[hungnyc.com]

Hey all, quick question. . . .I can't seem to find out what kind of ink or heat transfer is i've been seeing on shirts. It basically looks like chrome or shiny silver. It's definitely not the glitter ink or the metallic quicksilver stuff either. I've seen it in shiny gold as well. One screen printer i brought it to said it had to be a heat transfer but wasn't sure himself. Anyone know of or seen what i'm talking about, what it's called or what the process involved in doing this is? Is it maybe foil transfer? I'm not a printer myself so if I sound completely clueless please give me some room for growth : )

Please advise.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[Rodney]

spreadshirt has some flex printing (a type of heat pressed applique) that has a shiny silver (or shiny gold) appearance.
http://www.spreadshirt.com/Quality.33.0.html (metallic silver and metallic gold)

It could have been flex printing.

Can you post a picture of the t-shirt?

 

[monkeylantern]

Perhaps a foil heat transfer?

 

[hungnyc.com]

http://www.morphinegeneration.com/Collect_Holiday05m.asp?offset=12

this is one example, not the clearest . . .

 

[jdr8271]

That is probably not metallic vinyl, becuase of the very intricate detail. My guess is that it is screen printed with a metallic ink. My second guess would be a foil transfer.

 

[Rodney]

That looks like the same printing effect that spreadshirt offers with its flex metallic printing options. Maybe you could try buing a sample t-shirt from there to see if it's what you're looking for

 

[jdr8271]

That looks like the same printing effect that spreadshirt offers with its flex metallic printing options. Maybe you could try buing a sample t-shirt from there to see if it's what you're looking for

I highly dought that that is what it is, becuase of the intricate details in that design. While a similar result could be achieved through the use of metallic vinyl (like spreadshirt uses), it would be very difficult to achieve that level of detail.

 

[monkeylantern]

I agree with jdr8271. My first guess of a foil transfer is still possible, but given that image appears to have halftone in the shading, it could well be a screenprinted metallic ink.

 

[Rodney]

Actually, I've seen very detailed designs printed by spreadshirt.

I'm not saying spreadshirt printed the shirt, but it could be a similar printing process that he might want to look into.

The idea that it would be very difficult, probably makes it more appealing to a fashion designer (if that is the process they're using).