Pricing for Screen Printing

There are a lot of different things that go into the price of your screen printing order. Below is some of the information we will need to know.

1) The brand and style of the shirts you are wanting. The most popular is a Gildan Heavy Cotton. It comes in toddler all the way up to adult sizes. Keep in mind they do not make all of the adult colors in youth and toddler sizes. There are other brands and styles and the pricing will change based on what you are looking to get.


2) The number of print locations. Front and back, front only, back only, sleeve print, etc. The number of print locations increases the pricing. An order with front, back and both sleeves printed will up the cost per shirt by quite a bit.


3) The number of colors being printed in each location. The more print colors the more it adds to the cost of the shirt. We have to create a different screen for each color being printed and any ink other than white, black or navy may require a white under base so the ink color does not pick up the shirt color. A good example of this is if you have a blue shirt with yellow print. Without a white under base yellow and blue makes green and you print will look green.


4) The total number of shirts you are getting. We have a minimum of 12 per order. The more you get the less it is per shirt. There are several different price breaks, 12-23, 24-49, 50-74, 75-99, 100-149, 150-199, 200-249, 250-299, 300-499, 500-999 and 1000+. For each quantity break the price will drop a little bit per shirt. The highest priced quantity per shirt is 12-23.


5) The same size art and exact same art going across everything. Toddler shirts and the smaller youth shirts would be their own order and the bigger youth shirts and adult shirts would be their own order. We cannot fit the adult size print on the smaller shirts. This means we have to create a different set of screens for the different size print that will be required and each order is priced based on the total for the artwork that fits those shirts.


6) Vector art. Do you already have the art done in a usable vector format (something that was created in Adobe Illustrator)? We have to use vector art for screen printing. If we have to create/recreate/convert the art for you we charge an hourly rate to do that.

Do you know what brand/style/color shirt? About how many shirts? What color(s) are in the print for the front? Back? Do you already have the art? Or just a concept? When do you need the shirts?

We will be asking all of these questions when you reach out to us for a quote! If you don’t know for sure, that’s alright! We can give you some rough ideas on how much it may be based on some hypothetical situations. Your final pricing may differ, however, once we get all the details worked out. We will always give you some exact pricing long before we print anything for you so you will always know how much everything will be!!

Shop Dryer Auto Press

Spring Cleaning?

Do you have any idea how dirty a screen print shop can get?!

It can get a bit crazy out there sometimes. With blank shirts, boxes, screens, inks, etc being used all day, everyday things can get quite messy. We do our best to keep things picked up and organized but every so often we have to stop everything and get down and dirty cleaning up the little stuff that can end up everywhere!

Lint and ink are the two biggest culprits. Lint comes off every single shirt that comes into the shop from the time we pull them out of the boxes from the distributor, to laying them out when they are ready to print, to putting them on the press and pulling them off the press, to folding, stacking and boxing. Lint is constantly floating everywhere and landing on everything and get into everything. 

We often compare screen printing ink to glitter. Once you get it on you, it gets everywhere. What adds to that is screen printing ink only dries once it reaches a certain temperature for a specific amount of time, kind of like baking cookies. So once you get wet ink on your hands, arms, pant legs, whatever, you carry it all over the place with you. We clean it up as best we can when we see it, but it does leave it’s mark wherever it has been.

About once a year we stop the press, literally, and give everything a good scrub down. It’s amazing what a good cleaning can do for a space. Check out our handy work!

Now we are ready to get it all dirty again!!

Shop Dryer Auto Press
Shop Dryer Auto Press

 

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Shop Auto Press

 

Shop Manual Press
Shop Manual Press

 

Shop Dryer
Shop Dryer

Making Adjustments For Embroidery

Often we don’t think about all the different ways logos are going to be used when they are being created. Because of that, some adjustments may need to be made for different things. Embroidery is one of those things! Embroidery on hats is something else to consider altogether!!

When sewing a logo on, say, a polo, logos can be pretty tall and it isn’t a problem. There’s plenty of vertical space to work with on shirts. When sewing on hats you have a very limited space of about 2.25 inches. Anything bigger than that won’t work for a hat. Because of this some adjustments will need to be made to any vertical logo to make it fit where it needs to be.

