Carriage: the cost of transporting your goods to your business.
Dye Sublimation: printing technique which uses heat to transfer dye onto materials. In this process ink turns into gas and becomes fully infused in the material fibres, instead of just being printed on the surface. The technique can be used on a broad assortment of products and the result is a high quality, long-lasting finish.
Enamel: enamel is used to make badges and pins. There are two types of finish, hard and soft.
Hard enamel: is a higher quality, more durable and scratch resistant finish. The enamel is added several times and baked at a much higher temperature to harden and cure it. It’s then polished smooth so it’s at the same level as the metal die lines. Certain finishes like gold and silver plating work better with hard enamel.
Soft enamel: is more affordable and allows for more colours and designs. The enamel is added once in this process which means that when it’s dry it clings to the edges and is recessed below the metal die line. Soft enamel is less scratch resistant but they can be painted any colour.
Flash Screen: a flash is used in screen printing as a base when light colours are printed onto dark clothing. If you were painting a room a bold colour, you’d paint a white coat first. If you were dying your hair a bright colour, you’d bleach it first. This is similar idea. The flash screen stops peeling or fading of your design.
Laser Engraved: a process using a laser beam to change the surface of an object. The result is a precise and high quality finish so that customised designs will come out clean and legible, even at a very small size.
MOQ: minimum Order quantity.
Origination: the charge to set up your design for printing. This could be setting up machinery or screens, depending on the printing process used.
Screen print: printing directly onto a fabric’s surface. When screen printing, one colour is applied at a time and for each separate colour an additional screen is required. The costs increase with each additional colour applied, so the more colours in your design, the more expensive it will be. Screen printing provides long-lasting and consistent results, and can be used for large designs. Most t-shirts you see in the shops will have been printed using this technique.
Spot colour: a single colour print, which gives the colour a solid and consistent look. Spot colour is an alternative to full colour which is the printing process combining Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, to create a range of colours. Full colour is often used in multicolour logos or for a photograph finish.
Transfer print: the process of printing your design onto a special, transferrable vinyl material. Transfer is great for bold, vibrant, full colour design and can be used on virtually any fabric, but it can be less durable than other printing options.
Tooling fee: the one-time cost of making your product a particular custom shape and size. These tools are often dies and printing plates.
Unit cost: cost per item
