Clovis Screen Printing Inks and Processes
We can hand print your custom t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and bags using a variety of screen printing inks and processes.Priceless Kreations customers can choose from a variety of screen printing inks and printing processes. Your design will be hand printed by Ernie, on our 6-color manual screen printing press. Not sure what to pick? Tell us about your design and we’ll be glad to make recommendations. We can’t wait to help get your design in print!
Standard Plastisol Ink
Our most commonly used traditional screen printing ink. Plastisol inks are highly durable and stand up to years of laundry abuse. Plastisol inks are used to produce vibrant prints that sit on top of the fabric. Great for designs with intense color. Color matching is available.
Water Based Ink
Used for customers who want super soft hand printed shirts. Water based screen printing inks sink in to the fabric’s fibers instead of sitting on top like Plastisol inks. Water based inks are eco-friendly and water soluble. Works best on white or light colored cotton fabrics.
Discharge Printing
For soft-to-the-touch prints on dark colored shirts. Discharge printing removes the dye from the fabric, returning it to a natural tan color. Vibrant water base screen printing inks are then printed over the top of the bleached areas. Discharge printing works best on 100% cotton fabrics.
Simulated Process Printing
This process is used to reproduce full color images or photograph-like graphics. We’re able to use halftone blending techniques (like newsprint dots) to create the appearance a full-color image. Works with light and dark colored fabrics.
Process / Full Color Printing
Works with white fabric only. Great for soft hand printed tees with a full color image or photograph. Semi-translucent four color process inks blend the basic colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to create the imprint. Produces muted, lighter colors.
Foil Printing
Make your design pop with a shiny foil finish. Available in silver, copper, gold, red, green, blue, and more. A multi-part process, where sheets of foil are heat sealed on top of Plastisol ink prints. Can be used in combination with standard screen printing.
Metallic & Glitter Inks
Metallic inks are infused with small particles to create a metallic look. It has more shine than standard ink, but you won’t see chunks of glitter. Glitter inks have tiny particles of glitter suspended in clear ink. Glitter inks are typically applied as a top coat to a base of solid color Plastisol inks.
Specialty Inks & Additives
Looking for a cool textured effect or want to see your design literally glow? We’ve got glow-in-the-dark, heat and UV reactive inks, Puff inks for a 3-D jump off your shirt print, Suede inks for that faux leather feel, clear gel for a glossy, wet look, and more!
Vinyl & Glitter Heat Transfers
Regular heat press vinyl is used for simple one or two color prints on low quantity orders, or for adding names and numbers to shirts and jerseys. Glitter transfers are the epitome of BLING! There isn’t another decorating method that produces more sparkle than glitter transfers.
Water Based Inks
Water based inks produce soft (to the touch) prints, because the ink will soak in to the fabric, rather than sit on top of it like traditional Plastisol inks. When printed on white or light colored fabrics, water based inks produce a crisp, bright print. When printed on dark fabrics, they produce VERY faded prints for a strong vintage look. The color of the fabric has a direct impact on the finished color of the imprint. We recommend discharge printing for soft hand printed shirts on dark fabrics.
We hand print shirts using a manual screen printing press, so the water based printing process is quite a bit more involved for us than the traditional Plastisol printing process. This is especially true during the hot summer months, when the water based inks tend to dry in our screens. As a result, water based printing is considered a premium service in our shop. For water based printing add $.50 per garment, plus an additional $20 per color in screen setup fees.
Discharge Printing
To achieve soft hand printed designs on dark t-shirts, we first have to bleach the original color out of the fabric. This process is called discharge printing. Once the natural color of the shirt is revealed (usually a tan color), we print water based inks over the top of the bleached area. After a few trips through the laundry, you won’t be able to feel the imprint on these shirts at all! Discharge printing works best on 100% cotton fabrics. Synthetic fabric fibers and some fabric colors will not discharge. Discharge printing works best on black and dark or medium grey shirts.
It’s important to know we’re not able to guarantee exact color matches with this process. The final imprint colors may vary depending on the garment color, fabric makeup, and brand. Discharge printing is considered a premium service in our shop. For discharge printing add $.50 per garment, plus an additional $20 per color in screen setup fees.
Foil Printing
Foil printing is achieved when sheets of colored foil are heat sealed on top of a similar color of hand printed Plastisol ink. Foil printing can be used in combination with standard printing on the same shirt. Foil printed areas of the design will not last as long as standard Plastisol printed areas. Foil will peel away if care is not taken during laundering. To maximize the life of your foil printed garments, wash them inside out, in cold water, on delicate. Hang dry only.
Simulated Process Printing
Used when printing a full color design on dark or colored shirts. We can use up to 6 ink colors at once to create a multitude of tones and shades. When you want a vibrant, crisp print with a lot of color or shading, we use the simulated full color process printing technique. Unlike true four color process printing, simulated process printing uses a combination of pre-mixed spot colors and half tones to create the print.
The color separations process of a full color image is extensive, so additional setup fees will apply. Separations are charged at the rate of $50 per hour. Submit a quote request (including your artwork) and we’ll be glad to provide an estimate of the time it will take to prep your file for printing.
Full Color / Process Color Printing
Four color process printing or “full color” color screen printing uses four colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) to create your photorealistic image. Process printing is is typically used to minimize print costs when multiple colors are involved. If you want to print a photograph or artwork with a large number of colors and shading, process printing is what you’re looking for.
Process printing will create millions of colors, but some detail will be lost in the printing process. Process color inks are semi-translucent, so they blend together to create a full color effect. The translucent qualities of the ink also mean the fabric color effects the final imprint color. It creates an imprint with muted, lighter colors. Our shop will print four color process only on white or natural colored shirt, hoodies, and tote bags.
Process printed shirts are soft hand printed. The ink pigments will be absorbed by the fibers, so the design is essentially dyed in to the fabric as opposed to printed on top of the fabric (as in traditional Plastisol ink printing).
Heat Transfer Vinyl
Vinyl heat transfers are very durable and are available in a wide variety of colors, patterns, and unique finishes. Heat transfer material is very light weight, custom cut from a roll, and can be used to decorate t-shirts, bags, hats, and more. In our shop, we use heat transfer vinyl most often for adding custom names or numbers to sports jerseys and other apparel. We’ll also use heat transfer vinyl for low quantity orders, when the artwork is fairly simple (not a lot of fine detail) and not too many colors. There are no minimum orders and no setup fees for vinyl transfer designs.
Glitter Heat Transfers
Glitter heat transfers are the blingy-est of the bling shirts. Not even rhinestones are as sparkly as glitter transfers. Glitter transfer material is available in a wide variety of colors. We use this material most often for cheer teams, girls’ sports teams, girls’ clubs, and fan mom t-shirts.
Glitter designs look best when bold fonts or shapes are used. We can’t get too many fine details with glitter transfers, because the glitter flecks interfere with our plotter’s cutting blade. Once your design is cut out of the glitter transfer roll, we’ll use a heat press to permanently seal the design onto shirts, hoodies, hats, and more. There are no minimum orders and no setup fees for glitter transfer designs.
Rhinestone Designs
We offer rhinestone imprints in high-quality Korean Rhinestones and Swarovski Crystals. Your initial order must be a minimum of 12 pieces. A setup fee will apply; the amount will depend on the complexity of your design and will need to be custom quoted.