SCREEN PRINTING
PLASTISOL INK | METALLIC INK | FULL COLOUR | WATERBASED | DISCHARGE
Our standard screen printing is anything but standard! Actually standard screen printing only refers the most common style of print we produce - all of our prints are exceptional! Following are some of the most common sizes and styles we produce at ESP. If you’re looking for something a bit special, then be sure to check out the information about our specialty inks, oversize printing, team numbers and more.
PLASITISOL INKS
Plastisol is the ink of choice for most designs we print. It is an extremely versatile ink and can be used on most textiles including t-shirts, fabric, hoodies, jackets, totes etc. It wears very well, allows for bright & bold colours (including fluoros), easy to match to the Pantone Solid Coated System and creates great opaque whites on dark fabrics. If you want a bold and colourful print, then Plastisol is the choice for you! But if it’s a softer print more luxurious print you are after, then our water based or discharge inks may be your ideal choice.
SPECIALTY INKS
Although Plastisol is the number one choice for most jobs we produce, it’s not for everyone. We also specialise in Water based and Discharge inks. But if you are still looking for something a little different we also offer a wide range of amazing inks that glow in the dark, reflect, puff or shine. We can print your shirts with metallic inks, glitter, puff ink, metallic foils, UV reactive ink, glow in the dark ink, fluro and more. Feel free to drop into our Dominion Road showroom and we can show you the all the available options.
SIMULATED PROCESS
This is our preferred choice for printing detailed, colour intensive graphics with a lot of blending and gradients. This method can be used on either light or dark fabrics, but is best suited to dark colour shirts. Unlike CYMK printing, the Simulated Process method can use anywhere from 2-6 colours to make up your image and this depends on the design.
FULL COLOUR CMYK
If you are after a photorealistic print then our 4 colour process may be the one for you. For this method we use 4 colours; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key Black to print a photorealistic image onto primarily white or light coloured garments. If you are wanting to print on dark fabrics, we suggest using our simulated process method.
WATERBASED INK
Water based ink is a solvent free ink that soaks into the fabric instead of sitting on top like our standard plastisol prints. Our eco-friendly water based inks don't have the “rubbery” feel of other inks and create an ultra soft print that has a virtually undetectable hand feel. Once you try a shirt printing using our water-based inks, you won’t want to wear anything else again! For water-based colours that ‘Pop’, we recommend using light coloured cotton garments. For soft feel Dark Coloured garments, we recommend our Discharge Printing. Both Water Based and Discharge are perfect for Large and Oversized printing.
DISCHARGE PRINTING
Discharge ink is still a solvent-free ink that soaks into a shirt’s fabric. However, unlike water-based ink, the discharge additive reacts under heat to remove or ‘strip’ out the fabric dye colour to expose the original undyed fabric, leaving a calico-like colour. To add colour we mix the discharge agent into our ink to re-dye the print area once the discharge agent has removed the fabric colour. Discharge printing is perfect for creating soft prints and ideal for large prints. Not all shirt brands and colours are created equal when it comes to discharge printing, so before planning your design talk to us first so we can advise you on the best garments for your design.
