RESOURCES
We know creating merchandise isn't easy. Therefore, we have created a range of resources to help educate and help you to be best prepared for the process.
ARTWORK GUIDELINES & FILE TYPES
To ensure that we provide you with screen prints to the highest standard, we need to ensure we have the correct files before the job can begin. It is important to ensure the artwork you are supplying is either the size it is going to be printed or larger, otherwise if we have to enlarge a smaller file, detail can be lost. See below the file types that we accept when setting up your job to be screen printed.
VECTOR FILES
Vector files are our most preferred type of file when setting up a screen print job. The reason for this is the file can easily be made larger or smaller without compromising the quality of the artwork. It is important that you or your designer doesn't just save other images or designs like JPEG's in a vector file, it's important that the design and any text in the design has been expanded to outlines.
- Adobe Illustrator Files (.ai)
- Vector files that are saved as .pdf or .eps (ensure all artwork and text has been expanded to outlines)
RASTER ARTWORK
Raster artwork is artwork that has usually been created or scanned into Photoshop and does not have outlines like a vector file. The file size is very important when creating your artwork in Photoshop to ensure it is larger than the print and is a minimum of 300dpi.
- Saved as a Photoshop file (.psd)
- Must be the same size as you plan it to be printed or larger
- All raster images must have a resolution of 300dpi or more
- Fonts need to be rasterised or sent to our team
- All raster must be in the original colour space. We suggest full colour graphics in RGB, if your file has been submitted in CMYK please do not convert to RGB as some colour data maybe be lost.
UNACCEPTED FILES / NEED REWORKING
We cannot accept the below files because they do not have enough information saved within them to screen print from:
- JPEG
- PNG
- Microsoft Word Doc
We have an expert in-house design team that can help create your artwork from scratch or redraw your current artwork if it is not currently saved in the correct format. Any design assistance we provide, we charge for but the files are yours to keep when they are completed.
PRINT AREAS
Maximum Screen Size
The maximum printable area of our screens are:
- Standard Kids T-Shirt/Tote bag Screen 280mm x 320mm
- Standard T-Shirt Screen 400mm x 570mm
- Standard Teatowel Screen 600mm x 400mm
Although the garment you choose can limit the printable area. This must be considered when printing a large artwork. You must size the artwork to the smallest garment in the order to ensure this works for all sizes. Provided below are some templates of our commonly used garments with approximate sizing to give you an idea of scale.
AS COLOUR CLASSIC T SHIRT
AS COLOUR STENCIL HOODIE
AS COLOUR KIDS T SHIRT
AS COLOUR CARRIE TOTE
PANTONE AND COLOUR MATCHING
If you want a specific colour to be used in your artwork we use the Solid Coated Pantone Colour Guide to assure accuracy. If a Pantone colour has not been specified for your artwork you can either choose to pick colours from this online swatch, or you we can match as close to the artwork on the computer screen. It is important to note that Pantone Colours will vary from monitor to swatch book to the mixed ink. We allow a tolerance of 5% variance from the Swatch book. If you have a previously printed garment and want us to match a Pantone colour you could bring this in for us.
EMBROIDERY SETUP
Before we can stitch out your artwork we need to digitise your file. The quality of the digitise process can be the difference between an ok embroidery job and an amazing embroidery job. Lots of companies outsource this process off-shore as it is cheaper, but we have our files digitised in New Zealand and we think the end results shows it all.
The digitised file or 'run file' tells the embroidery machine what stitches to put where and in what order to do it. Therefore you can supply your design in any format, as when we digitise your logo we redraw it from scratch.
- File types can be in any format.
- Text cannot be any smaller than 5mm in height, otherwise it will not be legible when it is stitched out.
- You can have a maximum of 12 embroidery colours.
Maximum Embroidery Dimensions
- Left/right chest: 100mm wide x 150mm high
- Front cap/beanie: 100mm wide x 66mm high
- Back of cap: 90mm wide x 35mm high
- Side of cap: 50mm wide x 25mm high
- Oversized front/back of a sweater: 260mm wide x 260mm high
INSIDE NECK TAGS
When it comes to neck tag artwork the same rules apply. Within the design you must include size, washing instructions and country of where it was made. The neck tag artwork typically fits within 50mm wide x 70mm high. Our standard neck tag colour is Cool Grey 7C which is visible on most colour ways.
If you would like us to design your neck tag we have a template here with many different options you can choose from.
ART DEPARTMENT
If you have an artwork or an idea that you need done from scratch we have an experienced design team to help. All you have to do is answer a series of questions we have listed here.
If you have you artwork but you cannot supply it within the criteria of our artwork guidelines above, we can have the artwork redrawn to allow us to have a nice clean image that can be rescaled and altered easily to then produce a quality end result.
Our artwork fee is charged out as $60 + GST per hour.
Here is a before and after example of a redrawn artwork.