[TeeShirtSamurai]

Hello,

Since I'm not able to do any indepth google searching at work I thought I'd post my question here since there are usually some graphic experts lurking about.

I sent a preliminary sheet to my printer with my ganged-up designs to make sure everything was okay for my plastisol order. She told me everything looked good except for one design. She said the lines were probably too thin for printing. The lines must be at least 2 points thick for dark inks and 3 points for lighter inks.

I'm not looking for a complete walk-through but if someone could give me some rough instructions or point me in the right direction as to how to simply increase the line thickness of this particular design it would be greatly appreciated.

I know that scaling the design would accomplish this but the design is pretty much as large as I'd like it.

 

[teees.com]

You are probably looking to increase the "stroke" of the path in question. Just select the path and increase the stroke parameter to the thickness you require. You will find the stroke window in the drop down menu called "window" in the menubar.

I hope that helps.

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

Thanks Nico. I'll do that tonight.

 

[teees.com]

Cool! I hope it works out.

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

Nico,

I did as you suggested. Your instructions were great. However, the design looks like utter garbage now since the lines are so much thicker and closer together.

I talked to my printer and they said my options were: a.) go ahead and let them print it and I may be okay with how it comes out, b.) redesign the drawing with fewer smaller lines and detail and c.) increase the size of the design so the impact of the increased thickness will be minimal.

I don't think I can go with the first option since that would waste space on my sheets on a design that probably won't come out looking right. I had this drawing done by my graphics guy and I personally don't think it's going to look good if the detail is reduced. I may have to go with the last option which means I'll have to drop a portion of the picture since the design as it stands now is already pretty large.

This is really disappointing to me since I was pretty amped about having this available on my site. I just wanted to post this so maybe others getting plastisol work done can keep in mind that their lines need to be a certain thickness and leave out unnecessary detail.

 

[camconcay]

I would send it to several transfer companies - not that the answer will change but I know some printers can print things others can not

 

[JM Vega]

There are always trade offs, right?
No matter how cool a design is, if you want it to be screenprinted, it has to be made ready to print.
Ideally, the artist will have some experience with the screenprint process so no expensive re-do's have to happen, and the individual screenprinter/company will have a realistic grasp of what they can do. At least this printer told you before the screen got burned and the job was really underway.

The reality is that the artwork has to accommodate the specific requirements of the printing method and the capability of the printer.

I learned it in these forums, you don't price a job until you see the artwork. To do any otherwise will be a major headache for one or both parties.

I hope you found a workable solution!