Printing Garments FAQ
4 color process? CMYK? Line work? Halftone? Dot gain? - Tradewinds demystifies print terms here.
Methods of print |
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| 4 Colour Process Printing Process printing (see also 'halftone printing' below) uses dots of 4 inks; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to create continuous tone images of any colour mix.  Use this method for re-creating colour photographs. |
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| Solid Colour Often referred to as 'line printing' this method uses individual inks to create solid areas of colour. Use this method for logos, simple type messages etc. |
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'Muddy Prints' and Dot Gain |
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| What it is, why and when it happens. Halftone Printing Halftone printing, as opposed to solid (line) printing uses a series of dots arranged to give the appearance of continuous tone. Halftone printing is used for the re-creation of photos, illustrations etc. Dot Gain - What Is It & How To Avoid It Simply put, dot gain is enlargement of the halftone screen dots when they're transferred via ink under pressure to the fabric. An increase in 50% - 60% is referred to as 10% dot gain. Excessive dot gain can be caused by a multitude of factors including naive colour separation, too much ink pressure, badly set-up equipment and a general misunderstanding of the printing process. |
 Excessive Dot Gain Results in muddy images & loss of detail.  Minimal Dot Gain Clear, bright, sharp images every time. |
| All this results in loss of detail, grey appearance, incorrect colour balance, and overall image muddiness. Dot gain is inherent in all halftone printing processes - the trick is having the experience, the equipment and the know-how to keep it to a minimum. Tradewinds have the experience - lots of it, and the equipment - state of the art machinery. The know how, well that goes without saying. |
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Jargon Buster!
- Garment Printing - 4 color process? CMYK? Line work? Halftone? Dot gain? - Tradewinds demystifies print terms here
- Handy FAQ on the various terms used in connection with garments
'Tradewinds are the first people you call for branded clothing, it's as simple as that.'
The Sun Newspaper
