FAQ

FAQ
What is screen printing?

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas.

Is my order screen printed or digitally printed?

Expertees Printing offers digital printing for all sorts of signage.  Large t-shirt orders are typically screen printed.  We can also use digital printing for small orders when the color requirements make digital printing more affordable for our customers.

What are the sizes for toddlers and infant shirts?

Infants:

  • Small = 6 Months
  • Medium = 12 months
  • Large = 18 months
  • Xlarge = 24 months

Toddler:

  • Small = 2T
  • Meduim = 3T
  • Large = 4T
Will the t-shirt shrink when you wash it?

Have you ever met a shirt that didn’t? Although each shirt is labeled “pre-shrunk” by the manufacturer, each shirt will still shrink slightly. Most manufacturers account for this shrinkage by making the shirt slightly bigger than it should be. When it shrinks, it will be the right size.

Can I order my design on different shirt styles (men’s and women’s) and/or different colors?

Yes. Placing an order with different shirt colors is permitted, but may require some modifications to your art, and/or additional colors to be printed besides those that you selected that the time of ordering.

You can also order different styles of shirts, but at the moment, our design studio does not allow you to add different styles to the order.  You can however call or email us and we can handle any of your needs.

What’s the difference between 100% cotton and 50/50?

100% cotton is exactly that – 100% cotton.

50/50 is a mixture of 50% natural cotton fibers and 50% polyester synthetic fibers.

While there are pros and cons to each, we always recommend 100% cotton. 100% cotton will shrink slightly more than a 50/50. 50/50 will hold its color slightly longer than 100% cotton. 100% cotton is more comfortable than 50/50. 100% cotton keeps you cooler because it breathes better. Print quality is better on 100% cotton.

How can I get a price quote?

The easiest way to get a quote is to fill our quote form or call us (210.599.6888).  For the most accurate pricing, you can send an image of what you’d like printed.

We print t-shirts, signs, posters, banners, canvas, and more.  So there are a wide variety of options available to you.

How many do I have to order?

For t-shirts, if the design lends itself to digital printing, we can print it on a single shirt.  Screen printing requires a minimum order of 12 shirts.  The more shirts you order, the cheaper they get per shirt.

For signage, it varies from product to product, but some items can be ordered one at a time.

Can I get a sample of my design?

Not really. Samples are digitally printed and typically aren’t representative of your final product on larger orders when screen printing is used. Our digital mockups are typically suffice for approval and sharing with others prior to ordering.

Do you charge setup fees?

Do people still do that?  No one likes surprises (unless it’s your birthday and involves sweet gifts).

Our prices include the shirt and all printing.  The possible exceptions to that are:

  • fees for custom design work (if any)
  • shipping
  • anything beyond standard screen printing (color changes, names, etc.)
Can you rush my order?

Absolutely!  If we can squeeze it into our schedule, we’re more than happy to accomodate you.  If we can’t, we’ll just tell you that it’s not possible.  Rush orders incur a rush fee that varies per order.

How long until my order is complete?

Typical orders take 7 to 10 business days to complete. If your items are irregular or backordered, there may be a delay until we receive the items. In these cases, we will ship orders ASAP. If you have not received a shipping notification within 7 business days, feel free to contact us through our Contact Form.

Standard shipping takes 1-5 business days via FedEx or USPS. If you have supplied an e-mail address, you will receive a confirmation e-mail and tracking number as soon as your order is shipped. Please contact us if you want expedited shipping, as it incurs additional charges.

What’s the status of my order?

When an order is placed, you will receive an email confirmation with a link to your order status page. As your order makes its way through the process, status is updated realtime on that page. Each order has a dedicated status page.

Where do you ship?

We ship primarily to the continental US region. Shipping to Alaska, Hawaii or other countries will incur additional charges. We are also unable to deliver to PO Boxes, hotels, hostels, or prisons. We can ship to any military base outside the US with an APO address via USPS.

What can I submit for artwork?

If you have images (gif, jpg, png), they must be high-quality (200-300 dpi). Most art will most likely require us to spend some time on it making it work for t-shirts (design fees will apply).

If you have custom art (Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDRAW), you can submit artwork via email to [email protected].  Vector art (.ai, .eps, .cdr) will require no art time, but raster images (.psd, .jpg, .gif, .png) will almost always require us to rebuild the design.

If you have any questions about your art, just email it to us along with what color shirt you’re trying to put it on, and we’ll let you know if it can be done.

If your file is LARGER THAN 7 MB, email us, and we can send you an upload link that will allow you to upload large files (or you can use a file service {Dropbox, etc.}).

Are there any restrictions on artwork?

We will (at our discretion) reject any design or part of a design that it deems illegal, immoral, or in anyway inappropriate for us to produce.

Using this site implies consent to the following terms:
You agree to not use the this site to create material that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, or that infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any third party.

If you have additional questions regarding artwork restrictions, please contact us.

How high should the resolution or DPI be?

The resolution should be 300dpi or higher and be sized at or near 13″ wide x 15″ tall for best results. We can use images with a lower resolution, but with less than desirable results. In other words, it might look horrible. If you want good shirts, you need good art.

What images can I upload for use in designs, and how do I properly prepare those images?

We can work with most image formats, but please feel free to contact us if you have questions or need assistance. We accept .ai, .cdr, .eps, .psd, .jpg, .png, .gif, .tif.  Be sure to convert all fonts to paths or curves.

To avoid any delays, please be sure your images are large enough that when re-sized to a printable size they will not pixelate.

If you have questions about this, please contact us.

How accurate is your digital proof?

Our art proofs let you get a good look at how your item will actually turn out, but we can’t perfectly simulate screen printing.

First of all, every computer monitor displays colors a little differently, so the colors of your actual merchandise (both the colors of the shirts and the ink colors of your designs) may not match perfectly with what you view on your screen.

Secondly, embroidery and printing on non-paper surfaces are physical processes that are inherently imperfect, and slight variations from item to item inevitably exist.

But please don’t worry! Trust the names of the various color products you use on the site and trust that we will produce merchandise that looks great and won’t disappoint! Also, please feel free to email us any special requests or concerns.  We’re here to help!