How to get that worn look?

[Doug S]

I've got some discharge to print today and so far I've only printed solid colors.  The customer wants the attached image printed on some high end black tshirts.  He wants them to have a worn look with off white or antique white.  How do you all do that?  Do you use just straight base?  I need some advice on this one.

[ericheartsu]

yeah just straight base, but make sure to do a sample print!

[tonypep]

For super worn or tonal try 1-1/2% activator

[larryk]

Try printing it inside out with the image reversed.

[Doug S]

Appreciate all the help.  This board is da bomb.

[Screened Gear]

If they want a consistent look to the shirts you should modify the art. There are tons of overlays that you can put on the art. The only reason I suggest this is because you can control the final result and the customer can approve the art before the shirts are printed.  Attached is one of the overlays I use. I made it so feel free to use it with out any copyright issues. 

[Screened Gear]

here is your art with the overlays done two ways.

[tonypep]

Try printing it inside out with the image reversed.

Like this

[3Deep]

To add to what Jon and Tony said I would hit it one nice stroke

Darryl

[Sbrem]

Try printing it inside out with the image reversed.

Like this

tony, 2 hits on the inside, or just one, or 2 until it gets goin'?

Steve

[Doug S]

Try printing it inside out with the image reversed.

Like this

I know it makes a difference with off contact but what kind of pressure did you have to use? 

I ended up using base with 15% white, 3% activator.  It came out as kind of an off white and also used a distressed filter on just the 43 bar and grill.  Today was the first day I've ever ran into a different dye lot problem.  Every shirt came out as an off white except all of the 2XL's.  They came out as a perfect light gray.  I know I've seen that mentioned here on the boards before but got to see it first hand today.  Thanks for all the help everyone.

[sqslabs]

Another technique we use to get a "vintage" look, mostly on heathered blends, is to use a matte white waterbased ink.  We use Matsui 301M, double hit, and it gives a nice faded look after running through the dryer, taking on some of the shirt color in the process.  It holds up and washes great, has a much softer hand than a single hit of plastisol, and my customers love it.  It's also a great look and feel for inside tag prints.

[ericheartsu]

Another technique we use to get a "vintage" look, mostly on heathered blends, is to use a matte white waterbased ink.  We use Matsui 301M, double hit, and it gives a nice faded look after running through the dryer, taking on some of the shirt color in the process.  It holds up and washes great, has a much softer hand than a single hit of plastisol, and my customers love it.  It's also a great look and feel for inside tag prints.

great tip for inside tags. i'm gonna try it on our next run

[Sbrem]

Part of the retro look in the good old days (which was not retro at the time) was low tension, think stapled mesh on wood frames; maybe you have an older frame with low tension you could try...

Steve

[Boldline]

If they want a consistent look to the shirts you should modify the art. There are tons of overlays that you can put on the art. The only reason I suggest this is because you can control the final result and the customer can approve the art before the shirts are printed.  Attached is one of the overlays I use. I made it so feel free to use it with out any copyright issues. 

Hey Jon! Thanks for sharing your distress overlay! I will have to go through my original distress collection and add a few to the shared section on here. What was your process to create it? Was that originally crumpled/folded paper? I am thinking of putting up a tutorial to create distress patterns using photoshop bitmaps imported into Illustrator.