Chroma Apparel has been designing and printing custom t shirts for over two decades. With a focus on the design portion of the process we are capable of printing multiple colors of on hundreds of garment types and colors. Chroma Apparel’s T Shirt Printing is fundamentally different than most t shirt shops in that our focus is on the artwork. Creating a beautiful looking t-shirt is our primary goal. We start in the design phase and make sure that every aspect of the design will look great when actually printed. It is this level of detail that sets Chroma Apparel T Shirt Printing apart from the typical t-shirt shop.

Multi Color Printing

We can print up to 8 colors at a time. While we are capable of printing this many colors most of our designs are created to use 4 or less. T Shirt Printing in multiple colors is an art in itself. Certain colors work well together and others do not. We are particularly careful about how we compose our designs to ensure that our multi colored t shirt printing will look amazing as  a final product.

Printing on Dark Garments

We use a process called under basing when printing on dark colored t-shirts. In essence this is just putting down a layer of light colored ink (usually white) and then printing the true color over the top of it. This allows light colors like white and yellow to maintain their vibrancy without the darkness of the shirt showing through the ink. Underbasing is the reason some shirts looks bright and others don’t. Bright whites and vivid colors make the printed design so much more appealing. We underbase all of our printing on dark colored garments.

Halftones and Blends

Frequently we incorporate halftones and blends in our designs. These techniques create the illusion of multiple colors while still maintaining a more economical number of actual printed colors. When using halftones and blends in t shirt printing the artists and printers need to be very careful to manage a number of various factors. If any of these factors are not given careful consideration a t-shirt design can go very wrong. Our highly experienced design and print staffs make sure each of these details is correct which results in the very best T Shirt Printing and most beautiful results.

Pantone Matching System

Chroma apparel utilizes the Pantone Matching System in its t shirt printing process. This means we can match a specified color will a very small amount of variation. We have a precise and measured approach to mixing our inks which ensures that the colors that are proofed are the colors that are produced in the final product. The Pantone Matching System is the industry standard for ensuring correct colors from design to final product and is used by nearly every established designer and printer in the industry. Pantone books can be found in almost every copy shop or design center. If you are unsure what the actual colors being used in your design are simply locate a local establishment and ask to see their book.

Spot Colors vs Process Colors.

Spot Color Printing – Utilizes premixed ink colors that represent the actual color being printed. In this process of printing green ink would be used to print green. Chroma apparel uses spot colors for its t shirt printing. Spot colors are more vibrant, print cleaner and are typically more attractive. Spot colors can be matched to the Pantone color system ensuring truer colors in proofing and the  final result. Although it is hard to tell the image of the sunflowers is actually just six colors. This is an example of how spot colors can be utilized to make beautiful prints.

Process Printing – Utilizes 4 colors which are mixed together using small dots to create an unlimited variety of colors. In other words a combination of yellow and blue would be combined to make green. While process printing can produce more color variations the prints tend to be duller and not as dynamic looking. Process printing also creates problems with color matching and loses print quality on dark colored shirts.

Spot-Process Printing

Spot Process Printing is a combination of Process printing and Spot Color printing. This is the technique that we choose to use when a design requires a more photographic feel or needs to incorporate dozens of colors. It implements the same concepts as Process Printing but utilizes spot colors. Spot Process allows us to maintain the vibrant colors of spot printing while enjoying the multiple colors of process printing. It also looks very nice on dark garments and allows for precise color matching using our Pantone Matching System. The area on the left represents our spot process application (using only 6 colors) while the area on the right hand side represents the original photo using a 4 color process. Notice how the colors are more vivid and brighter.

The Very Best Art Elements

Chroma Apparel artists have been creating our own stock imagery and clipart for years now. Much of our original artwork is being used by other t shirt print shops. In fact our artwork has become so popular that we now offer much of it for sale. If you are interested in any of our design elements, team mascots or t shirt design templates visit our artwork site. www.TeamlogoStyle.com