At this point it is such a cliche to make New Year’s Resolution, and so many people have the experience of making them and not keeping them that it can seem futile. However, setting goals, making timelines for those goals, and periodically reviewing those goals is always a good idea and a New Year is…
Some reflections at year’s end on lies and truth in our industry, here are a lucky 7 of each for you: Lies: “One Coat” ink is the answer to all your printing problems.” I made that name up, but no ink is the answer to all your printing problems. There is no miracle white ink…
We print a lot of canvas bags and in particular for made in USA companies who send us the canvas to print before they are sewn. We have printed everything from 6 ounce to 22 ounce and all kinds of weaves. We recently screwed up an order and it reminded me of everything that can…
People always are asking how to be a better screenprinter. Today let’s talk some philosophy with our inspiration coming from power hitter J.D. Martinez who just signed a 110 million dollar contract with the Red Sox, 71 year old hitting instructor Craig Wallenbrock, and Martin Luther King Jr. How do you make your printing better?…
This “expectation vs. reality” example shows that this “simple” and “clever” concept is actually not so simple to achieve (and maybe not that clever?) We get a ton of requests to print black ink on a black shirt. To achieve the effect, the following considerations must be taken into account: First, and most importantly, what…
From our pal Brett Bowden at Printed Threads in Texas comes this tale of woe. It doesn’t seem right to publish a story about a “bedeviled” Christian shirt on Christmas (this coming Monday) so we put this out today, a Friday. The joys of printing on Triblends (cotton, polyester, rayon) that are 100% black… Our…
Somebody showed me a shirt and asked what caused all sorts of problems with the print. What we see: Filled in negative space Registration problems including white underprint showing where it should not Blurry image “Bumpy” print, not smooth White ink turned pink What is causing all these problems? So what are the…
BELLA+CANVAS has started a youtube channel and just released videos on three of their garments being printed with specialty inks: triblend printed with adhesive and then foil applied, slub being printed with metallic ink, and black heather being printed with reflective ink. They are simple and to the point and worth checking out. Look for them…
Comfort Colors just sent out an email blast promoting their decorating tips. You can read about many different ways to make your comfort colors shirts look better. This seems to be part of a wave of garment companies looking to help their customers proactively with tips on decoration, rather than waiting for decorators to run…
I woke up to a Business Insider article about the decline of retail stores. They report that a third of malls are in danger of closing, and that visits to malls decreased 50% from 2010 to 2013. Noted at our industry shows, American Apparel will be closing their 110 retail locations and Abercrombie closing…
