| Decorating Types Explained |
| Screen Printing / Silk-Screening |
An image is transferred to the printed surface by ink, which is pressed through a stenciled screen and treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Film positives are put in contact with the screens and exposed to light, hardening the emulsion not covered by film and leaving a soft area on the screen for the squeegee to press ink through. Also, you must create a different screen for every color you are going to print, and then screen each color separately allowing drying time in-between.
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| Embroidery |
Stitching a design into fabric through the use of high-speed,computer-controlled sewing machines. Artwork must first be "digitized," which is the specialized process of converting two-dimensional artwork into stitches or thread. A particular format of art such as a jpeg, tif, eps, or bmp, cannot be converted into an embroidery tape. The digitizer must actually recreate the artwork using stitches. Then it programs the sewing machine to sew a specific design, in a specific color, with a specific type of stitch. This is the process known as digitizing.
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| Deboss |
Achieved by depressing an image into a material’s surface so that the image sits below the product surface. |
| Emboss |
We Impress an image in relief to achieve a raised surface. |
| Hot Stamp |
Setting a design on a metal relief die or plate, which is then heated and pressed onto the printing surface to achieve a deboss.
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| Etching |
Using a process in which an image is first covered with a protective coating that resists acid, then exposed, leaving bare metal and protected metal. The acid attacks only the exposed metal, leaving the image etched onto the surface.
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| Laser or Foil Stamp |
Applying metallic or colored foil imprints to vinyl, leather or paper surfaces. Usually with a deboss. |
| Die-casting |
Injecting molten metal into the cavity of a carved die (or a mold) |
| Die-striking |
Producing emblems and other flat promotional products by striking a blank metal sheet with a hammer that holds the die.
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| Colorfill |
Screen printing an image and then debossing it onto the vinyl’s surface. |
| Pad Printing |
A recessed surface is covered with ink. The plate is wiped clean, leaving ink in the recessed areas. A silicone pad is then pressed against the plate, pulling the ink out of the recesses, and pressing it directly onto the product.
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| 4-color Process |
A system where a color image is separated into 4 different color values by the use of filters and screens (usually done digitally). The result is a color separation of 4 images, that when transferred to printing plates and printed on a printing press with the colored inks cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black, reproduces the original color image. These four colors can be combined to create thousands of colors just as your computer printer does.
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| Laser (Engraving) |
Imprinting method by which art or lettering is cut into a material by
a laser beam that vaporizes the portion exposed through openings in a template.
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| Sublimation |
Dye transfer process where the image consists of a colored dye permanently embedded into the material surface of pores. Used to imprint messages, graphics and photographs on a variety of items, primarily mouse pads, mugs, T-shirts, caps, and trophy medals.
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| Decal |
Artwork is produced on a transparent decal, then applied to product. |
| Offset Printing |
A process of transferring ink from a metal printing plate to a rubber-covered cylinder. Used on more complex artwork and for higher quantity runs.
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| Printing & Industry Terms |
| Pantone Matching System (PMS) |
A book of standardized color usually in a fan format used to identify,
match and communicate colors in order to produce accurate color matches
in printing. Each color has a coded number indicating instructions for
mixing inks to achieve that color. |
| Personalization |
Imprinting an item with a person's name using one of several methods
such as mechanical engraving, laser engraving, hot stamping, debossing,
sublimation, or screen printing, just to name a few. |
| Set-up Charge Screen Fee Plate Charge |
A fee charged by the manufacturer for labor and materials needed in order
to transfer your logo to the printing method. A silk-screen requires a
screen fee for every color, this is needed to manufacturer you the screens
you will need for printing your logo. A deboss or hot stamp requires that
we make you a metal plate for which the machine makes your imprint witch
is otherwise known as a plate or a die. Digitizing for embroidery is the
most expensive process, we need to make you a digitized tape so the stitching
machine can recreate your logo on fabric. Many of these setups are outsourced
to companies who specialize in correctly making these items, and the fees
are the costs for this service. Often times we will keep your plate, screen,
or mold on hand for a few years for reorders, this way you will not have
to pay another setup charge again. |
| Exact Rerun |
Usually there is no setup charge on exact reruns of an order. |
| Color Match |
Sometimes the factory will have to charge a small fee to custom blend
a special color that you have requested. If you select from their normal
colors, you will be able to avoid this fee. |
| Camera-Ready |
Artwork that is black and white and has very clean, crisp lines that
make it easy to scan and suitable for photographic reproduction |
| Paper Proof |
Impression of type or artwork on paper so the correctness and quality
of the material to be printed can be checked. All of our non rush orders
may request a paper proof to make sure your order will be completed as
you desire. |
| Pre-production |
