Printing Methods for Your Own Sweatshirts
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Q: How come in the Print on Your Own Clothes category you do not ask for the exact brand that I am interested in bringing to you to print on?
Ans: Don’t worry about it. Just choose the type of product that you will be bringing us and don’t worry about the rest. It is impossible to have us upload every single type of brand, fabric cut, and shape of every single item that exists. Our Print On Your Own Clothing feature is just a way to have you upload your order onto a generic type of item that is most similar to what you will be bringing us. Don’t worry about this step, since it’s just to give us an idea of what you will be bringing us. The exact details will be taken care of only once we have the actual items in our hands.
Q: How come I do not see the exact same colour of my product that I will be bringing in to print with you?
Ans: Please choose a colour that is the most similar. Don’t worry about this step. It is impossible to upload every single colour that is available. We have uploaded all the most common colours so if you do not see the exact same colour then please use a color that is most similar. Please be aware that we will always call you and make sure we communicate any questions we might have. Once you place the order we will make sure to match your product with the actual colour we have in our hands. Just try and choose the most similar colour and we will take care of the rest.
Q: I have a very uncommon type of product which I want to print on. Can you print on these types of very uncommon products?
Ans: 95% of the time the answer is YES!!. Please call us, or just come into the shop (if possible) and I'm sure we can figure something out.
Q: What if the item(s) that I want to print on has a certain type of fabric that is uncommon?
Ans: We have many types of printing machines and lots of experience. We specialize in 4 methods: Direct to Garment (DTG), Direct to Film (DTF), Vinyl, and Embroidery. There’s not much we can’t do.
Q: I am interested in printing on an area (placement) of my clothing that your website won’t allow me to upload my design onto. What do i do?
Ans: If you want to print on a very irregular placement then it’s best to call (or visit) the shop so we can discuss this issue. We will always try and accommodate whatever you wish, so don’t worry. Call or visit us.
Q: Can I ship my clothing to your location so that you can print on them?
Ans: You can only ship us your clothing (at your expense) only once you have fully paid for your order. Do NOT ship us anything without full payment. You must write your name and order number with the package.
Q: Am I able to upload different designs and logos on many different clothing items?
Ans: Yes, you can upload as many designs and logos on your clothing as long as you properly upload your order on our website so that we will know which designs go on which items.
Q: What type of printing method will you choose to print with? What if I specifically want a certain type of printing method?
Ans: We will always choose the best type of printing method based on many variables (fabric, design, placement, etc…) but if you insist on a specific type of printing method then it is your responsibility to call us.
Garments are sized by suppliers and size charts are available, linked, on the product page. Please note that individual garments may vary from the size charts. We are not able to process refunds for garments that do not fit based on expectations.
Artwork size and positioning cannot be guaranteed. We will endeavor to use artwork sized as supplied, but we may resize or reposition artwork to fit within our normal production parameters.
Please see our standard print size guideline below:
- Front Left or Right Chest: 3-4" wide
- Front Standard: 10-12" wide
- Back Standard 10"-12 wide
- Sleeve Prints: 3.5" - 5" wide
- Hats: 3-5" wide
Refunds will not be provided for artwork sizes that fall within our standard parameters regardless of the size of the mock-up you have created in the design studio
Image Guidelines
File Requirements
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We highly recommend submitting your embroidery graphics as raster graphics (PNG) with a resolution of at least 300 DPI.
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Do not include photographic images, gradients, fade or blend effects. Elements like these cannot be embroidered.
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Graphics should include transparent backgrounds.
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If your graphic covers a very large part of the embroidery area, it may exceed the maximum limit of 15,000 stitches. In such case, your order will be put on hold and you will be contacted.
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HAT Stitch Area 4" Wide x 1.75" Tall
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Minimum thickness for shapes: 0.05" (1.3 mm)
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Minimum height for lowercase letters: 0.25" (6.4 mm)
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Minimum height for uppercase letters: 0.3" (7.6 mm)
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Any text smaller than 0.25" (6.4 mm) in height will be a run stitch
Design Requirements
Embroidery is not printing, so most designs that work on other products would not be suitable for embroidery. Clean designs with bold lines and text work best for embroidery. If your design is too complex (e.g. contains gradients or intricate details), your design will be rejected.
