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To make the process of ordering screen printing as awesome as possible for both you and your printer, there are three tools we recommend that all printing clients have on hand. And our list might surprise you.

1. A Pantone Matching System (PMS) formula guide.

Pantone guides can be a bit on the pricey side, but if you are getting ready to drop a lot of dough on screen printing your precious designs, it’s probably worth the investment. Pantone Formula Guides run about $100 new, but you can usually find them used on eBay or Craigslist for about $50.

For those of you who are already confused — Pantone is THE world authority on color. Since the 1960s, its matching system has been standardizing colors throughout the art world. More than 1,500 colors each have a number assigned to them (e.g., PANTONE 185 C) to help artists communicate their color visions to printers, which is their ultimate purpose. Because the color callibration of computer monitors all differs a little bit, this system makes sure we can all stay on the same page.

The Pantone Matching System (not to be confused with Pantone Process, Pantone Fashion + Home or Pantone Paints + Interiors) specifies solid (spot) colors. Important: At Storenvy Printing, we use the Coated numbers. Of the Pantone books available, you need to get the PANTONE Formula Guide Coated, which usually comes in a set along with Uncoated and Matte. (These labels refer to types of paper, because ink colors differ when printed on glossy or matte papers.) If you’re an artist, you’ll probably want all these sets anyway, but the Coated is all you need for Storenvy Printing.

With your PMS guides, you’ll be able to specify exactly which PMS colors should show up in your prints, which ensures that we are able to give you exactly what you asked for and we don’t have to do any guessing or mind-reading on your behalf. We always prefer that you provide us with your PMS colors, but even if you don’t, we use all spot colors for printing and will specify PMS colors for you, which you will see listed on your mock. Even though our mocks provide digital proofs, you won’t know your true colors unless you have a Pantone book.

Of course, if you are printing simple shirts using standard colors, Pantone color matching usually isn’t that big of a deal.

2. A ruler.

Yep that’s right, a ruler. Go ahead and laugh. But you will be surprised at how often people screw this one up. When you get t-shirts printed, it’s important to let your printer know exactly how big you want your design to end up. And don’t guess or assume. Make sure you really know.

Some tips: It’s always good to measure your artwork on a few different sizes of tees. With screen printing, the print will be the same size on every shirt you print. (Screen printing pricing is based around the making of your custom screens. If you have a large range of shirt sizes, like Girl’s Small to XXXL, you can order your screens in different sizes — but each time you do that is considered a new order.) Make sure your design will fit appropriately on the smallest size you’re printing and the largest size you’re printing.

And make sure to double-check your measurements on a shirt being worn by someone. One major mistake people make is that they don’t consider that the design will look different on a shirt laid flat than a shirt on a body. Prints always looks bigger when a shirt is being worn, because the side seams curve around the body. Always check your measurements on yourself or a friend to see how it will really look.

Again, if you print through Storenvy Printing, we send a digital proof that shows you roughly how the design will look before it actually goes to print. In our mocks, we use an adult medium for the example, and we confirm the exact print size of your design for your approval.

You would be surprised about how many people specify a certain print size and then change it after they see the mock, or worse, complain about it after they receive their printed shirts.

3. A calendar.

Most people don’t realize how long it takes to get shirts printed. Long story short: You need to plan ahead of time. Most printers have their turnaround time listed on their website, so always look for that. But it also doesn’t hurt to ask your printer for an estimated turnaround time for YOUR order, including shipping time, as turnarounds can change unexpectedly. Some common hold-ups include:

• Blanks on backorder — we have no control over this, and it happens a lot! Anytime your blanks might be delayed, we’ll let you know ASAP and will work out the right solution for you.
• Changes to mock. We send everyone a digital proof to make sure you’re going to get exactly what you want, so if you have changes, some time could be added to your order.
• Late mock approval. We give you 24 hours to approve your mock without a delay in service, but sometimes it takes you a while. It’s OK, we understand… especially if you understand that it may add some time to your order.
• Custom-printed tags, bagging, etc. These add-ons can make your shirts way cooler, but they can also add up to three days to your order, which many people don’t realize.

For Storenvy Printing, most basic orders are done in 5-15 business days (that doesn’t include weekends!), PLUS shipping time. Our shirts ship UPS Ground out of the Chicago area, so they can take anywhere from one to four days to get to you. And just because they could be done in as few as five business days plus one day shipping, please don’t make assumptions about your delivery time without confirming a timeline with us.

If you need shirts for an event or have some other deadline in mind, plan conservatively, and ALWAYS let us know what your deadline is. It’s never good to rush through these things, and if we have to charge you a rush fee, it can get costly.

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These little tips may sound silly, but by taking them into consideration will make everyone’s life better, and you will be a lot happier in the end. Of course we would love for you to consider using Storenvy Printing for your next run of tshirts. But even if you don’t, you can use this advice with any printer you work with!

Any more questions? Feel free to email me at nick@storenvy.com.

Images from Pantone, Threadless and ICanHazCheeseburger.

There are tons of different t-shirts brands out there, so don’t feel bad when you have no idea where to start when ordering yours. Hopefully this guide can help you out. Here are our four most popular shirt styles –

100% Cotton

Fruit of the Loom 100% Cotton

This is probably the most common style of tees out there. When in doubt, go with a 100% cotton shirt. These shirts are affordable, produce great printing quality and work great with discharge inks — one part of our top-secret ink recipe, which produces a super-soft print that we have won multiple awards for. But 100% cotton is also known to shrink a little bit in the wash. Our most common 100% cotton options include:

• Gildan
• Hanes
• Fruit of the Loom
• Anvil (organic options available)
• Jerzees

Basic weight is 5.3 oz., but you can also request the heavier 6.1 oz. in these brands, which costs a bit more.

