deth502

cheapest multi color shirts?

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hello all, its been a while. 

im looking to get/make some shirts for our concession business. i basically want our logo on the back, probably about 10"-12" circle (whats a good size for the back of a shirt??) it is a 6 color logo, but 2 of the colors are black and white, so im looking at a 5 color logo on either a black or white shirt. 

i have a 15x15" heat press, and i was looking into getting heat transfers, but the first site i went to was in the area of $30+ each for a 10-25 qty. 

so my next thought was to put the labor into it and layer the whole logo doing it on my cutter with siser heat transfer vinyl, but again, for that much heat transfer vinyl im still looking at around $15 a shirt in materials, NOT counting the shirt. 

i do have a 2 color screen press setup (that i never used), i think it might be expandable to 4 colors, but that still wont cut it. 

so im asking the experts, what is the best way to go to get a decent quality shirt without losing mine? 

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That many colors on that few shirts you're going to find either a DTG printer or layer it yourself and keep it in-house.  I would do vinyl in house if it's a vinyl friendly logo. This is also a good learning curve for setting up a business. It's always thrifty to have a logo that still looks good in one or two colors. 

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15 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

That many colors on that few shirts you're going to find either a DTG printer or layer it yourself and keep it in-house.  I would do vinyl in house if it's a vinyl friendly logo. This is also a good learning curve for setting up a business. It's always thrifty to have a logo that still looks good in one or two colors

Basic logo design rule: It should always work in Black and White.

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If you could use white shirts I'd consider sublimated...Can't tell any things been transferred to the shirt, doesn't block any air flow....out lasts most others I have tested 

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ok, i tried to attach the logo here. it is vinyl friendly, ive layered it many times on our trailers and tents and what not. 

 

its 6 colors, if you count the black and white, but i was looking for black shirts and white shirts, so (in vinyl) those colors would be omitted in shirts of said colors. 

 

again, i have a heat press, so i understand "put design on shirt, press, peel" and i have a cutter, so i understand cutting heat transfer vinyl, but as far as teh other terminology i am completely ignorant.

 

macon, you mentioned "dtg or sublimation" i thought these were the same thing?? 

 

castironrobbie, i would gladly sooner pay someone here than some random web site, but when i looked for plastisol transfers (im fairly certain thats what i was looking at) for 10-15 qty's 5 color it was around $35-40 each, which is way out of my price range. if you are or know of a member or have a website you use that you want to let me know of id appreciate it. 

 

and, finally, ive not done much with the heat transfer vinyl so far. if i were to go that route, would i ba able to layer the heat transfer vinyl? as in, if it were a white shirt, id do the black circle outside, then layer the red and yellow on top of the black. thats how i do the vinyl decals, but will heat transfer wrk that way as well? 

a-z.JPG

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oh, and one other thing to mention, the reason  was looking for transfers over dtg was so i could do them in house so i could make custom shirts for individuals working for us, for example, if one wanted a v-neck, one wants a polo, ect...   

but if i had to order completed shirts to end up getting a decent price, id make due with a certain style. 

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10 - 15 of those I think I would do just like you are thinking and make them in-house. Personally I would probably do them on a light colored shirt so as to be able to drop out anything behind the buffalo or make a close cut contrast background for him on a dark shirt just to avoid a lot of sweat inducing coverage on the big version. That is still a lot of layers but if it's your own gig who cares. 

If you are going white shirts then Jet Pro Soft Stretch (JPSS) printed with pigment ink (Epson Durabrite ink is same) would make short work of that logo. 

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7 hours ago, deth502 said:

ok, i tried to attach the logo here. it is vinyl friendly, ive layered it many times on our trailers and tents and what not. 

 

its 6 colors, if you count the black and white, but i was looking for black shirts and white shirts, so (in vinyl) those colors would be omitted in shirts of said colors. 

 

again, i have a heat press, so i understand "put design on shirt, press, peel" and i have a cutter, so i understand cutting heat transfer vinyl, but as far as teh other terminology i am completely ignorant.

 

macon, you mentioned "dtg or sublimation" i thought these were the same thing?? 

 

castironrobbie, i would gladly sooner pay someone here than some random web site, but when i looked for plastisol transfers (im fairly certain thats what i was looking at) for 10-15 qty's 5 color it was around $35-40 each, which is way out of my price range. if you are or know of a member or have a website you use that you want to let me know of id appreciate it. 

 

and, finally, ive not done much with the heat transfer vinyl so far. if i were to go that route, would i ba able to layer the heat transfer vinyl? as in, if it were a white shirt, id do the black circle outside, then layer the red and yellow on top of the black. thats how i do the vinyl decals, but will heat transfer wrk that way as well? 

a-z.JPG

Wow that's a lot of dough for a shirt. Good luck

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I don't think anyone actually answered your question about layering (including me) Yes you can layer most HTV. I use Siser almost exclusively and it layers great. The carrier on HTV is usually clear so it's simple to place in the right spot. With Siser you just press the first layer(s) for a few seconds to get it to release and then once you are on your top layer you press for the full 12-15 seconds. 

You will have to decide the best method to stack it together. The green will be miserable to get in the right place before the black so you'll want to build it so it goes afterword with cut out areas for the hooves. 

