When shopping for custom t-shirts in Columbus Ohio, there’s a whole lot of different choices to try to navigate through. Ideally, it’s usually more convenient to do one stop shopping and find a local t-shirt printing shop that can cater to all three different options.

The first and most common option is screen printing. It is usually the most cost-effective application if the quantity is over 72 pieces at a time and there are less than three colors involved in the image. The very nature of screen printing requires a color separated piece of artwork. A vectorized image is preferred because it’s easier to manipulate and pull the colors out of the image for separations. It normally uses a plastisol ink, which if done correctly, lasts a very long time without fading. The most important facet of determining its longevity is relevant to getting a very good cure on the ink. Most plastisol inks cure at about 320°. This, however, can vary from different brands. It also requires that each color in the image is applied to a different screen.

Custom embroidery on the other hand is a whole different type of application entirely. It’s all computer driven. The very first thing that needs to take place is there needs to be a piece of software established that will tell the computer how to embroider the image. Typically, once it’s established, it can be reused over and over again as long as it doesn’t change in any way shape or size. That said, flat items are a little different than hats. The reason I mention this is because hats unlike golf shirts and jackets which are flat, have to be embroidered on a radius so the software needs to be created a little differently. I highly recommend choosing a Columbus embroidery company that will supply a completed example of your logo on a piece of material before they ever start to put it on any of your apparel. This is done to make sure it’s to your liking. Choose one that has a system of checks and balances throughout the production process to ensure that there’s no unforeseen surprises when you go to open up a box of completed product.

Another option you might want to consider for t-shirt printing is DTF (direct to film application.) The beauty of this state of the art method, can potentially offer huge advantages if the design you’re wanting to implement happens to be composed of many different colors and the quantity is under 72 pieces at a time. Another huge advantage is it doesn’t necessarily require vectorized artwork because there are no color separations involved. In addition, it works much better on half tones in gradations as the dot patterns can be much higher than what can normally be replicated through a conventional screen printing application.