Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers to the questions that we get asked all of the time.

Order Details

What is your turnaround time?

Typically this is 10 days for the services that we do in house. If we are extremely busy then this may be longer and we will let you know. If we need to send out your job for any reason (all over printing or relabel) then we cannot guarantee turnaround time.

The garment I want is out of stock – how does that affect me?

It is unfortunate, but sometimes our vendors will run out of particular styles or colors.This is the nature of the industry.Sometimes a big player like a major retailer will come along and buy up all of a company’s inventory.We cannot prevent this, nor can they prevent it.

If this happens we can offer a variety of possible substitute products from other vendors, or you can choose to wait until the items are back in stock.If you choose to wait for the inventory to be replenished then we cannot guarantee the turnaround time or that the items will be back in stock when the vendor says they will.

If you choose a substitute garment then we should be able to stick to our typical turnaround time unless those garments are out-of-stock as well.

All of our vendors can have inventory problems at one time or another, especially in the busy season (summer months and many times through Christmas).We order your garments within 24 hours of you placing an order so we should be able to notify you of out-of-stocks within a day of your order confirmation.

How do I get the cost down?
  1. Get to our next price break (at 48, 72, 144, 288, 500, 750, 1000, 1500 . . .)
  2. Print in fewer locations with fewer colors
  3. Choose more economical garments
  4. Do not relabel your garments
How do I get my artwork to you?

You can transmit artwork to us in a number of ways:

Are there any discounts on reorders?
We do not offer discounts on reorders.Discounts are based on volume per design on every order.
Do dark shirts cost more?
Yes.Dark shirts are more expensive to buy blank, and they require an under base to make most colors opaque.
When does your typical 10 day turn around time begin?
When we have received final artwork, your 50% deposit, and an approval of our mock up.If there is a delay in your approval of our mock up, changes to the mock up, or out of stocks from the vendor, turn around time may be delayed further.Typical turn around time on most orders is 10 business days.Relabel and other services will add to turn around time, and on some occasions a typical order might take a little longer, but we try our best to meet the 10 business days and 99% of the time we do.
Do you ship outside of the United States?
No. But we’ll ship anywhere in the United States. We get pretty good UPS Ground rates, but we can also ship on your account if you’d rather or if your rates are better.
Can I mix the shirt types in my order (t-shirts, tanks, hoodies, under pants)?
Yes, as long as the design is exactly the same on each shirt and is printed in the same location and same size on all of the shirts. We have a minimum of 4 pieces per style, color, and size for each garment when ordering and a minimum of 12 pieces per colorway.
How much for a pre-production sample?
Pre-production samples are $60 per imprinted color and our pre-press mock up and approval process eliminates the need for press samples under most circumstances.
Do you guarantee your work?
Definitely, no question. We stand behind our products, and will do what is necessary make sure you get what you want and expect.We take every precaution possible to avoid miscommunications and mistakes on the front end of the job.On the rare occasion we make a mistake we will correct it for you.If this ever occurs, we will examine the process by which we arrived at the mistake, take action to make sure it will not happen again, and we will inform you of what you can do for future orders to help us avoid a mistake.We have no problems admitting when we screw up.  In some situations, the responsibility may lie on the customer, in which case we will inform you of what you can do for future orders to help us avoid a mistake.The bottom line is that we are reasonable and ethical people and we want you to have a good experience with us and order with us again.

Printing Questions and Capabilities

What is an underbase?
An under base is a layer of white ink that is printed under the other ink colors when printing dark garments with plastisol inks. When printing most colors on dark garments the color of the shirt will show through the ink influencing the color of the ink.For instance, yellow ink printed directly on a royal blue shirt will look green.To prevent this, an under base of white ink is printed, then flash dried, and the yellow is printed on top.This gives the top colors full opacity.
How many colors can you print?
We print up to 10 different ink colors at a time in a location under many circumstances.We can use several techniques to increase the number of perceived colors in a print.We can produce full color prints on both light and dark colored garments.
Will the printing fade on my shirts after a few washings?
No.Our plastisol screen printed t-shirts are very durable and the print will outlive the garment.The same applies to water base although water base does become more ‘distressed’ looking after the initial wash.The hand or feel of the ink may soften with numerous washings.Never iron a screen printed garment and do try to wash them inside out.
Do you offer digital garment printing?
We do not offer digital or direct to garment printing.We are not completely satisfied that the technology will meet our production needs just yet, but it may in time, plus the equipment is EXPENSIVE.We choose to specialize in custom screen printing, which we believe is a much more valuable and more artistic process.
Do you print on hats?
We do print on headwear.Please contact us for specs and limitations and we will certainly recommend and source embroidery when we feel that your design or substrate will be better suited for embroidery.
Do you do athletic numbering or lettering?
We do not offer athletic numbering or lettering. Most manufacturers and distributors who sell athletic jerseys and garments offer this service.
Do you print on jackets?
Under some circumstances we can.Please contact us for specs and limitations and we will certainly recommend and outsource embroidery when we feel that your design or substrate will be better suited for embroidery.
Are your inks environmentally friendly?
We print with both plastisol and waterbased inks.Both chemistries are harmless when handled properly by filtration of waste water, curing waste ink and by using V.O.C.-free chemicals for cleaning.We follow these practices in order to have a negligible environmental impact.There is debate, but waterbase ink is generally considered to be the environmentally friendly option due to the lack of PVC compounds in the ink.

Artwork

How do i prepare my Illustrator file for printing?

These few simple steps will help ensure that there are no problems when processing your art files.

  • Leave your artwork in layers so that we can more easily separate the artwork.
  • Embed your images by selecting everything and then selecting the “embed image” option from the drop-down menu on your links palette.
  • Outline your fonts by following these steps:
    1. Open your art file.
    2. Unlock all layers and objects.
    3. Select everything.
    4. Go to the “Type” menu and select “Create Outlines.”
    5. All of your fonts should be converted to vectors so you can save and send over.

Custom Relabel

What should I include on my labels?

The Federal Trade Commission makes this statement regarding garment relabeling:

"Replacing Another Company’s Label With Your Own:

An importer, distributor, or retailer may want to replace the original label on a textile product with a label showing its company or RN. This is perfectly legal as long as the new label lists the name or RN of the person or company making the change.

NOTE: If you remove a label containing required information, the label you substitute also must contain that required information. Otherwise, you’ve violated the Textile Act."

So, in order to comply with the Textile and Wools Act, required information includes fiber content, care, and origin country on your label.

You can learn more about labeling requirements under the Textile and Wools Act at the FTC website.

Miscellaneous

Who designed your website?
We did.We worked very hard on it. If you’re another screen printer, take the high road and don’t plagiarize from us and then mark it as if you copyrighted it, don’t plagiarize at all, if you have questions please call us. We cannot design your website since we are focused printing garments.