I've created some fantasy artwork that I could never reproduce outside the computer. Don't get me wrong. I've succeeded many times only to be woefully underimpressed with the results using commercial and non-commerical means. What I don't want... 1) To have to use iron-on tranfers, I haven't met any I've liked whether using home irons or actual heat presses. 2) Be able to feel the transfer itself or the weight of it when wearing the shirt, etc. 3) To have to be limited to 4, 6 or even 8 color printing processes. 4) To be limited to only using a perfect shaped area (such as a retangle or square) for printing. (All the above conditions have already been satisfied by shirts I've seen made, but I want to know how or where I can do this myself for my own artwork.) What I want... 1) The background texturing of the shirt is not just a solid color but one that blends with the foreground image giving the illusion of full shirt image saturation! Most apparel I've seen has a solid color background and whatever art there is sadly confined to a neat (and uninteresting) little box in the middle of the front of the shirt. Instead wasting a far amount of the print surface of the item, you've can use the whole thing. 3) I've never managed to get any of my art that contains alpha channel information (Transparent areas) to look transparent. This is especially true of darker fabrics even when commercial routes have been taken since I don't really want to use white (or ligher colors). While I wouldn't mind knowing how to do all of the above myself, commercial referrals are fine as I really just want to make the shirts for myself right now. ;) Thanks in advance for any assistance! :)

Message edited on: 03/09/2006 07:41

Attached Link: http://www.dyesub.org/

Thanks! I'll give that link a look at. :) In case anyone wondered (as far as quantity)...

This would be just for myself to determine how I like various techniques / methods. After settling on a particular method / vendor, I could very well decide to do more.

I am familiar with dye-sublimation as I have a 4x6 canon printer that does an acceptable job of making prints of my art. It only does that one size, though.

Sadly, CafePress and Zazzle say they don't use Dye-Sublimation when I contacted them.

Anyone know of a business that makes use of dye-sublimation technology to make "custom" digital art prints to t-shirts and the like ?

Message edited on: 03/09/2006 10:09

I've used CafePress and been reasonably pleased with the results, but I haven't really pushed the limits. I know, for example, that they won't meet your #1 must-criteria, i.e. they can't print over large areas of the shirt. still, what I did get was decent. But of course, I'd be interested in any alternatives you find.

It sounds like you are looking for silk screen printing, which is basically painted into the shirt and the design can encompass as much of the shirt as you want, all the colors you want and done without the standard rectangle boxed area. Try looking for a shop in your area. It won't be cheap, because they have to cut the screen to your image specifications and using your colors, but it will be worth it. And, you never know, they may like your art well enough to work out a deal with you. :o)

You might also check out http://www.printmojo.com/. They may be able to do a better job at what you want, but they only work in quantity, so think in terms of 20+ orders.

1. To have to be limited to 4, 6 or even 8 color > printing processes. I would have thought this one would be almost impossible to get past. However, I did find one printer that can use 12 colors at a time: http://www.colorspan.com/products/printers/default.asp?EntryID=39&Display=1 From their site: "Only DisplayMaker has a twelve (12) color ink set designed to accurately reproduce those difficult corporate logo colors while delivering an apparent 1800 dpi image resolution. The set consists of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Medium Cyan, Medium Magenta, Light Cyan and Light Magenta." Now all you've got to do is find a print shop that has one, and is willing to use it to print your t-shirt! ;) Dye sub, and most other commercial printing I'm familiar with, uses 4-color process. Sometimes special colors (inks) can be added to get unusual hues, like fluorescent orange, or special effects like metallic gold or silver. To my knowledge, Pantone Hexachrome (a 6-color process) is currently the state-of-the-art for high-end color printing. Some inkjet technologies also use 6-color or 8-color printing. I know with silk screening you can cut multiple screens and use a custom color for each screen. But I'd think doing this for a large number of colors (>8) would be quite difficult. It might work for a graphic design with sharp edges, but I don't think it would work for a photorealistic image. To get smooth tones, the individual inks applied would have to blend - i.e. all be applied wet & mix together, or be transparent enough to blend visually when the different hues overlap. I wonder if this is even possible. The only other way I know to produce an image with more than twelve colors is to paint it and mix the colors yourself. Airbrushing could get the effect you want, but it's not automated - it's painting, not printing. Good luck on your quest! Please tell us if you come up with something! - Jimdoria ~@>@

I've since scratched the following from requirements as it ended up becoming quite impractical... "To have to be limited to 4, 6 or even 8 color printing processes." After relaxing my standards and visiting dyesub.org, I found quite a few possibilities there that might produce acceptable results.:) Thanks all!

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lets us know how it works out for you.

Bookmark. I wish there was a means to follow interesting threads without having to make empty "bookmark" posts ...

One of these days they may upgrade these forums like they've upgraded other parts of this site (i.e. The Marketplace). Be careful what you wish for. ;)