It can be linen paper with its matte dull finish and texture, or a grainy paper that creates more drama.

• Create and combine your material with finishes and make a pretty cool effect. You can combine select UV coating to give your print out a different texture for starters. This can easily be done on postcards and business cards.

• You can use textured material to compliment other custom jobs such as paper embossing, foil stamping and such.

• Use pearlized ink on black paper for a classic elegant look.

There are many more ways you can explore custom printing for truly trendy and unique advertising materials. Create marketing materials that are tailor fit for your needs. Call your printing company and discuss your printing options.