Making t-shirts from Your Artwork
Mar/090
Are you sign shop or embroidery business trying to learn graphics software to make shirts from you or your customers artwork? Since technology moves so fast most Graphic Designers are in the same position as you are.
Here are some graphics software educational resources we recommend:
- CorelDraw.com
- Adobe.com
- Macromonster.com
- T-shirtforums.com
- AdvancedArtist.com
- CorelDrawPro.com
- Lynda.com – highly recommended – subscription based
- Photoshopuser.com – highly recommended – subscription based
Photoshopuser.com is a great resource of tutorials & networking about information about Photoshop®. Some our Designers have attended their multi-day seminars and have raved about it. If you are using Photoshop® to create full color artwork for our digital CAD-PRINTZ™, you can’t go wrong with a subscritpion to (NAPP) Photoshopuser.com!
Here is a link to the Transfer Express’ artwork guidlines for our plastisol screen printed & digital transfers.
And don’t forget, if you don’t have time to learn the graphics software we offer our “no artwork needed” Easy Prints® designs that you can customize online with our Easy View™ design tool.
Making t-shirts from Your ArtworkMake a Separated Outline in CorelDraw®
Jan/090
Some Dealers of Transfer Express that order screen printed transfers like to make their own custom artwork. Creating artwork in CorelDraw® can be very intimidating. Below is a video tutorial on how to create a “separarted outline” in CorelDraw®. We used CorelDraw X3 in the video. In this video we assumed your “duplicate distance” is set a 0, 0.
Here are the basic steps:
- Create a text object
- Add an outline by right clicking on a color in the color palette.
- Hit your F12 key to adjust the thickness of the outline (set at .2 inches)
- Don’t click off the text object – use the shortcut of Control-D to duplicate the text object
- Click the arrange menu, then order then send to back of the page
- Keep the object selected and right click on another color to in palette
- Hit your F12 increase the outline on the duplicate object to .4
- Adjust character spacing as needed
View more video tutorials here.
Make a Separated Outline in CorelDraw®On the Road Again – Trade Shows 2009
Dec/080
We are very excited for the start of the New Year! Not only do we have a great year planned with many new ways to decorate apparel but we also get the chance to hit the road and come visit our dealers and future dealers in 17 different cities. We are attending 19 shows to bring you the best in custom transfers including screen printed and digital transfers. Our professional Dealer Service reps will be at the shows to meet you and answer any questions. Check out our Tradeshows section of our website. Here you will find details on the dates, city, and type of show we will be attending.
Here’s where we will be in January and February. We hope you can pay a visit to our booth and learn about the new products and services the industry has to offer.
January 23-25 – ISS – Long Beach, CA
February 6-7 – DAX – Kansas City, MO
February 20-22 – ISS – Orlando, FL
Reduce Shipping Costs
Nov/080
Shipping is part of the costs involved in ordering screen printed transfers, but there are ways we can work together to save costs.
Transfer Express offers a grouping system so that all orders that are scheduled to ship together are grouped in one box for one shipping cost. If you are not in a hurry, you can ask that early ship dates are grouped with later dates to save even more.
A second important way to reduce shipping costs is to avoid the COD fee. Transfer Express accepts MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express. All the carriers charge $10 for COD, so using a credit card saves this cost.
The most impressive savings is our special promotional shipping method, Speedy Air. If you are outside our 2 day delivery zone, ask for Speedy Air. You will get 2 day air delivery for the price of ground! So, no matter where you are in the U.S., your package will arrive within 2 working days from the time it ships.
Reduce Shipping CostsTees to Hoodies
Oct/080
QAL-76
Now that winter is creeping in, thicker garments such as hoodies will be making more of an appearance on your heat press. A few changes need to take place on how you heat your garment and apply custom transfers. One thing you may notice is how thick a hoodie can be when you lay it on the heat platen. One option is to thread the hoodie upside down on the press so that just the front is on the platen. Make sure there are no bulky areas that can cause the top platen not to close flat. This will cause the transfer not to apply properly. Always remember though if the hoodie is upside down, the transfer needs to be applied upside down.
Another common mistake is not preheating your garment enough. Some hoodies contain more moisture in the fabric than t shirts, especially 100% cotton hoodies. Preheat your garment until no more steam is being released. You can also feel the garment and notice the garment is dry. Any extra moisture in the garment can cause the transfer not to apply correctly. This is where you would see bubbling or cracking of the transfer. Always make sure to prepress!
Adjusting the pressure for hoodies or thicker garments means a more opaque coverage when using screen printed transfers. Since the material is thicker, loosen the pressure slightly so that the ink is not being excessively pressed into the garment. This will result in the shirt color bleeding through the ink.
Once all of these adjustments to your application process are complete you will be able to create a durable and quality product for your customers.
As will any order from Stahls’ Transfer Express, read your application instructions that are sent with every order and test a sample before beginning your application process.
Tees to Hoodies
