try halftones, that limits colors but keeps it looking like a gradient.

gilmoreart said: try halftones, that limits colors but keeps it looking like a gradient.

I’ve seen prints on DBH exceed 8 colors – depends on how good it is :p

Furthermore simple gradients are generally easy to print with good results – but that doesn’t answer your question on how to control color. Remember that you also got the color of the tee itself to play off of – and using the same color can be advantageous when it comes to making things feel well constructed.

So keep in mind a well selected couple of colors can have surprising and delicious results.

well put

I don’t really care about the 8 color limit. I submit work submit work to DBH because I don’t have to restrict myself and can let my imagination run wild…... otherwise id sub my stuff to places that offer more

Ah you’re one of those, “eh let the printers worry about it!” kinda guys huh?

Thanks for the replies, they helped.

There are several ways to print on apparel, but the two you need to worry about here are “spot color” and “process color.”

Spot Color uses specific solid colors and crisp lines with fine detail. This is where the 8 color limit comes in. When tees are printed this way each color has it’s own “screen.” The screen acts as a stencil that allows a color of ink to imprint a specific area. This is an example of a design printed with spot colors:

Notice the clearly defined colors. If printed on a white surface, this design would use 5 colors. The dark blue, pink, yellow, and two grays.

Process Color uses overlayed patterns of color to simulate all the colors of the rainbow. Generally the 4 colors used in overlaying are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Though there are versions of Process Color that use 6 or even 8 inks to give you richer values. The inks are usually transluscent as well, so that the physical overlay of the inks adds yet more dimension. In this way you can mimic photographic effects and color gradients of millions of colors using only 4–8 inks.

Here’s an up close view at what that would look like:

And a design that’s printed using Process Color:

The real con of process on tees is that you have less sharp detail and usually the design degrades a lot faster. But if you really wanted to, you could mix the two. Have sharp lines printed Spot and blended color printed Process. Just don’t go crazy with mixing, you don’t want to make it too hard to print.

Wow, I think I love you, FluentSword.

nomhak said: Ah you’re one of those, “eh let the printers worry about it!” kinda guys huh?

jimiyo said: The only time color count is an issue is when it’s an all over print. That is limited to 3.

Other prints, anything goes, for the most part.

didnt you say in another thread its limited to 4?
they need to make that clear when submitting.

what about oversized (but not all over) prints?

Yeah can we get this spelled out more so that we know what won’t even get considered? But yeah that is one thing I love about DBH is how much freedom the artist has. It’s one of the few sites that actually lets the artist design for a shirt instead of sticking a print design on something. I LOVE YOU DBH!

jimiyo said: The only time color count is an issue is when it’s an all over print. That is limited to 3.

Other prints, anything goes, for the most part.

what about doing it as an all over process print instead of spot print? wouldnt that technically make a whole rainbow possible on a shirt? or is doing so not possible?

i think just for fun ill buy a screen printing kit when i have extra money and try to print my stripes design and see what happens.. it will probably look like a giant mess lol.

jimiyo said:

asher2789 said: didnt you say in another thread its limited to 4? they need to make that clear when submitting.

After speaking with the printer, the safe bet is 3, although we can do 4, depending on the art.

All over means, it covers the arms, shoulders, and full front.

Only in special circumstances we will print both front and back.

We have started to reject submissions that can’t be printed as mocked, unless it could be easily edited to be able to be printed.

wowowowowow… i get some infonmations here … thanks for all of masters