Proof An actual physical sample of the product itself produced and sent
for approval before an order goes into production. This process has high
costs ($30.00- $200.00) due to the labor involved, and having to slow production
at the factory to make the sample. |
| Production Time |
The amount of time needed to produce and ship an order, once an order
has been received and approved. Stock products with a one-color imprint
usually ship within 10-12 working days. Custom products and those with
multi-color imprints can require longer production time. |
| Overruns/Underruns |
The number of pieces that were printed in excess of the quantity specified/
the production run of fewer pieces than the amount specified. The industry
standard on most products is + 2-5%, with the exception being on paper
and plastic bags. They can range from +10 to +25%. Suppliers bill on the
actual quantity shipped. Most suppliers will print more than ordered in
case there is a problem with a few items so you do not have to leave someone
shorthanded during an event. Also you will have extra items on hand for
warranty purposes. |
| Copy Change |
A fee charged for changing the imprint copy on a product either at time
of the original proof approval or upon a re-order. |
| Quantity Pricing |
These are the prices for which we discount your items based on the quantity
you would like to purchase. They are usually always clearly posted on our
website. |
| Drop Shipment |
Where we ship direct from the factory to your location. An order shipped
to more than one location will be charged a fee for each additional destination.
This option is not always available on all products. |
| Halftone |
An image produced by breaking the subject into small dots of varying intensities
of gray ranging from white to black. |
| Bleeds |
Printers cannot print right to the edge of a paper sheet. To create
that effect, the printer must use a sheet, which is larger than the document
size. Then the printer prints beyond the edge of the document size (usually
1/8”), then cuts the paper down to the correct document size.
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| All About Artwork |
| Mechanical Artwork |
The traditional standard for acceptable mechanical artwork that is "camera-ready black and white" material |
| Vector files |
Sometimes called a geometric file, most images created with tools such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw are in the form of vector image files. Vector image files are easier to modify than raster image files. (which can, however, sometimes be reconverted to vector files for further refinement) Another way to look at it is that every pixel in the image has an X and a Y axis, this allows easy resizing without loss of quality.
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| Bitmap files |
Images are exactly what their name says they are: a collection of bits that form an image. The image consists of a matrix of individual dots (or pixels) that all have their own color (described using bits, the smallest possible units of information for a computer). Unless these are in very large sized resolution (600 DPI or better), they are unusable in the printing process.
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| Page Layout Documents |
The font files and document preferences that need to be supplied for use on the supplier’s end in case they do not have a rare or special font that you would like to use.
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| Metafile |
A collection of structures that store a picture in a device- independent format. Device independence is the one feature that sets metafiles apart from bitmaps. Unlike a bitmap, a metafile guarantees device independence. There is a drawback to metafiles, because they are generally drawn more slowly than bitmaps. Therefore, if an application requires fast drawing and device independence is not an issue, it should use bitmaps instead of metafiles.
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| (PDF) files |
Adobe® Portable Document Format preserve the visually rich content of original files, and are easier to read than HTML content that appears in a Web browser. Adobe PDF files print cleanly and quickly, and anyone can share Adobe PDF files, regardless of their platform or software application. This is good to show the end result you would like, but usually not good for sending artwork that needs to be printed.
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| TIFF - Not usable |
Tagged Image File Format file: A file format for exchanging bitmapped images between different applications. This format will not work to use in the printing process.
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| EPS - Accepted |
Encapsulated Postscript file: An alternative picture file format that allows PostScript data to be stored and edited and is easy to transfer between Macintosh, Windows machines, and other systems.
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| AI - Accepted |
Adobe Illustrator File, the very best in quality to recreate your artwork in the printing process. |
| JPG - Not usable |
Commonly used on the web due to it's excellent ability to compress the graphic to save webpage load time. This format will not work to use in the printing process.
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| GIF - Not usable |
Commonly used on the web due to it's ability to reduce the number of colors an image uses to be viewed to save webpage load time. This format will not work to use in the printing process.
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| BMP - Not usable |
A low resolution Image format. This format will not work to use in the printing process. |
| Doc - Usually Not Usable |
Word doc files can only be used if you would like to display typeset text. Any images in a word doc will not be able to be printed correctly.
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| Web Pages- Not Usable |
As a general rule, if it can be viewed on the web it will most likely be too low of quality for printing. Web graphics are made to load quickly, thereby cutting the quality of the image. The eye may not notice on the web, but it will show up in printing.
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