Dye Sublimation or Screen Printing
Screen printing is an analog technology that involves pushing ink with a squeegee through a stencil on a fine mesh screen and onto the shirt being decorated. I do this process by hand on a manual screen printing press. Screen printing requires a different screen for each color in your design. For example, a design with 4 colors requires 4 different screens therefore costing more than a 1 color design. The advantage to screen printing is the price goes down the more higher the quantity ordered.
Dye sublimation is a digital printing process that requires a specialty printer similar to an inkjet printer. For dye sublimation, I first print a mirror image of your design onto special transfer paper, which I then apply to the shirt, hoodie, etc. using a heat press. The heat from the press sublimates the ink on the transfer paper, meaning it goes directly from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid in between. As a gas, the ink penetrates the material being decorated. The image will never crack, fade or peel and will always look crisp and professional.
