all over limitations

All Over T-shirt Printing Limitations and Helpful Tips on Screen Printed Shirts

all over screen printing
custom screen printing

Art Requirements for All-Over T-shirt Printing
All-Over t-shirt printing is a unique style of t-shirt printing. It has more art requirements than a standard t-shirt screen-print and does have limitations. One unique feature of how all-over t-shirts are printed is, the same artwork covers all sizes of shirts. Meaning, the artwork on a small sized t-shirt will show less art than what is shown on a 2XL size t-shirt.

By printing oversized art all over the shirt from side to side, it allows a consistency between shirts while retaining individuality. But it does require special consideration as to the placement of your logo and select art elements.

Shirt & Color Restrictions
Due to garment dyes and the materials used in making shirts, some t-shirt blends and colors have limitations. The best fabric to use for all over shirt printing is 100% cotton and certain "Heather" blends. (Heather is spun yarn utilizing pre-dyed fibers. These dyed fibers are custom blended to give a specific color and look.)

NOTE: Please understand this chart below does not cover all colors available. To check if the color you wish to use is usable, please contact our customer service at 866.322.1200.

Shirt colors that work best:

  • Black

  • Blue Dusk

  • Camel

  • Candy

  • Cedar

  • Charcoal

  • Chestnut

  • Dark Chocolate

  • Forest

  • ice grey

  • indigo blue

  • Light Blue

  • navy

  • natural

  • oceana

  • olive

  • orchid

  • paprika

  • prairie dust

  • salmon

  • sand

  • serene green

  • tan

  • tangerine

  • texas orange

  • vegas gold

  • Heather Cinnamon

  • Heather Forest

  • dark heather

  • heather indigo

  • heather navy

  • white

 

Shirt colors that WILL NOT work:

  • ash

  • atlantis

  • carolina blue

  • daisy

  • honey

  • iris

  • irish green

  • jade dome

  • kelly green

  • metro blue

  • royal

  • safety green

  • safety orange

  • saphire

  • sport grey

  • violet

White Discharged Ink on a Black tee

Discharge Inks
All Over shirt printing uses discharge inks. These inks are used in a special process in alternative to traditional plastic based inks in screen printing. It is sometimes called "Soft Hand" or "Water Base." Although not ideal for all materials, discharge inks do provide beautiful colors with very soft prints that let the fabrics' texture stand out.

Discharge printing is a specialty screen-printing process that uses water based ink product as its base and has a discharge agent added to the ink. The purpose of the discharge agent is to discharge or take up a darker colored dye out of the shirts' cotton fabric. This leaves the cotton in its natural state, which is usually a cream or tan color.

Discharge is formulated to work on garments with 100% cotton for the fabric content. That is one of the limitations associated with its use. It cannot be used on other fabrics such as polyester or blends.

General Considerations
When printing large areas of solid color on apparel, especially below the armpit or over seams, shirts may look misprinted because of small wrinkles. This is due to small folds in the fabric where the ink does not touch the fabric. The best way to minimize any negative effects is to create a "distressed" look to these design areas to reduce visibility of possible wrinkles.

NOTE: All over shirt prints are not wrapped around the t-shirt. We can print a front and back of shirts laying flat. But not wrap around in a single 3D movement.

When designing your t-shirt backside layout, avoid putting logos or important graphic elements across the back shoulder area. This area also shows through where the front collar is positioned. Hence, when the t-shirt is laid flat for all over backside printing, the front collar underneath can show its' outline. This could cause an uneven print surface and not allow your art to print correctly.

Gradients may be printed with discharge inks (water based), but will typically require a lower screen mesh resolution when printed. This is because fine gradients require the screen printer to use high mesh count screens. Water base ink has a tendency to dry in this type of silk screen method.

While we do charge extra for this discharge ink service, the costs are minimal and will allow you to get that retail look and feel. This allows you to sell a higher price at retail.

Check out our "How To Order" page for general information on custom apparel.