Imprinting of Advertising Products and Promotional Specialty Items
Frequently Asked Questions
Imprinting 101
Bagwell Promotions offers over 500,000 advertising products and advertising specialty items. Most can be imprinted (sometimes called decorated) with your company name, logo, or message. The type of imprinting used depends on the advertising product. Most imprinting falls under the following categories.
Note: Some prices for items in our online catalog do not include imprinting. Follow the links below for additional information or contact Bagwell Promotions.
Embroidery
This type of imprinting is generally used for apparel and other cloth items such as bags. Thread is “stitched” in various colors directly to the product or to an embroidered patch (shown above) that is later sewed onto the merchandise. The result is a very professional look for your company. Your logo or image can be sent to us in the following electronic formats: jpg, BMP, tiff, ai, eps, pdf. An embroidery “tape” or master file is “digitized” (created) and used in the final process. There is usually a charge for the tape and sometimes a setup charge.
More Information: Embroidery 101 – What you need to know.
Silk Screen
This process can also be used on apparel — particularly T-shirts or hats. It can also be applied to plastic, wood, and in some cases, paper. The stadium cup shown above is silk-screened. It is one of the oldest methods of printing. It is a stencil method of printmaking in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance. Ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. This is also called screen-printing or silk-screen processing. Normally this process does not allow for halftones or shades of colors; thus, a dark blue and light blue would be considered a two-color imprint. When multiple colors are used, it may not be possible to line colors up exactly. Generally, a 1/16th to 1/8th inch shift can be expected. Newer processes allow for 4 color process printing. The artwork is preferred in a vector format (.eps or .ai). Generally, .jpg, .bmp and .tif files will produce ragged edges when silk-screened. You should avoid a small type -under 12 point –(particularly bold) as the ink fills in between the characters. Often setup and run charges apply.
Pad Printing
Used for printing across relatively small areas on plastic items and when the area to be printed is difficult to get at or is contoured, such as the Christmas Ornament shown above. Think of it almost like the process when you use a rubber stamp. While multiple colors can be used generally, a single color produces the best results. Artwork is preferred in a vector format (.eps or .ai) Generally, .jpg, .bmp and .tif files will produce ragged edges when pad printed.
Dye-Sublimation Printing
Dye-Sublimation uses high heat and solid dyes to produce photo lab-quality images. Dye-Sub printers contain a roll of transparent film made up of page-sized panels of color. Solid dyed in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are embedded in the film. Print head heating elements vaporize the inks, which adhere to the specially-coated paper. As the ink cools, it re-solidifies on the paper. The results can be remarkable. Because the process does not involve making a plate or screen, the setup charges are usually lower. This makes this process great for small runs and where a silkscreen process would be too expensive. Artwork in .jpg,.tif, and .bmp can usually be accepted for this process. However, vector art such as .eps or .ai files is preferred.
Offset Printing
This is the most common commercial printing technology in use today. Offset printing applies layers of ink on the page. For each layer, a reverse image of the page is placed on a roller in the printing press. Ink is applied to the non-image areas on the roller so that as the roller presses against paper moving through the press, the proper image is left on the paper. Offset printing is used primarily on paper products. Artwork in a vector format – .eps or .ai is preferred.
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