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F.A.Q.

What is the printing process?

At Cotton Ink, we utilize a state-of-the-art direct printing system. With direct printing, we print direct-to-fabric with no transfers. The result is a matte image that moves with the garment because the ink is actually embedded in the fabric for ultimate wearable comfort and wash durability. The end result is much like silk screening, however, direct printing allows for greater design flexibility, handling gradients, half-tones and millions of colors with ease. Your designs are printed as they are designed and you do not need to adjust your designs to accommodate the printing process.

Unlike many companies offering Direct Printing services, Cotton Ink does not limit printing to light colored shirts. To the contrary, Cotton Ink believes that the color of the t-Shirt is just as important to the end products as the custom artwork itself. As such, Cotton Ink offers every standard color manufactured by American Apparel.

Are there any set-up fees?

No. There are absolutely no set-up fees or hidden costs. The prices you see in our store per item is the cost you pay.

Am I limited in color usage in my designs?

No. Other printing services, such as silk screening, usually limit the maximum number of colors in a design or charge more based on the number of colors in a design. Cotton Ink uses an innovative digital direct printing technology that decorates our products with as many colors as the image contains at no additional expense. This not only results in a vivid, photo-quality image, but eliminates the need to limit the number of colors used.

What is the quality of your products?

In a word, Cotton Ink quality is exceptional: exceptional quality apparel and materials; exceptional quality digital printing techniques. You'll be amazed. Cotton Ink believes that custom apparel should exceed the quality of "off the rack" apparel found at specialty boutiques. Cotton Ink takes great pride in the level of quality in each product we ship.

Can I purchase just one?

Absolutely. There are no minimum purchase requirements. Direct printing allows Cotton Ink to produce one t-shirt without imposing set up fees or any other hidden fees.

Do you handle bulk orders?

Yes. Cotton Ink handles bulk orders. However, due to the nature of custom printing and the numerous variables involved, pricing varies greatly when ordering in bulk.† Additionally, depending on the artwork, traditional silkscreening processes may be a more cost effective means of printing.† Consequently, we ask that you contact us so we may price your order appropriately.

Can I print in a unique location (i.e. side panel)?


Yes. However, the options you will see in our online store is based upon the most common graphic placement to accomodate the most common requests. You may specify more unique requests in the "special instructions" field or contact us directly to discuss your project. We are always happy to discuss your preferences to push the envelope of what is possible.

What are the image requirements?

Cotton Ink supports JPEG, EPS, AI, PSD and PNG formats. These formats will produce great quality products as long as the resolution meets or exceeds our recommendations. However, we strongly suggest the use of the PNG format with transparency to minimize upload times. Resolution should be set at a minimum of 150dpi at actual size. 200-300dpi is recommended.

With PNG, we can support full transparency of your images as you design. This can be especially useful if you are creating a design with multiple overlapping images such as borders to go around your design, or shapes with non-rectangular edges. Also, when designing for dark-colored apparel, PNG images are recommended to ensure your image is produced correctly. Most graphic programs (i.e. Photoshop) support the PNG file format and simply must be selected while saving your file.

We reccomend using an sRGB color profile for images. However, we do support CMYK based images as well.

Note: Images with the color white.

In any image, there are areas that you may want to be transparent (i.e. the area or background behind it shows through) or areas that you may want to be non-transparent. If you create PNG images with transparency, then those transparency settings will be obeyed.

But if you have a JPEG image (or PNG image w/o transparency), backgrounds are white and you cannot specify which areas are to be treated as transparent. This will cause a white background to be printed. To resolve this, we recommend you convert your JPEG image to a PNG image with transparency and remove any unwanted pixels.

To convert your JPEG to PNG with Adobe Photoshop:

1. Open your JPEG file in Photoshop
2. Select Layer -> New Layer from Background
Your image should now be on Layer 0.
3. Select Layer -> New Layer and click OK.
This creates a new blank layer
4. Reorder the layers so that the layer with your image is on top
5. Select the layer with your image
6. If there are any areas of your image that you would like to be transparent, clear those areas. You may do this using the "select tool" or the "magic wand" tool. When you have selected the area you want to be transparent, select Edit -> Clear to remove that image data and make it transparent. You should see the background "checkerboard" in its place.
7. Once you are finished setting your transparent regions, save your file as a PNG by selecting File -> Save As... and choosing PNG as your output format.
8. Your file is now ready to be uploaded to cotton-ink.com

How long does my order take to arrive?

Currently, it takes Cotton Ink 3-5 business days to process, manufacture, and ship your order. That means with priority shipping, youíll receive your product in just over 1 week, and with ground shipping, in 1-2 weeks.

However, we intend to be faster than that, and as we develop our new process, we aim to ship these products within 48 hours, meaning then youíll receive your product in just a matter of days.