Printing Methods

Machine Embroidery

Machine embroidery allows you to add long-lasting logos and bespoke designs to your clothing or accessories. This method is ideal if you want to create professional work uniforms for your staff or high-quality kits for your sports team. The term “machine embroidery” refers to the process of using a specialist embroidery machine to stitch out your design. To create the digital embroidery pattern all you have to do is send us your logo or design. From there our Digitising Specialist will digitise your logo or design turning it into a stitch file that our embroidery machine can then read and use to stitch out the design.

 Pros

• The threads we use are designed to withstand the test of daily wear and constant washing. Especially on garments that require higher temperature washing embroidery is the best option. Usually your embroidered logo will outlast the garment itself.

• The durability of our thread means that the colour sharpness will also be maintained through the lifetime of the garment wear and will be as sharp as the day it was created.

• All other Garment decoration techniques have their merits in terms of the quality of the finished product. In our opinion nothing quite looks as smart and professional as embroidery when done correctly.

• Decoration techniques such as Heat Transfer Vinyl can become more costly when there are a number of different colours used in your logo or design. This is not the case with embroidery where colour numbers have little or no effect on cost.

• Heavy or textured materials such as zip up fleeces or textured baby blankets are specifically suited to embroidery and quite often for these garments embroidery is the only suitable process for personalisation.

Cons

• Embroidery pricing is based on the number of stitches within the design. Therefore the bigger the logo the more expensive it is. So for example if you want your design across the full front or back of a shirt, embroidery is quite often not the most cost effective way of doing this.

• Consideration needs to be given to the weight of the embroidered design on the garment and whether the garment fabric will take the weight without distorting the shape of the clothing item.

• Embroidery is a rigid decoration technique in that the needle and thread can only produce a certain amount of design detail. Machine embroidery techniques have advanced and you would be amazed at what can be achieved but other printing methods such as DTF printing can often show colour gradients and shading which embroidery is not able to do.

• Small detail, especially small text is often not easily recognised when embroidered. While our digitizers are amazing at their jobs and can include some amazing detail in our work in order for text to be clear it really needs to be block stitched which, in turn increases the overall size of the text. To ensure the best outcome for you we would recommend text size of no smaller then 5mm, but prefer to embroider text at 8mm or larger if possible.

 DTF Prints

DTF, or “Direct to Film” is a relatively new printing process using a specific kind of water-based ink to print a film transfer. The transfer is then dried and adhesive powder is applied to the back. Once heat pressed the soft water based ink is transferred to the garment. DTF is an amazing solution for full colour blends and photographic images. DTF prints are created with the latest water based technology, with the softest feel and incredible stretch and rebound.

Pros

• Unlimited colour options, including photo realistic and unrivalled colour blends

• 60+ washes - built to outlast the garment

• DTF is eco Friendly as it uses water based ink

• Works with almost all types of fabrics

• Suitable for small wording printing

• No cutting or weeding needed which can make the printing process much faster

 Cons

• The product has a soft vinyl like feel and is not as soft as DTG printing.

• Can work out to be more expensive if the printing area is large or low quantities

• Our DTF prints have minimum order quantities.

HTV/CAD Cut Vinyl

HTV or heat transfer vinyl (also referred to as CAD Cut Vinyl) is a printing method that takes HTV vinyl that is cut with a specialist cutter. This design is then applied to garments using a heatpress machine. It is an extremely versatile form of printing and can be used on a variety of clothing, accessories, merchandise and even artwork!

 Heat Transfer Vinyl comes with different types: glitter vinyl, holographic design, glow in the dark, 3D, reflective, and flocked to name but a few. Vinyl provides you with extreme flexibility as far as looks and texture. In fact, there is no comparison at all. Regardless of the look you are after, there is sure to be a heat transfer vinyl source that will meet your needs.

  Pros

• Cost effective for simple designs

• Can add depth to designs with textured glitter and flock HTV

• Quicker turn around with simple designs

Cons

• Limited to solid blocks of colour design

• For designs to last, you must follow garment care instructions

• Not as suitable for certain looks or design such as a distressed look

Sublimation

In simple terms, it’s a method of printing that transfers a design into a material, substrate or fabric using ink and heat. In the world of garment decoration it allows printing on the whole garment with designs that go seam-to-seam. Aside from garments it is the process we use to print our mugs, water bottles, notebooks, pillows, keyrings and aluminium signs to name but a few.

So how does sublimation work? Well, sublimation printing uses heat to essentially bond the ink and substrate together as one. First, your design is printed onto special paper. The inks that are used turn into gas when brought under heat, then combine with the fabric and permanently bond onto the fabric or substrate. The process is almost like a tattoo, but instead of for your skin, it’s for your chosen product. The heat opens up the pores of the fabric, then with the applied pressure the ink cools and returns to a solid form. As a result the ink is permanent bonded with your item producing a full colour image that won’t crack, peel or wash away from the substrate.

Pros

• The freedom you have with your designs, which is not always offered by other methods. The possibilities are almost endless.

• The longevity of the design. With a design that won’t crack, peel or fade. Even after going through the washing machine countless times.

• Sublimation printing is suitable for small batch orders, seam-to-seam designs and garments with a large number of design variations and applications.

• If you wanted to go for the vintage/distressed look, which is all the rage right now, choosing a fabric with a lower percentage of polyester in it would give you that finish.

• On items such as mugs, keyrings etc. this is a far superior method of printing than self adhesive vinyl as the printed images will not crack or peel.

Cons

• The Cons lay mostly with the choice of materials. Sublimation printing is only suitable for garments that are made of polyester (100% polyester or high count polyester blend) Or items coated in a special coating.

• If you wanted to go for the vintage/distressed look, which is all the rage right now, choosing a fabric with a lower percentage of polyester in it would give you that finish.

• You cannot print white. This mean the substrate you are using must have a white or light background. You definitely cannot sublimate on black!

• Another problem to watch out for is white creasing. This is a problem that can occur on full prints. Sublimation works by printing a design into the fabric it is in contact with. If there are areas of the garment that are unreached by the design because there is a crease or a seam, they’ll stay white.

 Self-adhesive vinyl 

For some of our non-garment printing, we use Self Adhesive vinyl. Self-adhesive vinyl is a thin, flexible, self-adhesive material that is often used to create wall and window decals and business signage. As well as this it can be applied to a wide variety of surfaces and if you choose the right type of vinyl it can be extremely durable and can also be waterproof which makes it very versatile. Self-adhesive vinyl comes in many forms; glossy, matte, glitter, patterned, metallic, to name a few. There are also options for it to be removable or permanent and choosing the right one all depends on what you are printing and where or how it is going to be used. 

Removable vinyl is usually used indoors and is perfect for temporary applications such as wall decals, indoor signs, menus or chalkboards etc.

Permanent vinyl is used outdoors and is the widely used vinyl because of its long lasting permanent adhesive. It is perfect for signage, water bottles, car decals and any outdoor application. Although referred to as “permanent” it is usually designed to last around 5 to 8 years, depending on the brand. It is also removable with heat and glue removers so if you fancy changing your vehicle signage that's ok! However, if it’s going to be exposed to heat, water or any extreme elements, outdoor permanent vinyl is the one for you! 

If you are trying to make a decision on what printing process would be best for your orders and have any questions feel free to contact us. We don’t expect our customers to be experts on printing processes that’s what we are! So we are happy to guide you through the process of selecting the most appropriate form of decoration for your orders.