Supplied Vector Art

A lot of business already have their logo in a usable vector format. If you already have your logo in a usable vector file, great! We can use that art and there are no art fees to be paid. And why should there be a fee? You’ve already had the hard part done for us!!

Your graphic artist should have given you a couple of different formats (.ai, .cdr. eps) and should have given you a full color version and a monochromatic version of the art. If you are wanting a single color print we will need the monochromatic file. We also need all fonts converted to outlines so we don’t have to worry about having the font already.

Don’t know what files you have? Send them all to us. We can take a look at the files and let you know which one we need or if none are actual vector files. We promise we won’t print your logo without your okay.

Artwork Services

Most people are not artists (it’s okay, we understand, not all of us at Mr. Tees are artists either) and need someone to put something together for them. We can do that! And not to brag (totally going to brag here), but we’re pretty good at it!!

We have an artist on staff that is great at what he does. You can stop by most days and talk to him about what you are wanting done. He works in Adobe Illustrator and can piece together something just for you!!

It does, however, take time to put together the perfect piece of art for your project. Since art is time consuming and does require some skill, we do charge an hourly fee to put together the art for your project. 

Generally, if you already have a good idea of what it is that you are wanting, it takes about an hour of artwork time to get it put together and get a proof ready for your approval.

If you are unsure of what you are wanting or if there are a lot of changes to the art, it can take more time and that’s okay. Just keep in mind that we may need to charge a bit more.

Ultimately, we want you to have a finished project that you like and can help to walk you through the process and get it all figured out.

***Artwork for screen printing needs to be in a vector format. Vector format is art files that have been created in a graphic design program. JPG files, screen shots or other files not created in a graphic design program cannot be used and will either need to be recreated by our artist or converted using a outside service. You can see the previous blog post regarding vector art vs raster art for more information on the different file types.

Vector Art vs Raster Art vs Ditigized Art

Vector art files, raster art files and digitized art files are three different file types. Each is created in it’s own program and each has it’s own purpose. The three different types are not interchangeable files.

Vector Art vs Raster Art

The difference between vector and raster graphics is that raster graphics are composed of pixels, while vector graphics are composed of paths. A raster graphic, such as a gif or jpeg, is an array of pixels of various colors, which together form an image. A vector graphic, such as an .eps file or Adobe Illustrator file, is composed of paths, or lines, that are either straight or curved. The data file for a vector image contains the points where the paths start and end, how much the paths curve, and the colors that either border or fill the paths. Because vector graphics are not made of pixels, the images can be scaled to be very large without losing quality.

All vector art files are created in graphic arts programs such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw and are necessary for screen printing or any other type of signage that will need to have the sizing adjusted to fit the item it is going on. Vector files are not the same as raster files, or what most people know as jpeg or jpg files, gif files, or png files. You can save vector files as raster files for use on the web.

Raster files are files that are made up of pixels. These files are often used on the internet since they don’t take up much space. Raster graphics become “blocky,” since each pixel increases in size as the image is made larger causing the edges to look jagged and the image to blur making it a poor candidate for screen printing. This is why logos and other designs are typically created in vector format because the quality will look the same on a business card as it will on a billboard. Because of this, we cannot take images from the internet and use them to print shirts. You cannot save a raster file as a vector file and convert it to a vector file. 

Digitized Art vs Vector/Raster Art

Digitized files are files specifically for embroidery. The most common embroidery file is a DST file, but different machines will use different file types. Embroidery machines require formats which Illustrator does not export. The embroidery machine is dependent upon a file which plots coordinates, in correct sequence, for each stitch. It’s not just a simple matter of drawing an outline and then telling the machine to “fill it with stitches.” Because there are many kinds of stitch patterns, all of varying density, the code driving the machine has to explicitly tell the machine where to insert the needle for each stitch. What this means is that embroidery machines cannot read a vector or raster file since those files have no way of telling the embroidery machine where to place each individual stitch that will make up your embroidery art.

Converting vector art to a digitized file is a specialized process so we send that out to the experts to have that done. This guarantees the best stitch file we can get and that your shirts look great when we are done.

Things Sometimes Happen…

There’s a lot of different processes that go into getting the perfect print on a shirt. Sometimes, however, things can (and do) happen that can bring production to a screeching halt! Machinery and equipment can go awry.

