Each product is in some or other way, brandable!
Branding is the perfect way to customize your gifts or assign your items to a group, person or area
Types of Branding
Direct-to-garment
Embroidery
Screen Printing
Digital – Solvent, Sublimation, Latex and UV Printing
Pad Printing
Engraving
Litho Printing
Flexo Printing
UV Printing ( Objects )
Doming & Resin
Direct to Garment Printing (DTG)
A printing method similar to screen printing, but digital – with this method, the digital ink is sprayed directly onto the garment, as opposed to being printed onto heat flex and then pressed into the shirt/Garment
Ideal for: Small runs, high coloured & intricate designs, mid-length lifespan
Pros of Direct to Garment (DTG):
Full colour vs 1 colour has no price difference
Lasts longer than heat flex with proper care
Quick turnaround time compared to Screen Printing
No Setup costs
Cost-Effective on full-colour short runs
No Vector/editable artwork required*
Seamless Intricate designs easily achieved
Gradients and fades easily achieved
Pantone colours can be matched closely on white garments
Cons of Direct to Garment (DTG):
Garments need to be 80% cotton minimum
The print area needs to be flat
Darker garments’ prints are more costly vs light garments
Big prints not cost-effective
Not cost-effective on large runs
Darker garments’ print less vibrant
Difficult to match Pantone colours on coloured garments
* only HIGH RES Images will be sufficient, Vector is always best as it can be converted to high res images by our printing department.
Embroidery
Embroidery is when we use threads to embroider textiles
We have a digitizing program where we turn your high res image to a digital stitching layout to translate to our machines how they will stitch to achieve a threaded version of your logo!
Ideal for: Garments subject to hard wear, any size run, small to medium-sized branding areas
Pros of Embroidery
long-lasting & hard wearing method of branding
Effective on large or small runs
Possible to use lower quality images*
Embroidery possible over seams
Cons of Embroidery
Limited when it comes to fine text & detail
Gradients & subtle shades cannot be achieved
Can compromise waterproof garments
Cannot be done on existing pockets ( pockets needs to be removed before embroidery)
Large panels of embroidery not recommended as it will compromise the structural integrity of textiles
*lower-res needed in comparison to printing, but we always prefer high res vector
Screen Printing
Silkscreen Printing is a stenciling method that involves printing ink through stencils that are supported by a porous fabric mesh stretched across a frame called a screen. Silkscreen Printing is ideally suited for bold and graphic designs. This is usually done by hand or a very basic machine. Each colour needs a seperate screen , thus we do not recommend more than 6 colours in your design. This can be done on hard, flat surfaces ( such as correx or chromadek) or most popular, textiles
Ideal for : Large runs, Hard-wearing materials, Simple Designs
Pros of Screen Printing
Ideal for high volume printing
Hard-wearing
Long Lasting Prints
Mixed to any Pantone colour ( except textiles )
Cons of Screen Printing
Gradients not possible
Max 6 different colours
Expensive on small runs
Textiles have limited colours*
Digital, Solvent,UV, Sublimation & Latex printing
Digital Printing is a type of printing usually done on roll-to-roll or flatbed machines
These machines work a lot like desktop printers, except on a grand scale!
These machines can print up to 3.2m wide and as long as the roll of media allows ( usually 45-50m!)
Solvent, Eco-Solvent, UV and Latex printers are only really different in the types of ink they use. Solvent & Eco-solvent are the least eco-friendly but are the cheapest ink currently available. Latex is the most eco-friendly ink( water-based) in a medium class with pricing and lasts much longer than Solvent inks. The UV ink is very similar to Latex, the only difference is that Latex is still more eco-friendly, and UV ink cures with UV light instead of heat. Latex and UV both last about 6 months in our African sun uncovered/laminated vs 3 months of eco-solvent!
Sublimation is printing mostly for textiles and ceramics – eco-friendly and long-wearing, you can never go wrong with a sublimated garment! ( only works on light/white garments )
Typical products printed by Digital printers :
Canvas
Stickers/Labels
Banners
Flags
Correx
Direct to Product ( bottles, notebooks etc)
Table cloths
Sports Jerseys
Pros of digital printing
Very quick turnaround times
1-full colour has no price difference ( white base might influence pricing)
Usually no setup fees*
Cons of digital printing
Can become costly on large runs*
Usually shorter lifespan (vs textile screenprinting) (sublimation does not apply)
Each machine’s Pantone colour matching is only 99% accurate
Pad Printing
Pad printing is a printing process that can transfer a 2-D image onto a 3-D object. This is accomplished using an indirect offset printing process that involves an image being transferred from the cliché(plate/negative) via a silicone pad onto a substrate
Pad printing is suitable for small prints of 1 to 4 colour
A “condensed” version of screenprinting , without the benefit of textiles
Pad printing is used on rigid/semi-rigid substrates that requires minimal detail and small branded areas.
Pad printing is directly affected by the curve of the substrate, thus, you could print bigger on a plate, than on a mug
Pros of Pad Printing
Suitable for 3D objects
Suitable for large or medium runs* ( setup fees still apply)
Suitable for smaller items ( Pens, USBs etc)
Cons of Pad Printing
limited to a maximum of 4 colours
Every design/name calls for a new cliche/platen – making personalization expensive
The more detail your design has, the less colours will be available
Small details (1x1mm and smaller) will have difficulty printing