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• OCTOBER 2015
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Cut-Vinyl:
A garment decorating technique that uses a vector
file and a cutter to cut the image out of vinyl, which is weeded
and then applied to a garment using a heat press.
Digital Printing:
The process of printing using a digital print
head.
Direct-to-Garment Printing:
Also known as DTG printing,
the process of digitally printing an image on a t-shirt or sub-
strate using an inkjet printer.
Dye Migration:
The transfer of dye from the polyester fibers of
a garment through the overlaying ink, causing the decoration to
change color.
Dye Sublimation:
A printing process using heat to evaporate
pigments from a transfer print and embedding them into a
polyester-based media such as performance-wear garments and
coated products such as mugs, key chains, etc.
Fibrillation:
The uneven texture or color that occurs when
fibers from a garment do not lay smooth and stick up through
the printed ink.
Pantone®:
The most
common color
matching
system used
internationally
by printers and
designers to
reference
specific colors.
Print-Cut:
A garment decorating technique that uses digital
printing on vinyl which is cut by the same printer or moved to a
separate cutter. Vinyl is then weeded and applied to the garment
using a heat press.
Raster Artwork:
Continuous tonal artwork that is created by
small dots or pixels, such as a photograph.
Screen Printing:
The process of printing
images on a t-shirt or other substrate
using screen, mesh and ink. The image is
transferred by the pushing or pulling of a
squeegee.
Spot Color:
A specific or single color applied to an individual
element in an image. This is the most popular screen printing
technique.
Underbase:
The initial color, usually white, is printed on a col-
ored substrate in order to provide a light-colored base for addi-
tional colors to be printed on top. This allows the additional
colors to be truer.
Vector Artwork:
Artwork that is defined by mathematical rela-
tionships of lines and shapes. Vector files are resolution inde-
pendent, which means they can be scaled to any size without
losing detail or clarity.
Decorating Terms: A Quick Primer
THE ABCs OF GARMENT DECORATING