In the marketing world, even for personal uses, the art of imposing an image onto a certain object is common. Whether it is crafting the next line of promotional products with which to market your company or designing a t-shirt because you want one, printing is important to get the image you want onto the item or article of clothing.

There are two main kinds of printing: screen and digital printing and each one uses a different process and is useful in different situations.

What is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is one of the most popular processes used when adding images to specialty products or shirts. It is fairly common among promotional items, making it an effective option. In essence, the ink used in the image printing is dipped on to a stencil, which is composed of a screen, giving the method its name. This stencil is then used to etch the colours for the image on to the item.

Screen printing is fairly easy to execute because of this method. All that is required is the ink and the machine that includes the screen and the process can begin. The image that is created tends to be quite vibrant and deep, resulting in high quality output. The relative ease and excellent results help make screen printing one of the most popular choices.

What is Digital Printing?

On the other side of image imposition is digital printing, which uses new technology to print the image that you’ve designed directly onto the desired product. One of the most modern techniques, it offers you greater image manipulation and is also easier because it does not involve any heating, unlike other methods.

The true strength of digital printing lies in the fact that it can produce much more detailed images than other methods. Because the ink used is thinner than usual, it is able to achieve this level of detail, making it the ideal process for more elaborate corporate logos or personal images.

When to Use Each Method

Screen printing and digital printing are both highly respected methods for imposing and image onto something, but each one has a time and place to use it. Under certain circumstances, one method may be better to use than the other. Knowing which technique to use for any given project would serve you well and lead to higher quality products and greater results.

Screen printing is best suited for dark coloured shirts and items because the ink is thicker, thus more capable to show up better on a dark background. Black shirts are common for example and screen printing allows the image to show up better on them. In addition, speciality items besides shirts should primarily use screen printing. It is because this method is done by hand and manual machines, meaning that the specific bristles can move around and work on odd-shaped objects, such as stubby holders and mugs.

Digital printing has its own place in the image-producing world as well. The images generated by digital methods tend to be much more detailed because of the lighter ink that is used, which means that products that could take advantage of higher quality images should use digital printing. For example, if you want to design a shirt with a company logo that is complex or includes intricate details, digital printing is the way to go because those details will be much more noticeable. This feature comes at somewhat of a price however: only lighter coloured shirts should use digital printing to ensure that the image quality is the best possible.

When in doubt, consult professionals who use both methods commonly. Companies such as ours employ both methods for both large-scale and smaller scaled orders and can tell you with confident accuracy which method would be preferred. The ultimate goal is to produce clothing and products that look good and serve their purpose, so ask to know which printing method would be best for your specific marketing campaign or personal event.

Printing for All Occasions

Two of the main types of printing, screen and digital, are used commonly by those who impose images onto clothing and promotional products. Both methods have their time and place, but whatever your goal is, we have a printing method to ensure that your company’s name and logo will appear on any kind of product and can promote your company when used effectively.

To learn more about screen and digital printing and how they can be used to help your Perth company, call (08) 92444 111.