We can often accomplish this by using the main elements of your logo and just reworking it a bit. Bubbles or Not in Harlem GA has a logo that is a perfect example of this. Their standard logo is vertical, but when they wanted to get some hats made we needed to change a few things up to make it happen.

 

 

This is their standard logo. It works great on apparel! It does not, however, work great for hats. This version of their logo is over 3 inches tall.

 

 

 

 

 

How did we solve this problem? Glad you asked!! We took the diver and the text, reworked it a bit and just like that, we have a file that will work great for a hat!!

Lakeside Beanies

Not Everything Embroiders The Same

When it’s cold out, we get a lot of requests to embroider on beanies and of course we can sew on beanies! We just have to take a few things into consideration before doing it.

All knit items have a texture and a certain amount of thickness and stretch to them. Beanies have a lot more stretch than most, for good reason. What can happen with embroidery is the fine lines and details can sink right into all that texture and get lost. There are a couple of different ways we can fix that problem.

The first one is by using what is called a knockdown stitch. We add some stitching behind what is being put on the item (beanies, sherpa pullovers and blankets, towels, etc.) using a thread color that is as close as we can get to the garment color. This makes it a lot less noticeable and many don’t even see it’s there until we point it out to them. This allows the parts of the embroidery you want to see to sew on top so you can actually see what it is!

Another option is to sew a full background giving your embroidery image the look of a patch. We can put a thick edging on it to add to that look. We make the background what ever color you like and sew all the important stuff on top of it giving it a completely different look.

Below is one example of a beanie without anything, with a knockdown stitch and with a solid fill background. Check out the difference!!

Lakeside Beanies

Can We Remove Existing Embroidery On A Garment?

Lately we have been getting this question asked of us. Can we remove embroidery that is already on a garment? It can be done, but we do not offer that service for a few different reasons.

It is incredibly time consuming to remove existing embroidery. The type of stitching used can depend on the amount of time it takes to remove existing embroidery from an item. A satin stitch is easier to remove than a step stitch. It can take an hour or longer to remove a small left chest embroidery.

It’s going to leave a mark. If the new embroidery you are wanting to place in that spot doesn’t cover where the existing embroidery already was, you will see where the old embroidery was located. Embroidery machines punch holes in fabric when stitching. When the thread is removed, those holes stay and there’s no way to really fix it.

It can damage the garment. The scissors, razors, and needles used to remove existing embroidery can, and often does, damage the garment. Large holes can be put into the fabric by accident that will ruin the garment.

If you want to have new embroidery put on an old garment with existing embroidery, you will need to take care of removing the existing embroidery yourself and we will need to take a look at the garment after that is done before we can commit to sewing something new in it’s place. We don’t want to cause more damage to the garment by sewing over already weak fabric.

It will generally prove to be more cost effective and less time consuming to purchase a new garment and have the new embroidery put on it and we are more than happy to help you out with that process!!

Supply Chain Issues

Over the past several months the garment apparel industry has had some supply chain issues. This includes shipping delays and product availability from manufacturers and distributors. This is having an effect on the brand, style and color of available shirts and also turnaround times of you receiving your order.

Shipping issues are a result of the major shipping companies, FedEx, UPS and USPS, having a difficult time keeping up with demand, therefore deliveries of blank products that used to only take a day or two can now take three, four, or more days. Orders from warehouses farther away can take five to seven or more days just to get the items in our warehouse. It has become such an issue that these companies have suspended their shipping guarantees all together. 

The issues with actual blank apparel are a bit more complex. When COVID started to shut everything down, production worldwide stopped. Most of these products come from factories overseas. When they opened back up they had staffing issues for various reasons and have had a difficult time keeping up with demand. COVID also had an effect on the supply chain with getting the finished product out into the market. There are issues with getting the products into shipping containers, getting the containers on the ships, getting the containers unloaded at their final destination, getting the shipping containers through customs, and then, finally with shipping from the port to their destination at various distribution warehouses. All of this due to high demand with the reopening of the economy worldwide and issues with having enough people to do the jobs necessary to get the items where they need to be. 

We are being told by representatives from the different distribution companies that this problem will likely carry over well into 2022 and possibly into 2023. The supply side is working to keep up with the demand side as much as they can.