One of those things is a tear in the screen. 

AugustaSoul

Keeping It Local

We love doing work for our local small businesses. Here are some samples of some local business that wanted shirts, hats, and leather patches that had a simple print that would be noticed!

AugustaSoul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Augusta Soul!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhinehart’s Oyster Bar!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy Jordan’s Bicycle Warehouse!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soul Bar!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trapp Window Tinting!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stillwater Taproom!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oxygen Fitness!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harlem Java!!

Screen Print Hats

There’s more options available than just embroidery on hats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes artwork has a distressed look to it or the art has small, thin lines that doesn’t work well with embroidery. When this happens an alternative might be screen printing on hats!

Another misconception is that screen printing on hats is only really viable on a trucker hat. Not true! While is does look really good on a trucker hat, it looks good on your standard “dad hat” too.

In order to screen print on hats we do still have a minimum of 12 and we can only do it in 1 color. But it is a nice option to have available and in some cases is a more cost effective option.

The Shop

Sometimes people wonder what it’s like out in the shop. The first thing I tell them it’s hot, very hot sometimes in mid-July. And with the humidity it only gets hotter! This pic was taken on a day that it was about 85 outside. With all the equipment running the temp gets up there. In the winter it can be quite cold without the equipment running warming things up for us. Spring and fall aren’t too bad!!

 

 

 

 

After we talk about the temp I get to tell them about some of the cool stuff we do and the equipment we get to play with all the time. We have an M&R 8 color, 10 station automatic press and a 4 color, 4 station manual press.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also have an M&R Boomrang gas dryer that takes up a lot of room out in the shop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also have embroidery equipment, a vinyl cutter and a heat press, not to mention all the equipment that is needed in order to get to the printing part!

Giving Back…Our Foster Dogs

Here at Mr. Tees we like to give back a little bit every now and then. One way we do that is by fostering dogs! We work with a local rescue group, Dog Networking Agents. They find homes for dogs that come from a variety of situations. Some are strays others are owner surrenders. Either way they need a new home and a family of their own. We’ve had 3 fosters find homes since February!

Here is our first foster Stella! She is such a sweet baby. She came into the shelter as a stray. No one knew her story but they knew she was too sweet to leave there by herself. Being a pitty mix AND heart worm positive made her chances of adoption slim. So we agreed to take her as our first foster. We gave her all of her treatments and taught her manners. We showed her love and watched her little personality come to life. After several months of looking for just the right family for her she hit the jackpot and went to her furever home.

She found a great family!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Lil Miss Fancy Pants! Okay, her name really isn’t Lil’ Miss Fancy Pants. It’s just Fancy, but she was so sassy she deserved the full name! She came into the shelter as an owner surrender. She was terrified and didn’t understand what was going on. So we decided to foster her. It didn’t take long for this lovely senior pup (she is 10 years old!) to find a momma that just loves her to pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our third foster is Fantastic Mr. Jack, or as I like to call him Jumpin’ Jack Flash. We got him by accident. He just need a place to stay while his original foster mom had to go out of town. At not quite a year old he’s was still a puppy. He bonded with our grand pup so now he’s kinda a foster failure since he’s staying in the family with his new BFF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are so many more success stories! Check out the pics below!!

Artwork, Concept to Completion

It’s often interesting to see how artwork can start as a hand drawing or a basic concept and ends up as a completed, digital, ready for screen printing piece of art.

Often people come by or call and have an idea in their head of what they want their finished product to look like. For some they know exactly what they want and have something put together for us to use. For others they have elements and general ideas of what they want but need some help putting it all together. Below is an illustration of what artwork sometimes starts as and where it ends up.

We started with an idea. We wanted a new Mr. Tees. A rat fink Mr. Tees to be specific! So we called a friend of ours, Mat Woodworth at Bold Line Design and told him our idea. A few days later he sent us this! And it was a good start. From there we discussed edits and changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was put into a graphic design program which smoothed out the edges, cleaned up the lines and added more details to the line drawing. He’s starting to look pretty good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally some color was added! Once all the details were worked out and we made all the changes it was time to add color. This is the final product. From here we can print films and get him on some shirts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty neat huh?