Screen Printing Information

SCREEN PRINTING is the process of decorating a material with a stenciled design by forcing ink through a mesh screen, transferring the design from the screen onto the material. Traditionally the design stencils were hand cut or painted, but today the screens are coated with a photo emulsion which creates a negative image from the design transparency when exposed to UV light. The term "silk-screening" comes from the silk mesh that was originally used on the screens, but today's screens use a polyester mesh on a wooden or aluminum frame. Each color is printed one-at-a-time from a separate screen, either by a person holding a squeegee in the case of a manual printing press, or by a machine which pulls the squeegee in the case of an automatic printing press.

• Turnaround - Orders are generally completed in two (2) weeks.
• Rush Service - Most orders can be completed faster for an additional fee. Call for details.
• Payment Policy - For all new customers, we require a 50% deposit at the time the order is placed, and the balance upon completion. Other terms may be available for repeat customers at our discretion. Acceptable methods of payment are Cash, Check (No third party or post-dated checks please!), Mastercard or Visa. In some cases we will accept a purchase order or hold a credit card number in lieu of a deposit. We reserve the right to request payment in full up front.
• Pick-up and Shipping - Completed orders can be picked up at our office in Rockville between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:30 PM Monday through Friday. We do not deliver. You can arrange for a courier, or we can ship the order at your expense. Shipping is done by UPS Ground unless you request otherwise.
• Price Quotes - Click on the menu tab and submit the online request form.
• Digitizing is the process of converting a design into a stitch format that will run on the embroidery machine. This is necessary before the design can be embroidered. Pricing is based on the stitch count in your design.
• Contract Printing means that you, the customer supply us with the items to be printed or embroidered. It is your responsibility to count and inspect any and all garments before and after they are decorated. We make every effort to return your garments in the condition that they were given to us. However, ABC T-Shirts will not be held responsible for damage to garments which are not purchased from us. We do not replace garments or provide compensation in the unlikely event of a shortage for any reason. If you need an exact amount, you may wish to provide a few extra items to be safe.

Artwork for Screenprinting

• General Information - Artwork can be 4 color process (CMYK) or up to 6 spot colors. Our in-house artists can work with your own design or create one for you from scratch.
• Art Fees - Simple typesetting with up to 2 scans or stock art images is free. We charge $20 per hour for basic artwork or design editing, and $40 per hour for more advanced designs or color separation. This does not include the screen set-up fee.
• Hardcopy - We accept clean, crisp black & white artwork for single color designs. It may be hand drawn or computer generated, but it should be actual size and camera-ready. Black & White laser prints or pen & ink designs are best. Color prints, faxes, pencil drawings, ink jet prints or low resolution pixelated prints may be subject to Art Fees at $50 per hour.
• Vector Graphics - This is the prefered electronic format. We use CorelDraw 13, and Adobe Illustrator CS in PC format and accept the following file types: CDR, AI, EPS. Files can be submitted on a PC formatted 3.5" floppy or CD/DVD disk, or by email to sales@abctees.com. It's important that all fonts be converted to curves, or we may not be able to open the file.
• Bitmap Graphics - We use Adobe Photoshop CS in PC format. Bitmap files should have a resolution of at least 300dpi at actual size. We accept the following file types for single color designs: PSD, TIF, BMP. We also accept full color designs in Photoshop format. Spot color bitmaps should be saved as PSD files with each color on a separate layer. Because of the size of these files, we recommend that they be submitted on CD/DVD disks. If you must email large files, please use zip compression and send to sales@abctees.com
• Color Matching - We offer a wide range of stock ink colors to choose from. We will mix custom colors or match Pantone PMS colors for $15 each.
• Halftones - Normal halftones should be printed at 45dpi - 55dpi depending on size and detail.

CALL NOW to speak with one of our friendly customer service / design specialists! Se Habla Español

Toll Free (800) 291-4980

E-mail: sales@abctees.com

Office Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM EST