[IgnitedInk]

well im kind of tired of dealing with the mess of screen printing. im thinking about going into heat press and vinyl.

is it a good idea ? which is better?

 

[BroJames]

screen printing is better quality and durability wise but vinyl and heat transfers have a different market. They are geared more towards small run designs and custom or personalized designs.

Vinyl will last long. Paper transfers don't do as well. Light transfers will fade soon after although some of our staff's uniforms are 2 years old.

Again, they do have different market. You can find more information by typing the key words in the search box above.

 

[marik]

Screen printing seems to look better and last longer.

 

[Huckleberry Ink]

I really enjoy the Screen Printed heat ransfers. I have thought about getting into full on screen printing, but really don't want the hassel of dealing with screens and the cleanup.

 

[trd91]

My experience is that screen printing lasts considerably longer than heat presses do.

 

[Stitches]

Screen printing all the way. When we started our we offered heat press. What a pain that was. A year later we got into screen printing and don't regret it.

 

[Sandlappers]

I've got a very detailed painted art that I want on a good bit of t-shirts what would be the best way to get this done by someone?

 

[BroJames]

how many shirts is a good bit and what is the color of the shirt?

A good screen printer should be able to deliver a good and longer lasting art-image on your shirt.

 

[mixture77]

Continue to screen print. Transfers are a inferior product then screen printing and your clients might be accustom to the screen printing. I also i truly feel transfer will devalue your business and image

 

[uncletee]

ignitedink. we do sublimation and love it, as I also used to do screen printing. my hands are now clean. if you have any questions message me. have a nice day uncletee.

 

[BroJames]

Continue to screen print. Transfers are a inferior product then screen printing and your clients might be accustom to the screen printing. I also i truly feel transfer will devalue your business and image

transfers are not necessarily an inferior product. It depends on your client's needs. Also on how you present the product.

ignitedink. we do sublimation and love it, as I also used to do screen printing. my hands are now clean. if you have any questions message me. have a nice day uncletee.

I like the colors of sublimation. also softhand at its best. Unfortunately they're only for polyesters and in the tropics polyesters are not that popular. Otherwise, sublimation is just as durable as screen printing. Some would say 'more' durable

 

[Disrupt Tees]

I use heat transfers for 2 reasons. They are far cheaper to do than screen prints in Australia. Secondly my designs use gradients so they can't be screen printed.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using T-Shirt Forums

 

[BroJames]

gradients can be screen printed.

 

[royster13]

I sold my screen printing equipment in the early 80s and have sold 100s of thousands of transfer shirts since......Transfers have their place and will work very well for many projects....

 

[Disrupt Tees]

gradients can be screen printed.

I have been told it can't.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using T-Shirt Forums

 

[drdoct]

If you have the money to buy a good press and a good cutter and a small stock of vinyl then I say go for it. I've had great luck with F&M expressions for my plastisol transfers. I would consider getting some sort of printer set up for printing your own too. They aren't as durable but it's great to have the option when you need realistic photos. I don't believe at all that screen printing is better quality than plastisol transfers. I have lots of transfers that have outlasted other shirts that were printed by big shops.

A heat press opens up your business to so much more. You can get into the sign vinyl type businesses to. Also rhinestones but I'm finding rhinestones aren't that popular where I am.

The downside to plastisol transfers is that you have shipping to absorb too. And 2 color ones are much more expensive than the 1 color deals. I think you should add the heat press but keep the screen press too for multiple color jobs.

I have a production twin shuttle press that's air operated and I can run that quicker than I can screen print. But I'm not really efficient at screen printing yet.

Good luck.

 

[20vK]

Screen printing gradients is a piece of cake. It is definitely possible and is done in the form of halftones.

Maybe the printer you spoke to cant do them, but there is nothing hard about printing them at all

 

[BroJames]

I have been told it can't.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using T-Shirt Forums

Screen printing gradients is a piece of cake. It is definitely possible and is done in the form of halftones.

Maybe the printer you spoke to cant do them, but there is nothing hard about printing them at all

Richie is correct. Halftone gradients are constantly done in screen printing. You can also print photographs or photographic images with all the colors and gradients.

 

[20vK]

Richie is correct. Halftone gradients are constantly done in screen printing. You can also print photographs or photographic images with all the colors and gradients.

Here's an example of some artwork setup ready for my next job on the press. 4 screens

I included the blue screen, so you can see the gradients clearly. The other screen colours are black, turquoise and white.

Hope this helps,

Richie

 

[Shotcaller100]

New to heat transfer, what tools do I need to start my business ? PLEASE HELP.