Printing For Promotional Merchandise: Pantone, DPI And More

Back in the day, getting promotional products printed with a multi-coloured design was quite difficult. As printing methods hadn’t really matured until 10 years or so ago, the single coloured print process was the main printing method. The single printing process only enables one, maybe two colours to be printed onto promotional products, this usually caused a problem with visual appearance if the design a client wanted contain tints and shadows as many designs and logos do nowadays. After much experimentation, the four colour printing process was taken on.

The original four colour printing process saw different screens which were changed for each colour that was required, which was quite expensive. But since improvements have been made with modern printing methods such as transfer printing and dye sublimation printing, it is now much cheaper to product four colour prints onto promotional products. For those of you who don’t know, dye sublimation printing consists of transferring the print onto the product via a heat application process.

Transfer printing is a method of applying an image to curved or uneven surfaces. The evolution of printing methods has enabled many modern day businesses to get there promotional products printed with bright, eye-catching colours, maximising their chance of creating good brand awareness for their business. Getting the exact colour you want to be printed onto your promotional products can sometimes be difficult, as what you see on the PC screen isn’t necessarily the actual colour that prints.

When preparing your artwork for your promotional products, there are a few things you need to consider; Image resolution, font selection and colour specification to ensure you get exactly what you want. If you want a quality print onto your promotional products, you need to ensure you supply a good resolution image. Generally, the higher the resolution, the better the quality for print.

Font selection is important; the best fonts to use are common fonts that are easily readable, usually Arial or Times New Roman. When you send over your image you want to be printed onto your promotional product, make sure you specify the exact colours you want to be used. Usually to accurately replicate your artwork printers need the pantone references. Pantone colours use a unique reference such as ‘Pantone 2707 U’ to indicate the colour and finish. They can be found in any pantone reference guide.

To get the most out of your promotional products give us a call, our friendly advisors will be on the other end to help with any questions or uncertainties.