METHOD SCREEN PRINTING

Feel free to take advantage of our free resources to further your knowledge about screen printing shirts. If you have any questions that are not addressed here please feel free to contact us.

ARTWORK

PRINT-READY ARTWORK

DIGITAL ARTRASTER ARTVECTOR ARTPANTONE MIXINGSTANDARD PANTONE LISTSIZE AND PLACEMENTMOCKUPSCLIP ARTRELABEL

What is print-ready artwork? If you are not a graphic designer, you may not be familiar with what is considered print ready art work. In this section, we’ll cover a few basic to help you better understand what makes the condition of the art so important when it comes to your final product.

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Raster Images VS Vector Images

DIGITAL ARTWORK

There are two types of digital graphics files – vector and raster. Vector images are made of hundreds of thousands of tiny lines and curves (or paths) to create an image. Raster images are composed of pixels. When it comes to screen printing, we recommend providing a vector image when possible. Vector art will produce the cleanest lines in screen printing and the artwork can be scaled to any size without losing any quality. Raster files run the risk of pixelating, which can transfer to print, when it is enlarged beyond it’s original size.

Method Chicago Custom Screen Printing - Pantone Ink Mixing System

PANTONE INK MATCHING

We stock a large selection of inks, but we will Pantone match when requested. Branding has become essential to the success of a business, so we understand the importance of a branding guide. We mix our inks based on Pantone Solid Coated. If you’re building art for screen printing, it is recommended you design using Pantone Solid Coated as it is the industry standard. Please note that an official Pantone book is the most accurate way to reference Pantone colors, as colors vary from screen to screen, but if you do not have a Pantone book feel free to download the digital version here:

PANTONE SOLID COATED BOOK

Method Chicago Screen Printer's Pantone List

STANDARD PANTONE LIST

Requesting a custom mixed Pantone may result in additional fees for your project. You can always substitute the colors in your design with a color off of our standard Pantone list to avoid additional fees. Please note that an official Pantone book is the most accurate way to reference Pantone colors, as colors vary from screen to screen. View Method’s standard Pantone list here:

METHOD’S STANDARD PANTONE LIST

Madeira Thread Colors

EMBROIDERY THREAD COLOR OPTIONS

We offer a large selection of thread options for embroidery. These thread options are provided by Madeira, a thread company since 1919. If you’re building art for embroidery, it is recommended you design using Madeira thread colors as it is a number one provider in the industry. Please note that an official Madeira Thread Book is the best representation of the thread colors but if you do not have access to a physical thread book feel free to download the digital version here:

MADEIRA POLYNEON THREAD BOOK

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Print Area Icon

DESIGN SCALE AND PLACEMENT

More often than not, the decoration scale does not change in production. The maximum size and placement of a design vary garment to garment. We have to make sure we size your design so that it properly fits on the smallest garment chosen. Things like construction, seams, and even collars also need to be taken into consideration. You can view our guide lines for some basic decoration areas here:

SCREEN PRINT AREA GUIDE

EMBROIDERY AREA GUIDE

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Custom Printed Shirt Mockup - Icon

CREATING A MOCKUP

There are a variety of different ways to mockup your design. The easiest is finding an image of a blank shirt online and placing your design on top of the image. It can be hard to scale a garment 100% accuarately, but it can be very helpful to have a visual reference when it’s done correctly. Here are some pre-set mockups for you to use for reference. (They are photoshop .psd files) :

SHORT SLEEVE SHIRT MOCKUP

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Custom Designed Shirt - Icon

DESIGN RESOURCES

If you’re looking for fonts and clipart to help you with a design, there are plenty options out there. We recommend hiring a professional graphic designer if you’re an established business or brand, however if you are just starting off or have a small project, we understand that may not be an option. There are free and affordable tools available to you. View some of the sites for more information:

CLIP ART : vectorizee.comfreepik.com
FONTS : dafont.com, fontsquirrel.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS : dribbble.com, instagram.com

Method Custom Screen Printing - Custom Printed Brand Relabels

CREATE A CUSTOM RELABEL

If you want to rebrand your custom printed apparel with screen printed labels, we have you covered! Follow the simple instructions included in this template file. You can find care instructions icons and descriptions here as well. If you have any questions please contact us at : [email protected]

RELABEL TEMPLATE
CARE INSTRUCTION ICONS

APPAREL

LEARN YOUR APPAREL OPTIONS

PRODUCT CATALOGSPOPULAR PRODUCTS

There a hundreds of styles of apparel available to print on. Certain print methods require a specific fiber content, so keep that in mind when selecting your garments.

Method Screen Printing Apparel Catalogs

CATALOGS BY BRAND

Here, we’ve put together various catalogs from a variety of popular brands for you to reference. You can also go to our products page and see popular products by style or brand.

VIEW CATALOGS

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Custom Printed and Embroidered Products - Icon

VIEW POPULAR PRODUCTS

If you’re just starting out and are unsure of the garments to use for your project, a good start would be viewing our popular products page to see what other customers have used for their projects. There are also catalogs to show a brand’s full selection of products.

VIEW POPULAR PRODUCTS

PRINTING

PRINT METHODS

MESH COUNTSUNDER BASESSHOPWORN & DISTRESS

By now, I’m sure you know there are a lot of print methods available to you, but how do you get the result your looking for? That’s where we come in! We have a ton of resources and knowledge at our disposal. Take a look a few pointers we’ve laid out for you.

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Mesh Count Information

HOW MESH COUNTS AFFECT YOUR PRINT

The mesh count of a screen varies and different mesh counts are used for different printing methods. If you want a lot of detail in a print, you’ll need a higher mesh count to hold smaller halftones and lines. A Lower mesh will result in more ink flow to create an opaque print. There’s no “better” mesh count, it really depends on your design and the level of detail present in the artwork.

VIEW THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT MESH COUNTS (Coming Soon!)

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Under Base - Icon

UNDER BASING YOUR PRINT

An underbase is used when you want an opaque print using light colored ink going on dark colored garments. A white surface is printed under colors that need a bright surface to pop off of dark garments. If you don’t underbase lighter inks, they will not print their true color on darker garments, which is never ideal. When this is necessary, we will add the underbase to your artwork.

VIEW A PRINTED EXAMPLE OF THE DIFFERENCE

Method Chicago Screen Printing - Custom Printed Vintage Distressed Shirts

SHOPWORN AND DISTRESSED PRINTS

A Shopworn print is a design printed with a low deposit of ink to create a vintage-looking print that is soft to the touch. Shopworn prints often look best on heather shirts. A distressed print is when a distress mask is added to a design to create a broken and cracked print.

VIEW EXAMPLES OF SHOPWORN AND DISTRESSED PRINTS (Coming Soon!)

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