Too much vinyl stacked up can get heavy and thick feeling. so when [possible I try to use know out lettering and avoid too many layers stacked. Some designs are not as feasible to do this. For example in your logo I would build it so the black goes down first and the areas in the buffalo that get brown on top I would remove most of the black and just leave a little to overlap. If you don't leave some overlap you'll have white shirt showing somewhere inevitably. Shirts do some shrinking as they get each successive layer and it can cause some alignment issues sometimes so you can expect that a little but you can often stretch it back close in between layers if it's not looking good enough. 

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16 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

I don't think anyone actually answered your question about layering (including me) Yes you can layer most HTV. I use Siser almost exclusively and it layers great. The carrier on HTV is usually clear so it's simple to place in the right spot. With Siser you just press the first layer(s) for a few seconds to get it to release and then once you are on your top layer you press for the full 12-15 seconds. 

You will have to decide the best method to stack it together. The green will be miserable to get in the right place before the black so you'll want to build it so it goes afterword with cut out areas for the hooves. 

Too much vinyl stacked up can get heavy and thick feeling. so when [possible I try to use know out lettering and avoid too many layers stacked. Some designs are not as feasible to do this. For example in your logo I would build it so the black goes down first and the areas in the buffalo that get brown on top I would remove most of the black and just leave a little to overlap. If you don't leave some overlap you'll have white shirt showing somewhere inevitably. Shirts do some shrinking as they get each successive layer and it can cause some alignment issues sometimes so you can expect that a little but you can often stretch it back close in between layers if it's not looking good enough. 

yes, i only have 2 layers stacked at most. if a white background, i have the yellow and red stacked on the black on the ring, and the brown on the black for the buffalo. on a black background, its just the green on the white. luckily, any equipment ive put it on so far was one of those 2 colors, otherwise it would start getting difficult to align and thick. i also use the siser htv, but have only done one color logos thus far. good to know that i can layer it the same way i do vinyl, thanks. 

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On 8/26/2016 at 4:17 PM, Wildgoose said:

10 - 15 of those I think I would do just like you are thinking and make them in-house. Personally I would probably do them on a light colored shirt so as to be able to drop out anything behind the buffalo or make a close cut contrast background for him on a dark shirt just to avoid a lot of sweat inducing coverage on the big version. That is still a lot of layers but if it's your own gig who cares. 

If you are going white shirts then Jet Pro Soft Stretch (JPSS) printed with pigment ink (Epson Durabrite ink is same) would make short work of that logo. 

I'm a little late to the conversation but I agree with Wildgoose 100%. I'd personally just do white shirts for now using JPSS, once you need more shirts you could then order transfers since the more you order the cheaper they are. Unfortunately with that many colors using transfers will still be a lot more expensive than a 1 or 2 color design.

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On 8/27/2016 at 10:56 PM, Macon Innovations said:

You can get full color transfers from http://www.fmexpressions.com/

I have been very happy with their Freedom Athletic line.....It would be $11.70 per transfer to get you a 12" circle at 24 transfers which is their minimum at that size range.....Plus Shipping 

for 5 color? no additionals like set up charges? 

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On 9/10/2016 at 3:04 PM, Macon Innovations said:

Full color,no setup fees.....

there is a setup charge. its just in the quote. the reason silkscreen is high is cause you need to print 5 films then coat the screen then burn 5 screens wash them out and let them dry. tape them off add ink print and so on. going transfers is your best bet I would say but depends on how many shirts your doing.

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Depending on the number of shirts I would stick with vinyl - but the logo would get modified.  I would lose the red and the yellow, and do it on a white shirt.  Either that or buy poly shirts, which would be nice for the employees - a bit cooler to work in, and sublimate them.  

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Or white cotton or cotton/polly with JPSS would also be an affordable option if you can live with white shirts. 

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On 9/17/2016 at 8:50 AM, Macon Innovations said:

I've also been sublimation on 50/50 shirts.....The colors are not as vivid.....But the pricing is way better.....Kind of gives it a washed out look.....

 

thats dtg printing, right??  i kind of like the worn in look. 

 

@djque, i understand the processes involved in screen printing. i do have a 2 color set-up, which is useless for this situation. 

 

so if im following correctly, macon's transfers are the same as the dtg printing, more or less, only to a transfer sheet. like i said, ive never bought transfers before, so im not really up on the processes. 

 

i did end up spending $125 on htv, i have enough to do 9 shirts, of which i already did 6 (the "big fair", our biggest event of the year starts this weekend) im still liking the $11.70 ea transfers macon mentioned for purchase later, when im not under this time crunch. some white shirts would be nice for the cooler summer events too. 

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i also tried some thing else for the first time. i did do one on poly. the material stretches a bit when pulling off the transfer paper during layers, and i had a bit of trouble with distorting the htv that was already on and making things line up, but it turned out ok. 

 

the front and back: (yes, this one is a little misaligned on the text, i had 2 like that, of course, one was the poly)

20160919_163851.jpg

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Sublimation only transfers the ink to the shirt.....It is essentially dying the shirt.....There is nothing to crack or peel....You can't even feel a difference on the shirt in the areas of the graphics....The major downside is it doesn't work on dark colors.....The lighter the better.....With full photo quality on whites.....DTG is a different process entirely 

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Your design on black is a perfect application for DTG. Too bad they cost so much. 

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