photo graphic/tshirt printing question

i have a graphic that i'm working on for a tshirt for someone and the primary image is from a photograph. the rest of the image is just sponsor logos and text and such. my question is, for screen printing purposes, what image file type should the thing be? right now it's just a PSD file that's compiled from logo Jpegs and the pic which i've 'posterized', for lack of a better term, to just a handful of colors as opposed to the original photo.

 

in other words, when i'm done with the PSD image, is that good enough to send to someone to screen print?

 

Might check with your printer first, but PSD might be fine. AI or EPS files might be more universal in printing industry, but most anyone will have Photoshop so they can convert it to whatever they want.

 

I want one. LOL

 

For traditional screen printing? I don't think that'll turn out that great. Screen printing does not blend colors too well, it's more about solid colors. An object oriented graphic (Illustrator, EPS) is more idea for screen printing. You can't really blend process colors to make continuous tone (photograph) with fabric inks.

However, the digital transfer technology has gotten much better these days. More than likely, they'll have the shirt printed digitally.

HP, Canon and others make some nice digital transfer material. Worth a try if you have a decent ink jet printer. I would Google some companies that sell the better stuff, not the Staples hobby crap.

 

Can't convert a photograph to an object oriented image (AI or true object oriented EPS). One is based on pixles, they other on solid colors. Yes, you can 'trace' a photo with an Illustrator filter, but the results will be messy at best.

Screen printing will want object oriented files. Unless there's some new screen/ink technology that i haven't seen in the last five years.

 

Dye sublimation... You can start with a raster image/bitmap image.

 

Talk to these guys... They'll get you sorted out http://www.nypromotionalgarments.com

 

Ask Brad Padgett.

He did alright on that FlatRat stuff.

Hey man, for the record.....that WERA Vintage shirt I got from you is still my fav......I wore it to the AHRMA Festival.

 

nothing beats vector artwork, however if you print directly onto a shirt instead of silkscreening a image works fine, but with any raster image you can see fuzziness of pixels depending on size and dpi

 

use 4 color process for the photo part and spot colors for the rest

registration will be your bear

or

find a direct to garment printer who can simply print the entire graphic $$$


any artist worth their salt can use most any file to bring about what you want, just don't freak when you see the art charges