Evolving Technology Means Better Branded Apparel for Your Business
We’ve been outfitting Charleston businesses, organizations, schools, and clubs with branded apparel for 28 years. As you can imagine, the ink color technology of screen printing has evolved dramatically over three decades.
As new equipment and printing techniques emerge, we’ve been quick to adapt and change. Our No. 1 goal is to give our customers high-quality apparel and promotional items. So we want to stay up with the latest trends and state-of-the-art equipment.
For most of our time in business, screen printing (also known as silk screening or silk screen printing) has been accomplished by transferring a stenciled design onto a fabric using a mesh screen, ink, and a rubber blade (basically a squeegee). This method of printing results in a great finish. It’s also cost-effective for large orders. And this process uses quite a bit of ink so the colors are vibrant.
We recently invested in a new direct-to-film transfer machine that allows us to overcome some of the drawbacks of traditional screen printing and give our customers more choices and even better quality.
With the direct-to-film transfer machine, we can apply the application to a wide variety of fabrics, cotton, polyester, and tri-blends. Our customers love having more options for their branded apparel.
The image quality is even better. This machine prints with a higher resolution, so the colors are even more bold and vibrant.
A few other benefits of our enhanced printing technology:
- No more color separations (one screen was needed for each color printed or you need to get inks and screens to blend well together), which can be a tedious and lengthy – and therefore an expensive process.
- The image is relatively smooth and blends into the feel of the shirt. Traditional screen printing technology often made the image look slightly raised on the garment.
- We can print full-color images on a wider variety of fabric types. Customers are no longer limited to just white cotton shirts.
- Our new machinery takes up less physical space in our shop. That means we can accommodate more machines and process more orders at a time. Customers love faster turnaround times!
We’re also using more water-based inks. This is an eco-friendlier option and safer for all our customers. When printing items specifically for children and pets, we must comply with certain safety regulations. Water-based inks allow us to provide safe and compliant products for kids and dogs!
One other big advantage of direct-to-film transfer is that customers can place smaller orders while sticking to their budget. Screen printing is most cost-effective for large quantities, but now we can print smaller quantities to accommodate clubs, small events, or family functions.
It’s been exciting for us to watch the screen printing industry transform over the last 28 years. We can’t wait to see how it continues to evolve.
We’ll be staying on top of the new technology and bringing all the latest innovations to our customers. And that’s just another benefit of working with a local printer. You can visit our facility, and ask questions about our technology and process so you get exactly what you ordered.
Request a quote or stop by our showroom (1758 Ashley River Road in Charleston) where you can chat with our garment gurus and get advice from our rockstar design team.