What this means for our customers is that you may need to have a few different shirt colors in mind, be willing to use multiple brands (this will mean that the shirt colors could be slightly different) and styles (some may be 100% cotton, some 50/50 cotton/poly, and some 100% polyester) and order early if you have a planned event. 


We are doing everything we can to keep our business running as efficiently and as quickly as possible with the circumstances we are currently under. We thank you for your patience and understanding!!

How Long Does Artwork Take?

Good question!! And as with so many things it is never a simple answer. 

The time it takes to create custom art varies greatly and depends on several different things.

  • Do you already have a concept or idea?
  • Is your concept a very general one? Or is it very detailed?
  • Do you already have something done on the computer?
  • Or do we need to create the art from scratch?

It’s okay if you don’t have a very detailed concept or idea. We do, however, need somewhere to start. We are perfectly fine with stick figures drawn on a napkin if that is all you have!! The more detailed the concept, the better. We can help you work through a general concept so you get what you are wanting.

If we are creating something from scratch and it is a simple concept we can usually get the art done in an hour or two. The more complex the design, the longer it takes. And the more changes we need to make the longer it takes. This is why narrowing down your idea is important.

If you already have art that you’ve used for business cards or on your website it may not be in vector format and changes may need to be made to make it something that can be screen printed and/or embroidered. Full color works great on a computer but it doesn’t translate well to screen printing or embroidery. All this means is adjustments may need to be made to simplify your art and that can take some time as well.

For logos already created we would need to get the vector art from you. If you do not have vector art, we would need to recreate the logo as vector art so it will be suitable for the screen printing process. Again, the more complex the existing art the more time it takes to get it recreated/converted to a usable format.

What all this means is that art creation times can vary greatly and it all takes time and a skilled artist.

 

What Time Will My Order Be Done?

We get this question a lot. And the answer isn’t always a specific time. Let me explain.

When you place your order, we can often give you a general day, or even a specific day that it will be done, but we really can’t give a specific time. The reason for that is there are a lot of different things that can affect the timing of your order being done and ready to pick up.

Machinery doesn’t always cooperate. Sometimes things break, chemicals breakdown, or there’s simple human error. 

For screen printing artwork has to be done and approved. Blank shirts need to be ordered. Films and screens need to be created for each color being used in your art and for each location. If there are any errors in any of these things delays can happen.

Once we get the blank shirts here and counted, Sean has to set up the print and each location has to be set up separately. The screens that were created need to be lined up exactly so everything looks good on the final product. The more colors being used, the more time it takes to set up. If there were any errors in the film making process this is where it is usually noticed and new screens need to be created.

Embroidery can have it’s own set of issues, but many are similar to screen printing. Sometimes there are technical difficulties with the machine, needle and thread breaks to contend with and sometimes there’s human error involved. It can also take awhile for the machine to simply sew the final product. The more stitches in the art the longer it can take.

We do everything we can to lessen the issues that can arise, but sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control that can contribute to what time your order will be completed. Have faith though, we haven’t missed a deadline yet!!

 

Sublimation Dog Tag

Dye Sublimation Printing

We now offer dye sublimation printing!!!

So what is dye sublimation printing you ask? Well, there’s a bunch of science involved. Sublimation ink, or infusible ink, is printed on special paper. That paper is heat pressed on to a polyester or polymer coated item. The combination of heat, pressure, and time turns the ink into a gas. The gas attaches itself to the polymer and once it is cooled the image is a permanent part of the item. See, SCIENCE!!

We recently purchased all the stuff (printer, ink, paper, etc.) to print dye sublimated shirts, sweatshirts, patches, tumblers, metal signs, tags, socks, glass for photos, and a whole lot more!!. After a few weeks of practicing (if you follow us on our FaceBook @mrteesaugustaga or instagram @mrteesaugustaga pages you will have seen some of the pics) we are pretty sure we got this down!

What all this means is that we can print single shirts!! We can print full color!! We can print pictures on shirts!! There’s a catch though (isn’t there always). This process only works on polyester or high polyester blend garments. And they have to be light color garments since the sublimation printers can’t print white ink and they don’t make white ink for this process. We can print on darker garments, but the colors won’t be vivid. We have samples in the shop for everyone to see.

