Progressive Screen Printing features a full-service art department and retains several artists in the area ready to create your ideal design whether it's digitally based, or traditionally hand-drawn. Our head artist has over 10 years of technical experience creating and separating textile designs. Not only can we draw, we also have the technical expertise to make it turn out beautifully on a shirt. We don't use clip art, and never have. Every design is original.
However, if you have a piece of artwork you want to use, or simply would like to incorporate into your design, let us know. (see below for technical specs)

Design fees are $45.00/hr. The design process differs with individual projects.
Some things may take more time than others. Good work takes time. Period. After reviewing your needs, we will provide you with an estimate along with the amount of colors the design will need.
Please contact us for more information.

T-shirt sizing
Full Front: The top of the design is usually about 4 inches from the bottom of the front collar. Typically, designs don't excede 12 inches tall or wide on full shirt fronts. (see right)

Back: The top of the design usually lies at 2 - 4 inches below the bottom of the collar. Placement relies on the design as well. 15.5 x 15.5 inches is the maximum printable size. (Please keep in mind that this size is abnormally large, and generally considered too big) (see right)
The typical size is usually around 10.5 - 13 inches tall or wide. Anything under 8 inches generally looks too small on shirts above a large.

Pocket Logo Location: Pocket logo locations are usually about 3.5 to 4 inches wide or tall. Please keep in mind that if you are printing women's style shirts, you may want the pocket logo to be placed a little higher than usual so the logo rests on top of the female breast, instead of the front.

As you can see above, the overall shape of your design is important to consider when choosing a size for your garment.

If you already have your artwork ready to go on computer, please read below for technical specs:

Digital Files: Accepted software formats

We are a Mac based company, but can readily use PC files depending on the software.
Preferably, we ask that your logo or design be created in applications such as MacroMedia FreeHand or Adobe Illustrator. Please read below for more information.

PLEASE NOTE: We cannot use graphics or logos that are used as design elements on websites as the resolution is not high enough. Graphics need to be 300 pixels per inch at the size they are printing. Web graphics are 72 pixels per inch. These may need to be re-created or the original design file may need to be located. If you have no other artwork, the image will appear blurry on the shirt.

MacroMedia FreeHand or Adobe Illustrator:
Both Freehand and Illustrator have a function that will convert all text to outlines. In Freehand it is 'Convert to paths' and Illustrator has 'Create Outlines'. The advantage of this function is that you no longer have fonts in your art you have paths. The disadvantage is if type corrections are needed we will need to know what font it was in order to make the corrections.

• We use Illustator CS3 & FreeHand MX (11).
• Please DO NOT embed linked graphics. Rather, keep them as separate linked files.
• Convert all fonts to outlines or paths
• Please refrain from using Illustrator gradient meshes as they may cause unpredictable effects
• Include a medium resolution jpeg for proofing.
• If the design has specific spot color requirements, please indicate or assign the Pantone colors.

Adobe Photoshop is also welcomed, but will incur factors such as resolution and different separation techniques. Please see below for recommended resolutions. If possible, please keep your layers separated if the illustration was done in Photoshop.
• If there is type in the design, please try to keep the resolution at least 200 dpi (ideally 300) at 100% of the final size.
• If the design is just type, consider using vector software. It will be less expensive to make film, and the results will be better.
• Please make sure the ORIGINAL resolution is 300 dpi. "Up-rezzing" or simply making the document a higher resolution after the fact will produce poor results.

Quark Xpress & InDesign:
Please convert your fonts to outlines when sending InDesign files. We cannot accept Quark files saved above version 3.32. Quark files over version 3.32 need to be saved as an eps.
Please save any links required with your document. A hard copy or medium resolution jpeg is required.

If using CorelDraw:
• Convert all fonts to outlines
• Export to the eps format
• Please include a jpeg or hard copy of the artwork for proofing

PDFs:
We prefer native files, but PDFs can be used provided the file is setup correctly.

Microsoft Publisher are not accepted. We can send these files out to get them transferred, but there is no guarantees.

Microsoft Word files can be worked from, depending if we have the font you used to create it. It will have to be recreated.

You can send your disc to us (click here for shipping info) or email it in one of the above fomats. Please keep emails no larger than 12MB.