If you want to print custom t-shirts, chances are you know about screen printing. This is a highly versatile way to make custom apparel with many color choices. Plus, it’s relatively cheap and quick. So what’s not to love?
Still, there is a whole world of t-shirt printing. Those options give you so many other exciting possibilities!
We wrote this guide for you to understand all your t-shirt printing options—not just screen printing! This will help spark your imagination, or at the very least, it should familiarize you with a broader range of apparel printing methods.
Let’s start with the all-time favorite. Regular screen printing is the single most popular way for people to get customized apparel. Screen printing involves:
This process can produce bold colors, cool designs, and multi-colored graphics. However, because of the stencil approach, the graphics need to be fairly simplified to work well.
This technique works quite differently from the others on the list. Rather than adding ink, this bleaches darker fabric to create the design.
The method gives a vintage, well-worn look that is perfect for a breathable print—unlike the heavier and stiffer results of certain ink types. Not all designs will work with discharge printing, but it’s a unique way to create memorable custom apparel.
Want more texture for your design? Then, you’ll want to check out puff printing. This technique mixes in a special additive with your ink. When heated, that additive expands, leading to a raised, three-dimensional print.
Puff prints give a lot of tactile appeal, and they hold up especially well on heavier articles like sweaters. It adds a premium look and feel to your custom apparel printing.
Puff prints give you added dimension, and high-density printing takes this one step further. In this system, you get an even more pronounced texture for your designs.
Using thicker ink, high-density apparel printing uses a specialty screen that creates deep dimensionality in a highly controlled way. That lets you achieve greater detail than with puff prints. It’s durable, eye-catching, and tactile.
We’ve seen how we can manipulate color and texture, but glitter and metallic ink add in sparkle and shine.
Both of these offer strong visual dynamics to a custom apparel order.
This combination gives you the bold colors and crisp lines of screen printing, plus the premium details of embroidered elements. Despite the jaw-dropping results, many people overlook this possibility for custom t-shirt printing.
Each technique brings its own strengths to your project. Put together, they allow for a layered and complex look.
If you want photorealistic prints, this is the single best option. In this method, dye is transferred directly onto the fabric using heat.
Unfortunately, you can only use sublimation printing with polyester. But if that isn’t a limitation for your next custom apparel order, you are in luck. Sublimation printing gives limitless possibilities for images you can apply to clothing.
For your next custom apparel order, consider all your options. Maybe you want the textured feel of a puff or high-density print? Or the visual dazzle of glitter and metallic ink? Whatever your needs, we can help.
Apparel Sourcing USA has the facilities to print in all the methods listed above. Reach out today to learn more!