[digitalninja]

Hello,
I am pretty new at all of this. I am trying to learn as much as possible in a short period of time, so my brain is pretty crammed right now.
Basically I went to school for graphic design and I want to start making my own t-shirts. I have no idea how printing on tshirts works. Basically the shirts that I design are pretty simple. They dont have more than 1-2 colors. http://www.bustedtees.com is an example of the type of shirts that I will be selling.

What process should I use to print these shirts? (sorry if this question is too basic)
And what costs are associated with this method of printing?


Maybe I should take some classes.I was thinking about signing up for a class at the http://screenprinters.net/ academy as I live in Phoenix.

 

[Rodney]

Hi Ninja, welcome to the T-Shirt Forums!

The shirts you linked to are screen printed t-shirts. You could either learn the process yourself and buy the equipment or outsource the printing to a screen printer that already knows the trade.

If you plan to do more than just print your own t-shirts, then learning the process and buying the equipment might be a good idea. But places like bustedtees probably just outsource the printing to a local printer they found (or some printer they found online).

 

[digitalninja]

Thanks for the reply Rodney!
Would it be more economical to buy the equipment and do it on my own?
I guess it would give you flexibility in that you wouldnt have to order a huge number of shirts from a screen printer. Whenever you get an order you can just print it up and ship it out. (which would be quite fun) On the other hand it would be quite expensive to purchase the equipment.

How much does it normally cost to get a simple design (1-3 colors) screen printed on a T-shirt? (I know there are a lot of variables)

 

[Twinge]

The largest consideration there is quantity. It will generally be more cost efficient to do it all yourself - but only if you're doing enough quantity to be worth it (and pay for the costs of all the equipment).

There's a ton of different 'levels' you can get in on in this industry, all with varying benefits, costs, etc. Based on what little you've said so far, I'd recommend going the plastisol transfers route. You'll have to buy a heat press to apply the transfers to the shirts, but you can outsource the printing of the transfers to other companies fairly cheaply. There will be a minimum (usually at least 12, sometimes more), but you can print them on to shirts as you get the orders - whereas with direct screen printing you'll have to guess what sizes people will order ahead of time.

If you go into more details about what your plans are, what kind of budget you have, how many shirts you expect to sell, etc. we could give advice more tailored to you specifically

 

[Rodney]

Would it be more economical to buy the equipment and do it on my own?

Not always. Depends on your space requirements, how much you want to invest in equipment, how much time you want to spend learning the process and how to do it right. How much time you want to spend actually printing (that you could spend selling and marketing).

Some people are just naturally do-it-yourselfers and some prefer to focus on their own strengths and outsource the rest. Those are factors you also have to weigh in.

How much does it normally cost to get a simple design (1-3 colors) screen printed on a T-shirt? (I know there are a lot of variables)

Like you said, there are a lot of variables there that determine the pricing, so there's no clear answer for that one

 

[digitalninja]

Well, ideally I would love to do the printing myself. I like to be self sufficient. What costs are involved if I want to buy all of the screen printing equipment myself? The machine, the ink, etc. (yea I am a noob) I am willing to learn the process. How long does it take to print one shirt? (1-2 colors) I would be willing to invest some money (5k or so) as I believe the shirts will sell.

Actually maybe that should be my long term goal. The plastisol transfer is a new world for me that I will have to research more about. If I do the plastisol transfer route how much less costly would the shirts be? $4 compared to $8 a shirt if buying 100 shirts at a time (1-2 colors)?

I appreciate your guys' info so far. Thanks.

 

[Rodney]

You can find some information on startup costs for screen printing equipment in the screen printing section of the forum (or by using the search):
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13