When you buy a t-shirt at a non-specialty store, you are probably buying one of these 100% cotton options.

Why you might choose 100% cotton tees:

• If you are on a tight budget — you should go with a basic 100% cotton shirt. It’s the cheapest option.
• If your audience is Joe the Plumber — the average t-shirt wearer usually likes this shirt.
• If your shirts are to be worn for any type of physical activity — you defintely want to have a thicker shirt, so opt for the 6.1 oz. weight.

100% Ringspun Cotton

Tultex Fine Jersey Ringspun Cotton

This is our second most popular shirt and a heavy favorite for clothing companies. When it comes to quality, this is the route you want to go. Ringspun tees are thinner and softer than normal 100% cotton basics, and often called “fashion tees.” These provide you with great printing quality, and they can be printed with our discharge inks. Ringspun cotton shirts include:

• American Apparel (most popular in this category; organic options available)
• Tultex
• Alternative (organic and recycled-content options available)
• Anvil Fashion Tees (organic options available)
• Alstyle
• Next Level

If you are buying a tee in a store that is a bit “higher end,” you are probably buying one of these shirts.

Why you might choose ringspun cotton tees:

• If your audience is more discriminating than Joe the Plumber — if you can spend even a little bit more, I would recommend going with an affordable ringspun brand like Tultex or the Anvil Fashion Tee.
• If you are a band — bands are almost always on tight budgets, but I always think bands should at least upgrade to the ringspun as they can be only 50-75 cents more than basic shirts if you print through Storenvy. You get a nicer shirt without killing your bank account.
• If you are a clothing company — definitely go with the American Apparel 2001/2102 or the Alternative Apparel AA05, as this has become a standard in the industry. Clothing companies, your goal should be to print on one of these two brands. If you can’t do it off the bat, at least use the Tultex/Anvil Fashion Tee as you build up some cashflow.

50/50 Poly/Cotton Blend

Hanes 50/50

These are nice shirts, usually a little softer than 100% cotton, and they don’t shrink as much. They are 50% cotton and 50% polyester. The only problem with them is that we can’t print on them with our special soft inks. Storenvy Printing uses a discharge underbase on all shirts except 50/50 tees. The best printing alternative for 50/50 tees is waterbase inks, which also produce a soft print, but which cost a bit more. If you don’t want to pay extra for waterbase, know your inks will be thicker. You can get 50/50 blend tees from:

• Gildan (5.6 oz.)
• Hanes
• Fruit of the Loom
• Anvil (organic options available)
• Jerzees
• American Apparel (this one is extremely nice)

Triblend

American Apparel Triblend

When we printed our first set of Storenvy logo tees, we decided we wanted to go all out. We wanted a shirt that made people go “wow” when they first touched it — and they do. We went with the Triblend American Apparel tee, and this shirt feels amazing. They are 50% cotton, 25% polyester and 25% rayon, and they are probably one of the softest shirts you will ever feel. Due to its makeup though, these shirts almost always come in a heather. Also, you can’t use discharge on these shirts, so we used waterbase inks to still get a super-soft feel. But be warned, these are pretty expensive, and the most expensive out of my four options listed here.

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And of course, you can request virtually any other t-shirt blank available. We have wholesale accounts set up with most blank tee companies known to man, and if you ask us about something new, we’ll probably be able to make something work if you just ask nicely.

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So which option is right for you? It really comes down to cost, who your audience is and what you are going for. These options are not necessarily listed in order of price, and pricing can vary quite a bit per style and per brand. For pricing options, view our price chart at Storenvy.com/printing/pricing, or email me for a custom quote.

As for me, my personal choice is Alternative. It’s what I am wearing right now and what I can probably be found wearing 75% of the time that I am wearing a t-shirt. If not, then I’m wearing American Apparel. But at the end of the day, I do feel like American Apparel 2001 is the best all-around shirt for getting the results you really want.

Any questions or thoughts? Just drop me an email at nick@storenvy.com.

Several weeks ago, I Heart Handmade posted a sweet write-up on their blog about free stores at Storenvy. I Heart Handmade has a pretty cool thing going on, so we want to return the flavor and share their concept with YOU.

I Heart Handmade hosts seasonal virtual markets that work just like Storenvy Spectaculars, except that your online store can be located anywhere — Storenvy, Etsy, eBay, self-coded, etc. In the virtual market, each shop participant has their own page (with up to 10 product images) that links to their store. There is a fee to add your store to each virtual market, but I Heart Handmade takes no cut of sales. The idea is that to sell goods online in community results in more exposure and sales. (Sound familiar? ;) Storenvy will not be hosting a Spectacular for Valentine’s Day, so if you have products to promote for your favorite February holiday, consider submitting your Storenvy store here.

I Heart Handmade’s Valentine market is online now. Enjoy!

Tim at Assault posted a fab tutorial on how he customized his Storenvy store. For you store-owner-slash-coders out there, it’s a must-read. He says it took him six hours (as compared to the 60 hours it took to create his original from-scratch store), and he offers a download of his Storenvy theme files.

» Read “Tutorial: How to create an online storefront with Storenvy”

» View and shop Assault on Storenvy

Happy customizing!