Metallic Inks Make Your Custom Transfer Prints Shine
Sometimes an ink color is all it takes to make a shirt design pop. Metallic inks can create a new look for your custom apparel customers.
The metallic inks have metal flakes in them for an added brightness and shimmer effect.
You can also combine them with other plastisol ink colors, so they really stand out on your custom t-shirt orders.
And the good news is that metallic inks won’t even cost you any more than other colors.
They are part of the large number of stock inks that we carry.
We carry 4 metallic colors – Metallic Gold, Metallic silver, Metallic Graphite, and Metallic Rose Gold.
Let’s talk about how you can order your custom transfers with metallic inks.
Transfer Types with Metallic Inks
There are several screen printed transfer types to choose from at Transfer Express, each with a different purpose or finish, such as Glitter, Puff, Glow-in-the-Dark, etc.
However, metallic inks are not one of the special types of transfers in themselves, but are actually just a stock color option as part of some of our standard transfer types.
Metallic inks can be ordered in 4 of the transfer types, including the best-selling Goof Proof®, along with Hot Split Retro, Elasti Prints®, and Puff.
Not only are the metallic inks available in the most popular transfer types, but you can also combine them with other metallic inks or other ink colors, as well. This differs from the other shimmery inks like Pearl Prints, for example, where you can only use a single ink color at a time.
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Goof Proof, Hot Split Retro, and Elasti Prints are available in 70 stock ink colors. You can combine any of the metallic inks with any other stock color, too, on the same transfer sheet.
And if you are ordering Puff, you can combine the Puff white and black inks with a metallic color as well.
How to Order Custom Transfers with Metallic Inks
If you want to order your transfers using metallic inks, you can do so right from the free online designer, Easy View®, on TransferExpress.com.
Create a custom transfer design either by uploading your own artwork, or you can customize any of the thousands of pre-made layouts.
In Easy View, if you have Goof Proof, Hot Split Retro, Puff, or Elasti Prints set as the transfer type in the lower left corner, you can choose any of the metallic inks as your ink colors.
Select the objects or text in your design that you want to switch the colors (or if you want to change the color of the entire design, select nothing) and then click the color swatch in the top left corner. Scroll to the metallic color you would like to use and select the swatch just like you would for choosing any other color.
The metallic inks fall into the same categories with similar colors. For example, the Metallic Gold is with the other yellows and golds in the list.
And that’s all there is to it to order custom screen printed transfers using metallic ink colors!
Metallic Ink Artwork Guidelines
The artwork guidelines for metallic inks do not differ from the artwork guidelines set for each transfer type.
Follow the guidelines for the particular transfer type that you are using.
This is one of the benefits of using metallic ink colors over the Glitter transfer type, for example.
Glitter ink has more art detail limitations, which is not the case for metallic colors in Goof Proof, Hot Split Retro, and Elasti Prints.
If ordering Puff transfers and using a metallic color with the white or black puff ink, you’ll need to use the artwork guidelines for the Puff transfers. Puff ink does expand more to get the raised puff texture, so there will need to be a little more space for show-through areas to accommodate the extra expansion of the inks during pressing.
Markets for Metallic Inks
Unlike some of the other specialty finish transfers like Glitter and Foil, metallic ink colors sell for many different markets.
Dance, cheer, and other girls groups usually order the Glitter and Pearl Prints. But metallic inks don’t get cornered into any particular niche.
They work great for school spirit wear, sports teams, businesses, events, fashion and retail brands, along with your specialty niche groups, such as those dance and cheer groups, too.
One of the extra bonuses for using metallic inks over Glitter transfers for example, is that the metallic inks have matching Express Names™.
So you can order names for the backs of shirts, or for bags, etc, that are also in the same metallic inks as your main print. Express Names are available in Metallic Silver and Metallic Gold, but also pair well with the other Metallic Graphite and Metallic Rose Gold colors, too, if matching with the main print on the apparel.
[Related Content: Personalizing Apparel with Individual Names]
Get Metallic Ink Transfer Samples
Want to see the metallic inks in person? Request a metallic color sample!