Frequently asked questions.

Question. If I design a T-shirt, can you print it?

Answer. Just because you design a T-shirt on paper, it does not necessarily mean that your design will look the same on textile as it does on paper. There are many factors to take into account which the designer should be aware of before either selling their design or commissioning a production run.

Texture: T-shirts and other garments made out of textile materials do not have a smooth surface and very intricate detail in a graphic may get lost in the transition from paper to textile.

Colour: Most coloured garments made out of cotton are dyed during the manufacturing process. However cotton is a natural material and natural materials can exhibit quite a wide range of different characteristics which may affect the dye uptake, drying rates etc. although most quality manufacturers will have stringent quality control on their products, there may be variation in colour from batch to batch of garments. Consistency of colour and colour matching is thus difficult to achieve in practice.

Size: There is considerable variation across manufacturers with regards to standard sizes. Some manufacturers are almost always consistently one size larger than others, whilst others are smaller.

As with all clothes, there is no real substitute for trying it on for size, and where possible KOMODO Image will send size samples to its ‘bulk purchase customers' for evaluation.

However, the graphic designer must take care to ensure that the graphic can be printed equally on all sizes of garments, taking into account zips, seams, belts etc.

Printing methods: There are many printing technologies used to decorate garments. Some technologies involve printing to some sort of patch then sticking the patch to the garment with adhesive or heat. Other technologies apply the paint or ink directly on to the surface of the garment and heat cure it at high temperatures to make it wash resistant. More modern technologies actually dye the fabric itself which tends to make the graphic more resistant to fading although this technology is usually limited to white or pastel coloured garments.

One must be careful to take the nature of the textile into account when applying a surface decoration. Does the garment have an elastic characteristic which will cause the decoration to disfigure? If the decoration is not flexible, will it detach or crack when the garment is worn? Will the decoration age at the same rate as the garment or will the decoration age faster? What will it look like in 3 months?

Question: How long will my T-shirt last?

Answer: Unfortunately there is no satisfactory answer to this question and most manufacturers will not even attempt an answer. The question appears simple but there are too many factors beyond the control of the manufacturer for the manufacturer to take responsibility in providing an answer.

Where has the garment been worn? Beside the sea? In strong sunshine? How has it been washed? Inside out? With abrasive rough clothes? What temperature? etc etc.

Our recommendation is as follows: Garment should be washed inside out, cold or 30-40 degree setting, do not tumble dry (decoration is more fragile when wet!) and do not iron over the decoration if possible.

Question: What are setup charges?

Answer: Setup charges relate to the work that has to be done to your graphic to prepare it for printing using our technologies. Some graphics need a lot of work and some do not. Our setup charges are an average charge across all our customers.

We do not just print anything you send us irrespective of quality. If we can, we will improve the quality without changing your graphic substantially - included in the setup charge. In exceptional cases, we may have to contact you to get better graphics or obtain your permission to make changes.

Question: Why are you concerned how many colours are in some graphics and not in others?

Answer: Some graphics are printed using a traditional ‘Screen Printing' method where each colour is printed out as a separate process, the more colours the more work. Other graphics can be printed out using ‘Digital printing' where the number of colours are irrelevant to the process. Obviously, ‘Digital Printing' can produce thousands of colours at very high resolution and is used for photographic reproductions where the ultimate quality is required. At KOMODO Image, we have a very wide range of technologies including ‘Screen Printing' and ‘Digital Printing' to name just two.

Question: What is copyright?

Answer: Copyright is basically the rights owned by the originator of the artwork to control who and how often the original work is copied. One way or another, you must have permission from the owner of the artwork to copy it and in many cases you will have to pay for the copyright before you can use it. If you created the artwork yourself or if you are using artwork which is copyright free (has been released into the public domain for free use by the owners) then you do not need a copyright licence to reproduce the art.

KOMODO Image does not have the ability to check that each customer owns the copyright of the graphics to be printed. However, if we know that you do not own the copyright, we will not print the graphic. If you have any doubts or questions about your own position with respect to a particular copyright, you would be advised, in the first instance, to seek the advice of a solicitor.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to provide sensible answers.