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Embroidery machines whirring

It's a beautiful crisp autumn day here in Salem, Oregon and the embroidery machines are whirring away.

Here is a beautiful rendition of an elk Jolene did for the McKenzie River Ranger District. Did you know that we use macro photography when we show you these embroidery samples because most of them are so small in real life. You'd have to use a magnifying glass to see them in real life this up close and personal.

Photography this close shows off every eensy-weensy imperfection, which at some level may not be a smart thing to do. But if you don't see other companies show you the zoomed in shots, it might be because they're afraid to show their quality. We aren't afraid because we strive for the best quality.

Here's a shirt for your elevator speech

There's still time to get one of our custom printed t-shirts--free!

You can have a lot of fun with this shirt. The open-ended "ask me" offers a huge green light for conversation.

This is great if you are selling something, including a philosophy, religious message, political view, or favorite cause. If you have your "elevator speech" ready when someone asks you, you can engage the questioner in a great conversation.

Here's how to win: Notify us by email at CreativityOn@comcast.net that you want a free shirt. Include the size of shirt you want (S, M, L, XL, or 2XL.) We'll randomly select five winners from all entries received by 9am August 31, 2009. We'll notify the winners personally by email.

New to Creativity On? Visit our website.

Color charts for printing on colored fabric

When a client comes to us wanting to print their graphic on a color fabric, the best way to predict how a certain color will print on a certain color is to print a test color chart on that color. In direct to garment printing, the fabric color makes a great deal of difference to the final product.

People often come up with their logos on a white computer screen page. Their designs are geared toward white backgrounds. Then when they want to print on fabric, they sometimes have to re-think their whole project.

Recently a client came to us with a new business logo that featured a light green title. It worked great when printed on white but when printed on medium gray, the light green print disappeared into the gray. By using our color chart printed on gray, we could choose a darker shade of green that would work.

When designing a logo or a graphic specifically for printing on a colored t-shirt, the best way to test it is to print using an inkjet printer on colored paper that matches the fabric. A less accurate but still useful way is to set a background color in your illustration or image editing program and then blending the top colors and the background colors.

With the color chart we can tweak colors to get better looking results from colors that shifted dramatically from computer file to actual printed product.

Another New Business Goes DTG

The launch of another new business, Makawee Landscape Maintenance, presented us with another opportunity to introduce someone to direct-to-garment (DTG) printing.

In screen printing, the colors of the ink would be solid and opaque. But with DTG, the eco friendly water-based ink interacts with the fabric as you can clearly see here. This adds a rich look to the garment.

Based on the client's design specifications we designed the logo in Adobe Illustrator so that we could easily resize it for many uses from business flyers to business cards and of course apparel. The logo will also be digitized for embroidery.

If you have a small business and you think it's time to get some uniforms made, give us a call. We'll help you step into the right stuff.

An Often-Overlooked Advantage of DTG

One of the distinct advantages of direct-to-garment printing (DTG) is that unlike screen printing, our printer renders gradient blends. In the photo above, the blend is in grayscale.

In screen printing, a logo like this would usually be rendered in black and white without the grays in between. So if you have a nice black, white, and gray graphic, check out your DTG options with us before you commit to screenprinting.

We are always happy to look at your graphic files and tell you what we can do for you.

Play for the Cure

We sent a bunch of printed t-shirts off for this weekend's Play for the Cure. T-shirts were just one of the items we produced for this charitable event. We also produced embroidered vests and totes and printed head and wrist bands.

If your non-profit is into fund-raising efforts with printed or embroidered apparel, give us a call. We like working with you.