Images are vivid on white 100% polyester shirts and lose brightness the lower the polyester content in the garment and if the shirt color isn’t white. 

Different poly content and colors can make for some interesting effects though. Something that isn’t 100% poly can give a vintage look to the image. The less the poly, the more vintage it will look. Artwork that is a single dark color can be put on lighter color shirts and you won’t even miss the white print. A good use for this would be a tone on tone look. A light blue shirt with a navy print. Or black print on a coral shirt.

We are working on some more samples so keep an eye on our social media and you can see how the blend/color of the shirt can change the way something looks.

We recently got some dog tags and came up with a unique way to make sure you can be contacted if your furry friend gets away from you. In that blacked out space is a phone number (of course), but also social media contact info (since no one really answers their phone) and we added Jack’s mom’s pic so if he gets out everyone knows who little Jack belongs to!!

Kinda cool, right?

 

Same Day Screen Printing

We often get calls asking if we can screen print shirts for a same day pick up. Honestly, we wish we could. Screen printing is a complicated process that takes a bit of time and here is why…

Custom Art

The art for each order is custom made for the person, school, business, church or organization that is requesting it. Custom art takes time to create. I mean, it is custom right?!

We have an artist here on site that goes over what you want on your shirts, what color shirts you are wanting, how many print locations, how many colors you are wanting to use and then puts it all together for you. Because of all that we have going on, we do not create any art while you wait. It can be a time consuming process and can take a while to get it put together.

After the art is done, a proof is put together and emailed to you for you to look over and make sure it looks the way you want it to look. Generally, this process can take a day or two depending on how quickly we get a response and how many changes may need to be made to the art.

Pre-Screen Printing Processes

Once the artwork has been finalized and approved, we have to print films. Films are what we use to create the screens for your custom order. We print one film for each color being used.

Once films have been printed everything goes into the dark room so we can create the screens. There is an individual screen created for each color being used in your artwork. Screens need to be burned, rinsed out, and then they need to dry. Living in a humid climate some days this process can take a bit longer than other days.

Blank Garments

While artwork is being done, we often get the deposit for the garments. We do not keep any blank garment inventory here. We order as we need the items. Our building isn’t large enough to house and inventory blank items. Most apparel decorators work this way.

Once we get an okay on the work order and a deposit (we will email you a work order that shows all the details of our order and require an approval) we place the order for the blank items you are wanting decorated. We can get most blank garments in a day or two, but that all depends on what items you pick, when we receive the okay on the work order and get the deposit on your order.

Sometimes, however, it can take several days to get the blank garments here. If we can only get the items from a distributors warehouse that is several days shipping from our location or if UPS or FedEx misplace a box it can take anywhere from 5-7 days to get the blank items. We generally try to inform you if the items are a 5-7 day ship to allow you to either okay that time frame or to pick a different item. We cannot control what happens with UPS or FedEx and do our best to notify you if this becomes a problem.

Print Schedule

We place orders on the print schedule based on artwork being finalized and approved, having an approved work order and deposit, and when the blank goods arrive here. 

While all of this is going on, we are going through this same process with others and often other orders are already on the print schedule and in line to be printed when your order is being worked on.

Your order will be placed on the schedule once we have all of the moving parts in place and it is ready for production!!

Set Up Time

The time it takes to set up a print job on the screen printing press is determined by the number of colors that are in your artwork and the complexity of the art. Fine details can be a challenge when lining everything up.

This is where the films and burned screens come into the process. An order that has just one color takes very little set up time as long as the films were done correctly and the screens were burned without any problems. We simply line up the artwork on the press, print a test to make sure everything is good and start printing!

With each additional color being used there is added set up time. We have to line up each color correctly or the final image will not be correct. An order with 6 colors in the print can take several hours to set up before we can even print a test shirt. Lining up all those colors can take a lot of time!!

Order Pick Up

Because of all the different steps involved in printing your custom order, it generally take 7-10 business days from the time we get the artwork finalized and approved, a list of sizes and a work order approved, and half down, to get your final project done. This is a general timeline and can vary depending on how many other orders are already on the print schedule when your order is placed.

Our ultimate goal is to get you a final product that you will love and get it done in a timely fashion. If the day comes when we can do same day printing you will be the first to know!!