About Our Garment Decorations
Not sure which decoration to choose? Ask Us! Our team has seen it all and can help you land on the right option based on your logo and needs.
How Embroidery, Screen Printing and Heat Seal Transfers Work
- Embroidery: Polo’s, fleeces, work shirts, sweatshirts, ball caps, knit hats and bags
- Screen Print: Sweatshirts, bags and t-shirts
- Heat Seal Transfer: Sweatshirts, bags and t-shirts
The different decoration methods can generally be used interchangeably, depending on number of colors, complexity of image, size of image, budget or garment limitations (location to be embroidered is too small for an embroidery hoop, fabric is easily scorched if screen printed, etc.)
We'll help you choose the right style for your needs. Decoration types are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, especially for new customers.
Our modern machine embroidery is controlled with a computer that will embroider stored patterns; these may have multiple heads and threads. Embroidery is applied directly onto the garment; a fabric backing is used on the inside of the garment for the thread to grip on to.
An emblem is an image that is either printed or embroidered on a smooth fabric backing, with a border sewn around. The emblem is then sewn on to the garment - this can be removed if needed.
Embroidery sews an image directly onto the garment and is permanent.
Screen printing is the process of applying ink to a screen with a negative image (where the ink will fill in). If a logo is multi-colored, these colors are applied in layers.
Screen printing on a dark colored shirt requires a thin base layer called flash applied to prevent the shirt’s color from bleeding through. The flash layer plus the actual logo color are charged as 2 separate colors.
Heat seals are images with unlimited colors printed on vinyl and applied using a heat press to the garment. With the vinyl heat seal transfer process, a machine is used to cut out designs and letters in pieces of colored vinyl, or the image is printed on a blank white vinyl film.
During the screen-printing process, the ink actually becomes part of the fabric as opposed to a heat-pressed ink that sits on top of the fabric. Heat seal transfers allow for more color variations. However, typically, screen-printed garments hold up better to machine washing and drying.
Heat seal transferring is generally reserved for smaller orders (under 30 pieces), logos with more than six colors, or for tricky- to-print garments such as thermal lined sweatshirts or quilt lined jackets.
We do heat seal transfers on small orders in-house.
Submitting Your Logo For Clothing Decoration
- Embroidery & Emblems: EMB or DST files
- Screen Printing & Heat Sealing: AI or CDR files
Files must be smaller than 3 MB
We can use PDF, PNG and JPG/JPEG for reference only. If those are the only files available for a decoration submission, it will incur an art charge (unless we already have the file on record).
About 2-3 business days.
Clothing Decoration Pricing
The cost of decoration varies depending on type of decoration, complexity of design, colors, and quantities. Talk with a team member about pricing.
Nope, we can add your decorations in any desired color(s).
Requesting specific Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors for screen printing, however, will incur an additional $15 per color charge. PMS colors have an associated code used for physical printing that allows for consistent color printing from job to job and printer to printer.
The short answer is yes, but contact our team to work out specific pricing details.
The maximum number of color allowed for screen printing is six.
We can adjust the price of the garment to include the cost of decoration add-ons, though we do suggest making decorations an optional add-on. As an add-on, the product listing will include a checkbox to add decorations. When selected, the price of decoration will then automatically be added to the garment’s price.
