Color plays an important role in the overall awesomeness of your custom gear. Understanding how it affects pricing can help you make educated decisions about your design and which products you choose to decorate.
This design has three colors.
Screen Printing Color Basics
1
Colors are applied one at a time and layered to create your final design.
2
For every color that is in your design, we create an individual screen.
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Each color requires an individual application of ink on our machine.
How color impacts pricing
How many colors CAN you use? We can run up to seven colors but remember that every color requires a new screen, another hand-mixed ink, and another pass through the machine. The extra materials and time required means that each color will increase the total price of your finished gear.
You can save money by limiting the number of colors in your design. Get creative – there are ways to use fewer colors without sacrificing the integrity of your design. For example, if you print the American flag on a yellow t-shirt, we will use red, white and blue ink. If you change the shirt color to white, we can reduce the job to two colors and only print the red and blue.
Printing on Dark vs Light Products
When you choose a darker product to print on we automatically add a white base under your design to make sure that your artwork really pops. The white base requires its own screen, adding another color to your design.
3 colors + base coat = 4 screens
The white base layer ensures that your design will look vibrant even when printed on dark fabrics.
If keeping your cost per item down is your top priority, you may want to consider printing on white or light color products to avoid the necessity of an base color.
Color Tips
Limit Colors
Save money by limiting ink colors. Simplicity is beautiful!
Choose product color carefully
If you pick the right base color, you might be able to use the actual color of the product in your design to help reduce the number of colors needed.
We can help
Take advantage of our in house design team. We do this every day and can suggest ways to simplify your design if budget is important.
When you look good, we look good.
Have questions? Need help? We’re here for that!
