Graphic D-Signs
Introduction
Produce custom apparel with your digital printer when I first got my Roland Color CAMM PC600 digital printer, I was only really interested in using it to create lettering for vehicles and s igns [see Creative digital printing can set your shop apart, SignCraft, May/June 2002]. I knew it could produce transfers for T- shir ts and such, but I had never considered trying to market short- run, full-color, custom apparel.
Over the years , though, customers had often asked if I did s ilk screening. I always turned that work away. I never felt comfortable subbing out the work then marking it up. But with a digital pr inter, you can control the product you’re selling, and offer small quantity, fullcolor T-shirts, and other apparel—and make money at it, too. And since most of my logos and truck lettering jobs were multicolor, I saw this as a big advantage for some of my smaller clients who might only need one or two dozen shirts.
Getting started
So how do you get started in the apparel business? The first step is to locate a supplier of the apparel.We use Alpha Shirt Company [800-523-4585, www.alphashirt .com] to buy our shirts and related apparel at a wholesale rate. They have a great catalog you can show to clients, and a separate price list that shows your cost. You should probably get a heat press as well. I tried using an iron, but that didn’t work This logo would be difficult, if not impossible, to print and get the detail shown here.With digital printing you’re unlimited by color options, so don’t worry about how much detail to include in the design.
I picked up a Mighty Press Lite from Beacon Graphic Systems [800-762-9205, www.beacongraphics.com] for about $500. Once you’ve got your supplier and heat press, you’ll need to figure out which printer ribbons and cartridges, as well as which transfer material you need. There are two types of transfer material, one for white and light colored shirts, and one for dark shirts. The transfer material is like vinyl—you print your image on it, make your contour cuts, and then weed. Then you use the heat press to transfer the image to the shirt. The ink bonds to the fabric producing a durable, washable graphic on the shirt.
For white shirts you’ll need wax-based printer cartridges. My printer is a Roland PC-600, and a set of cyan, yellow and magenta cartridges run about $30. Next, you need to get the transfer material.We use Color Print Clear CPC 2130 from Specialty Materials [877-437- 8556]. You must print your transfers in reverse, so that when applied to the shirt, the color that went down on the transfer first is “on top” of the other colors on the shirt.With the heat press set to 340 degrees, heat for 15 seconds then peel off the backing. For dark shirts use resin ribbons instead of wax. Print the image on the opaque white transfer material, which then bonds to the shirt when heated. The ink sticks to the transfer material, and the transfer material sticks to the shirt. You simply print the transfers as you would print vinyl, and then weed the excess.We use Color Print Standard CP 2100 from Specialty Materials. Set the press for 315 degrees, position the transfer on the shirt then cover with a release sheet before closing the press. Heat for 30 seconds. If you’ve got a bunch of lettering, you can use transfer tape. For the examples here, I peeled the lettering off the backing and positioned it by hand.
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Selling points
Of course, the biggest selling point is the full-color printing. There are no screen charges or setup fees, so you’re pricing is competitive on short-run work like this. On one- or two-color jobs, you’re not going to be as competitive with traditional silk screening. For those instances I’ve aligned us with a wholesale screen-print shop who only sells to the trade. I’m able to mark his work up about 50 percent or more, depending on the job. In some ways I like that scenario, because I never touch the job and still make money. But as I mentioned earlier, if you have folks on the payroll, it can be profitable to keep the work in-house.
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Dan Antonelli owns Graphic D-Signs, Inc., a fullservice
advertising and Web development firm
in Washington, New Jersey.You can e-mail him
at dan@graphicd-signs.com or visit his Web site
at www.graphicd-signs.com.
Extracted from SignCraft Magazine (Jan/Feb 2003), P.O. Box 60031, Fort Myers, Florida 33906 |
