Friday I did test printing of a new design. It turned out FABULOUS! It was a one color design printed with a 156 mesh screen. The screen was coated with a 1 x 1 coat of emulsion. I was so excited with how it turned out I took it with me to a baby shower yesterday. The design itself received wonderful reviews which made me very happy. The color combinations I chose for the shirt and ink also received great reviews. I did get mixed reviews on one shirt/ink color combination. I absolutely agreed with it. I wasn't happy with the ink color myself but its good to print them out and see how they look.
Graphic design programs are great because you can change the color of the design and the shirt color with the click of a button. I can get an idea of the colors I want but nothing is concrete until I print it on a shirt. I am such a visual person and I can't get a solid feel for colors until its actually on a shirt. Here are the steps I go through before I decide if a shirt is ready for production. I am not sure if its the right way to do things but it works for me.
1) First, I finalize the design itself. This is where I add any distressed effects to the design. Once I am happy with a design, I do test printing on ANY color shirt just so I can see if I am happy with the design in print form. I go back and make any adjustments needed including the size of the design.
2) Once I am completely happy with the design I start working with color combinations. I usually put together at least 4 different shirt/ink color combinations. This gives me a very good range of colors. I try to stick with the top 5-10 most popular shirt colors. Most shirt wholesalers have that information.
3) After I have my color combinations, I run to my local thrift store (luckily it is only 10 minutes from my house) and purchase blank shirts in the colors I need. This is a lot cheaper, faster and more convenient then spending money to order blank shirts you think "might" work. I usually have no problem finding the colors I need and it only costs me $4.
4) Now I print up the color combinations to see if they look good in print. I may need to make a few minor adjustments in this area but I usually come up with the combinations I want to put into production.
This process works great for me.
Thanks for reading!
Jeanette
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