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Art Requirements for All Over Screen Printing
In addition to the general art requirements listed under that section all over prints have some specific requirements which only apply to this type of print.
One of the first things that should be understood about all over printing art for t shirts is that these shirts are printed with artwork at one size to cover all sizes of shirts you intend to produce. By doing your art in this manner it allows for your print to cover the entire shirt regardless of the size of the shirt, but it does require some special consideration on the part of the graphic artist as shirt sizes vary greatly from a small men's to a 2X Large.
We recommend to our customers that any logo graphic or graphic element which must be on all sizes of shirts be put into the graphic in both placement and size so that it will fit on the smallest size shirt being produced! The rest of the graphics produced should be such that they will cover out to the largest size shirt + 2 inches of overprint anywhere the graphic is to bleed off the shirts.
As you can see laying out graphics so that they will work across a large size range requires some fore thought! It is also helpful to have a general guide as most people do not really know what sizes ea. size of shirt is going to be - when you shop for a shirt - you only look for your size so it's likely you don't have a good reference of what the sizes are going to be. It is for this reason Spreading Ink has developed
Our all over templates are created in illustrator format, and we have several to accomodate different styes of garments including:
- Standard t-shirt/promo t shirt cut and fit
- Fashion based t-shirt cut and fit
- Some styles for women's shirts
Please note that since there is such a large variance of t-shirt styles and cuts that not all templates are perfect; however, we have found that the templates we have should will work for most t-shirts available on the wholesale market today. If you plan on using a specific brand or cut and don't see that brand or cut listed please contact us and we will aid you in picking the template you should use which will give you the best fit for the shirt you plan on using.
Maximum Print Dimensions - All Over Prints
Maximum print size for all over prints is 43 1/2 inches wide by 40 inches tall - this is large enough to cover all major brands of shirts from sleeve tip to sleeve tip on all sizes up to 2XL.
Don't forget to include the overprint!
Anywhere the graphic should bleed off the edge of the shirt your artwork should extend beyond the largest size shirt you plan on printing so that any inconsistencies in the garment cut will not affect your print going off the edges of the shirt. If you take a look at most manufacturer's website you will see that their specification for the cut and fit of the garment generally have a range of measurements for each size. This means that the manufacturer will accept this much variance in their final product before the product becomes a reject or 'second'. As such, you can expect some variation in the garment and having this additional overprint will insure your largest size shirts will get the print to the edge of the fabric even with this variation.
Can I do men's and women's garments with the same setup?
Because of this vast range of sizes - all over screen prints on t shirts will not generally work with the setup on men's and women's garments without careful planning ahead of time! It can be done, but to do this it would be best to overlay a woman's styled template over a men's styled template and follow the rules above for those elements which must be on all sizes of shirt - logo's or any specific graphic element which must be on all sizes of shirts would need to fit on the smallest women's shirt and still give you a look you are satisfied with on men's garments of all sizes. Many times it isn't possible to do this and while we can print your job at two different sizes our minimum run requirement is per design or design size.
Can I use your templates in Photoshop?
The illustrator templates can be used in Photoshop, but because Photoshop is a raster based program special care must be taken to match file resolutions between your graphics and that of the template.
To use the template in Photoshop follow these instructions:
- Open your artwork and go to the menu at the top and choose "Image -> Image Size" and look for the image resolution (DPI) - make note of this setting as you will need it when opening the template in Photoshop.
- Right click the template (.ai) file and click "open with..." and choose Photoshop.
- Upon opening Photoshop will want to turn the vector file to raster - to be certain that the file size is not resized in the conversion you must match file resolutions to the artwork you have. Photoshop will bring up a box where you must set the image resolution - put in the DPI setting taken from your artwork - this will make sure the graphic and your art are matched in true size.
- The template will now be flattened on it's own layer. Create a new layer and copy and paste your artwork into this layer
- Alternatively, you can create a new layer within your artwork now and copy and paste the template into this layer above your artwork - this will show you how your graphic will lay out across multiple sizes of garments.
- Adjust the different graphic elements within your design to provide the proper over print for the largest size shirts being produced and size the important elements to be on all sizes of shirts so that it fits within the outlines of the smallest size shirt you plan on producing within the template.
To use our templates in Illustrator follow the following steps:
- Download and open the template in Illustrator
- Lock all of the template layers and create a new layer above the locked layers
- Copy and paste your artwork into the new layer you just created. Do not copy your art into the template layers themselves - but rather always put your artwork on it's own layer.
Why does your template show the sleeves pointed out rather than down like when a person wears the shirt?
Our templates show the shirt
Other General Considerations
Some general comments about things that may not work as well as you envision for all over prints are as follows:
- Don't try to turn large areas of the shirt a different color. You can do this, but if you do be prepared to have some areas that may look misprinted due to small folds in the fabric. While we try very hard to get your garments totally flat you, small folds do still happen and will show up with this type of graphic. To minimize any negative effects from this we recomend distressing these areas so that any small fold does not stand out.
All over prints are NOT wrap prints ! Wrap prints are pretty complicated to do and most often are done by printing flats or cut pieces that are sewn together to match the front and back print to each other during the sewing process. We have done wrap prints, but they take special consideration to work. If you are envisioning a wrap print we suggest you contact us prior to your art being started to discuss and we can help guide you through the process and the pitfalls you need to be aware of for doing this type of specialty print- When designing graphics for your back print, if it is to be an all over, we recommend avoiding putting any logo or graphic element that you want to look perfect across the area that shows where the front collar will be. This is because the front collar can cause any graphic put in this area to not print perfectly due to the uneven surface as the print goes over this area caused by the front collar. Remember that these prints are done on top of large boards - not over them and as such the front collar area can affect this area of your graphics on the back print.
While this listing is not meant to be all inclusive it is meant to be a guide to help you get the best possible end result, while also allowing you to create your graphics in a print ready format for all over prints. If you have specifc questions please feel free to contact us by e-mail or phone and we'll be happy to assist you!
