Artwork Preperation

Artwork for Screen Printing

The process of Screen Printing requires a screen for each colour that is to be printed within a design, because of this all artwork that is made up of more than one colour has to be broken down into its constituent colours.

Graphic Art Program Files

Computer generated artwork comes in two types Vector or Bitmap though they can have as many different file extensions as there are computer programs. If you use a digital camera, the photographs are created as JPG formats, also images that have been scanned into a computer will be bitmaps.

Vector

Where a design is multicoloured and has been wholly created and saved as a Vector file it will be made up of layers. This makes the separation of the colours in the artwork for printing easier and less costly. Two Graphic Programs that are Vector based are CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator.

All files sent to us must be readable in CorelDRAW 12 or lower and set for PC Windows 2000. If you use a vector based programme other than CorelDRAW and you are uncertain whether your files will open correctly please contact us by email or telephone for advice.

Bitmap

When a design is in a Bitmap file format it is more difficult to change the artwork and break it down for printing. If the artwork was created in a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop and the layers preserved it can be used in much the same way as Vector based Artwork. If the artwork is in a Bitmap format such as TIFF or JPG without the layers preserved then the artwork may have to go through a more expensive process to brake the design down so it can be screen printed.

Best file formats to send your artwork are as follows:
Bitmaps, psd with layers preserved, tif or jpg

All files have to be at a resolution of 200ppi at the same size as the artwork is to be printed on the garment they also need to be set to be readable in windows 2000 PC.

Simulated Process Printing

Most printing of paper starts with a white sheet of paper but garments come in white and colours and it is the printing of coloured garments such as black which mean that special printing methods such as Simulated Process Printing is best suited when the design is tonal in nature. Simulated Process printing is used when a photographic image is to be printed on black or dark coloured garments. Simulated Process printing is expensive at the separation stage and becomes economical with longer print runs.

Artwork for Digital Printing

Artwork can be in either Bitmap or Vector file formats for Digital Printing because a Digital Printer uses a Rip program to break down all images into four or six colours to match the number of coloured ink cartridges there are in the digital colour printer that will be printing the garments or paper.

Process Printing & Digital Printing

Process Printing like Digital Printing is printed with a minimum of four colours – Black, Yellow, Magenta and Cyan – but some designs require one or more spot colours to be printed to enhance the image, especially where text is used.

Spot Colour Printing

Spot Colour printing is the most commonly used printing method for printing garments. The Skulls design below is white ink printed on a black t-shirt as it only requires one colour to be printed it does not need to go through the expense of a Simulated Process Separation. The Gymnastics design is made up of two spot colours the black makes up the drop shadow as well as the solid black of the figure and the outline of the text, the red makes the second colour to be printed. If this design were being printed on a coloured shirt other than white it would need to have a white colour printed for the white areas in the figure and the text; as in the third image below.