All people love to dress stylishly. But now the summer is near, it's time to take off your jackets and sweaters and put on something light. And here T-shirts come to the rescue. Yes, they can be boring and one-color, but there is another type - T-shirts with stylish and beautiful, witty and funny, bewitching and breathtaking prints. These prints can be made using different technologies, which we will consider in this article. Be sure to remember that absolutely every method described below has a certain number of advantages and disadvantages. Let's get started!
Typically, the fabric is printed in the two most popular ways, which have earned recognition from both those who wear such products and those who adorn them. This is silk-screen printing and thermal transfer printing.
Screen printing is a method that has been known to mankind for a very long time. Different types of printing in printing require sophisticated and expensive equipment, but not screen printing. At the same time, the level of print quality is very high. To complete the drawing, it is enough to have a special paint and screen mesh. Silk screening was still practiced in ancient China. Modern scientists have slightly adjusted the process of obtaining the finished product, increasing its quality, clarity and durability, but the basic principle has remained the same. Thus, it is not difficult to get about 20,000 T-shirts per shift.
But, as noted above, each method has its drawbacks and pitfalls. Screen printing can not do without human participation, so it is impossible to fully automate such production, which significantly distances it from the way other types of printing do.
If you want to know what types of printing on t-shirts are, then do not forget about thermal transfer printing. The "foundation" of this method is the same as that of silk-screen printing, but the main difference is that the print is not drawn on the fabric, but on specially prepared thermal paper. There are various types of printing, this method is subject to all places, even the most inaccessible. The drawing previously applied to the thermal paper is put together with the fabric under the thermal press, which, when heated, transfers the image to textiles, and not only that - the picture can be transferred to circles and much more. The picture is prepared in any photo editor, then cut out on a plotter connected to a computer - this is how we get a transfer.
Thermal transfer printing has earned love for:
- drawing cannot be separated from fabric;
- it does not fade in the sun;
- withstands washing in a washing machine at a temperature of 80 degrees. Not only 1-2 T-shirts are printed, but also thousands of print runs;
- three minutes - exactly how much you have to wait in order to get the final product;
- Thermal paper can be printed on either a laser or an inkjet printer.
The above two methods are used most often, but new types of printing continue to compete with them: embossing, digital printing, offset and others. It is still better to use silk-screen printing and thermal transfer printing, since the first is suitable for large orders, and the second - for small ones. Types of printing you choose based on your desires and preferences. The main thing is high quality.