Common Reasons for Rejection
Text is too small lines are too thin
Avoid using very small letters because the embroidered text may not be legible. Keep the text at least 0.25" in height and at least 0.05" thick. 0.25" is equivalent to approximately 36pt, and in most cases the letters will also have the necessary thickness, but this depends on the font. We recommend using simple fonts like Arial, Helvetica, and Myriad Pro.
Text Cut-Outs or Negative Spaces
When possible please avoid sending us an image with small details or text that are in negative space. To avoid this issue please fill the negative space with a solid color.
Gradients
We can only embroider solid shapes and colors. We cannot accept gradients because this requires a complex transition from one color thread to another. You will need to convert gradients into a one-color graphic, and split multiple-color gradients into solid colors.
Photographic images
It is not possible to embroider photographic images as they are. Photographic images need to be recreated to include solid shapes and colors.
Too much detail
Clean designs with shapes, bold lines and text work best for embroidery. If your design is too complex and contains too much detail, we will not be able to digitize your design with satisfactory results (e.g. when details are smaller than 0.05" or if detail elements are too close to one another). Your design will be rejected.
Please avoid Thin border lines around text or Graphics
Keep your text and images simple, adding a border around them will cause misalignment, therefore we highly recommend that you do not use thin borders to outline your text or images. Keep your text large, bold and readable.
We want to make high quality custom apparel accessible to everyone. That is why we have FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $100 in Canada. No matter where you live, we at InstaCustoms will make sure your order gets to you fast. Below, you will find our shipping options.
- Pick-up in-store: Our store is located in Downtown Montreal at 1461 Stanley, Montreal, QC, H3A 1P4. You are more than welcome to pick-up your online order in-store. We are open 7 days a week. Simply place your order online and choose “Pick-Up” as your carrier for in-store pick-up.
- Free Shipping: We offer FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $100 across Canada using Purolator, GLS or FedEx. We will provide a tracking number on all orders. Please note that InstaCustoms is NOT RESPONSIBLE under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES for any shipping delays, package theft or shipping mishaps. Shipping on orders under $100 is a flat rate of $14.99 per order.
- Secure Shipping: For a small flat fee of $5.99, you can have secure shipping. This means your package will not be delivered unless someone signs for it. If you prefer this method of delivery, please select "Secure Shipping" option at checkout.
Please note that InstaCustoms is NOT RESPONSIBLE under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES for any shipping delays, package theft or shipping mishaps. For a small flat fee of $5.99, you can have secure shipping. This means your package will not be delivered unless someone signs for it. If you prefer this method of delivery, please select "Secure Shipping" option at checkout.
Please be aware that in the event of any refund the credit card merchant processors still charge us for the transaction, They also charge for refunding. For this reason, when a refund is issued we reserve the right to keep 5% of the original amount.
Acceptable Content Guidelines
InstaCustoms is respectful of others and the law. Content that is hateful, illegal, and/or that violates intellectual property rights may be reviewed and removed at any time.
Intellectual Property Rights
Please ensure that you own the content that you upload onto InstaCustoms, or have the rights to use, display, and resell it. Content must comply with right of publicity, trademark, and copyright laws.
Illegal Content
InstaCustoms has the right to remove content that depicts child pornography, obscene content, or content that depicts or promotes illegal activity. It is your responsibility to understand and abide by your local laws and those of the regions that you ship orders to.
Hateful Content
InstaCustoms values tolerance, understanding, and respect. We may remove content that expresses hatred towards any individual or group. Please refrain from uploading this type of content.
General Notes
All content is subject to review and InstaCustoms reserves the right to remove it at any time and for any reason. Each case may be evaluated individually. By submitting content to InstaCustoms, you accept that it complies with both our guidelines and Terms of Service. This Policy shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with the English language, regardless of any translations made for any purpose whatsoever.
The tag on each garment contains recommended care instructions for the garment itself; however, these instructions don’t take into account the direct-to-garment (DTG) printing process.
To help DTG printing last as long as possible, we recommend following the instructions below:
Washing- Turn the garment inside-out
- Machine wash cold with like colors
- Use mild detergent and a gentle cycle
- Use non-chlorine bleach only when necessary
- Do not dry clean or use any fabric softeners
- Hang dry when possible
- Tumble dry on a low cycle when necessary
- Iron inside-out on a cool setting
- Do not iron the printed area
PLEASE READ WHEN COMPARING US TO THE COMPETITION
Why choose InstaCustoms?
