Embroidery Logo Concerns

When ordering custom apparel for your business or organization, you can’t go wrong with a high quality embroidered logo. But, how can you be certain that the embroidery services you order will come out how you expect? Will the colors be right? Will the logo look crisp and sharp? Will the threads fray or get fuzzy? These are questions and concerns that you may have. Here are some basic embroidery facts to help you know what you are getting when you order your company logo embroidered on custom apparel.

1) Ask about number of stitches per square inch. The number of stitches is usually about two thousand per square inch. If your embroiderer uses a machine that maxes out at one thousand stitches per square inch, then you can expect that the logo will be thin and that you may see the fabric through the design. This is not a good thing.

2) Talk to a knowledgeable person about your choices. Number of stitches can vary greatly depending on the type of fabric that you choose. If you want your embroidered logo to look its best, then ask if the shirts or custom apparel that you chose works well with embroidery.

3) Consider 3D embroidery for very bold designs. Your logo or design may have to be altered to look its best in 3D embroidery, but the payoff could be great. 3D embroidery is most popular on hats.

4) Find out what thread options your embroiderer offers. Polyester and cotton threads may be strong, but they will lose their sheen, get fuzzy and pill up after washing. Top embroiderers only use rayon thread for embroidery.

5) Ask about colorization. Most companies will dye embroidery thread to match your logo colors exactly. This is of great importance when you are using embroidered custom apparel to help brand your image or send a consistent message.

6) The image that you send needs to be digitized in order to show up exactly as you planned. Take a look at the final image to approve it before you order, or ask for a sample to be sent before you order in bulk. Letters generally cannot be read if they are smaller than 3/16”.

A good embroidery company will talk to you about all of these things when you get ready to order. They should happily address all of your concerns and be able to give you details about the work that they do. They should also be able to point out reasons for doing things the way that they do, and the reasons should point to higher quality, not saving money. Choose the right embroiderer and your custom clothing will come out looking great and stay looking great, wash after wash.

Justin Hoehn is a Managing Partner of LEADApparel.com. LEADApparel.com offers first class Screen Printing & Embroidery services, custom clothing including printers t shirt. Companies purchase t shirts print services from LEADApparel.com at heavily discounted prices. For more information, visit www.leadapparel.com.

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Custom Art on Custom Apparel

Some companies may charge a fortune to review and prepare you custom art for print. But, if you look around, you can find screen printer companies that do not charge for having their art department make your design look fabulous.

You can expect a charge if your logo or art design needs a lot of work, but it should not be more than a couple of hundred dollars. Some companies will even let you see before and after designs that they have worked on. Determine for yourself if they seem like they are proud of the work that they do, or if they are trying to get work off the line as quickly as possible, even sacrificing quality to do so.

Remember that screen printing is an art. Even though the process is becoming more and more automated, you still need an artistic mind to look over your custom work and help you determine the best ideas for printing it. The best designs are printed after being diligently worked on and digitized by a competent art department. The screen printing industry generally hires the best designers for this job, so take advantage of their talent, input and ideas.

Custom art can also be applied by embroidery. Here, you are looking at many of the same issues. Make sure that your color scheme, design details and image size are exactly right to get the results that you are looking for. With embroidery, you will need to make sure that a rayon thread is used. Also, make sure that letters are not too small to read. Specify instructions like 3D embroidery, heavy visibility or fine line embroidery. Make sure that you and the artist are on the same page.

With both embroidery and screen printing, you should make sure that the clothing or accessories you are using are compatible with the options you have chosen. For example, slick fabrics may need to be heat pressed for screen printing to stick and not peel. This will have you end up with a much heavier, thicker appearance of the artwork. If that is not what you want, then you may want to look at other forms of apparel.

Embroidery is best when done on heavier fabrics. Thin fabrics can bunch up, or the heavy embroidery can pull down on the light fabric, making it look low quality, even if it is not. Select fabrics that are compatible with the results that you would like to see. Furthermore, select name brand custom clothing for a guaranteed high quality result.

Justin Hoehn is a Managing Partner of LEADApparel.com. LEADApparel.com offers first class Screen Printing & Embroidery services, custom clothing including printers t shirt. Companies purchase t shirts print services from LEADApparel.com at heavily discounted prices. For more information, visit www.leadapparel.com.

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