Speed, Service, Quality, and Selection.
We go above and beyond for our clients. We make sure everything is done right, while most of the competition won’t even answer their calls or emails. Most DTG & DTF places use level 3 ink. We use level 5 ink. Most places use cheap Chinese Vinyl, but we use the best quality German Turbo Vinyl. We offer hundreds of items, yet most other places carry just a handful. Most places take days or weeks to produce an order, yet we take a fraction of the time. We have a very fair pricing system where we offer online bulk pricing starting at 5 items, where most places have no bulk pricing at all. Our Google rating is 4.9 stars (with thousands of reviews), yet others barely have 3.9 stars and most of their reviews are fake.
Do You Offer Emergency Rush Service?
Yes we do. This is our specialty. We will do everything in our power to prepare your order before your due date. We are very fast. We are the fastest. Just make sure that you use our online website to place your order and that you choose the items that we print in store. Please choose items printed by InstaCustoms.
Production Times?
We are the only company that actually lists our production times for every single product we sell. No one else does this. There are always exceptions due to so many variables, (volume, holidays season, inventory levels, etc…) but for the vast majority of the time we are always on time.
How much faster are you compared to competitors?
Much faster. We are the quickest in the market. If it’s an order of 5 items or more, we’ll do our best to do it during the day. For bigger orders, we will work to get your order ready within 1 or 3 days! Some items may take longer as we need to account for things that are out of our control, but we usually have orders done in 24 hours.
What type of printing options does InstaCustoms offer?
We offer 4 different types of printing methods Direct to Garment (DTG), Direct to Film (DTF), Vinyl, and Embroidery.
Direct to Garment (DTG)
PROS:
- Recommended for thin cotton fabrics like t-shirts, tank tops, etc…
- Works best when the shirts are 100% cotton
- Unlimited design colours with no design limitations on what can be printed
- Perfect for colourful images, pictures, or any design that has lots of details
- Perfect for designs that have fades
- Breathable prints since the ink is printed directly into the garment
- Durability
CONS:
- Vibrancy: Since the ink is printed directly into the garment this might affect the vibrancy
- Only works with cotton fabrics (minimum of 50% cotton)
- When less than 100% cotton then the vibrancy and results are affected
- The glue base might slightly affect the feel but it should wash off eventually
- The glue base might slightly discolour the fabric and should fade after washings
- Not great for pocket logos
- Not great for sleeve logos
Direct to Film (DTF)
PROS:
- Recommended for fleece products (hoodies, sweatshirts, etc..)
- Unlimited colours
- Perfect for images, pictures, or designs with lots of colours
- Vibrancy is especially good on fleece products (compared to DTG)
- Can be used with any type of fabric (even 100% polyester)
- Great for pocket logos (polos, t-shirts, etc..)
- Great for sleeve logos
- Durability
CONS:
- Can not print fades in the design so there might be limitations
- Can not print very fine details in the design so there might be limitations
- Not as breathable, so it might affect comfort on t-shirts or any thin fabrics
Turbo Vinyl
PROS:
- Perfect for simple text, numbers, or any simple logo
- Vibrancy
- Can be used with any type of fabric (even 100% polyester)
- Great for pocket logos
- Great for sleeve logos
- German Turbo Vinyl has great durability (compared to Chinese Vinyl most places use)
CONS:
- Can not print fades in the design so there might be limitations
- Can not print very fine details in the design so there might be limitations
- Not breathable, so it might affect comfort on t-shirts or any thin fabric
- Limited vinyl colours available so you might need to compromise on colours
- Can only be used with solid colours
Embroidery
PROS:
- Perfect for simple text, numbers, or any simple logo
- Vibrancy
- Can be used with any type of fabric (even 100% polyester)
- Great for pocket logos
- Great for hats
- Durability
CONS:
- Can not print fades in the design so there might be limitations
- Can not print very fine details in the design so there might be limitations
- Limited thread colours available so you might need to compromise on colours
- Can only be used with solid colours
- Not great for thin fabrics since stitching might get heavy and uncomfortable
Payment & Security
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