Awaiting results from SpreadShirt.net

I have to admit it I’m surprised to receive the support I have had so far from the “SpreadShirt Service”, in truth I find the support for designers at CafePress.com rather substandard and impersonal, however after a few days delay I’ve had communications with a couple of real people from the company regarding the strange and so far ongoing saga of my first vector image submission to both SpreadShirt.com and SpreadShirt.net so I can offer cheaper shipping via both continents.

Here’s the complete explanation to why each site has a slightly different approval process for vector (.eps) image submissions.

Quoted from an email exchange with the very helpful “Eike-Marie” of the SpreadShirt service.

“I agree, this seems a bit contradictory here if we release the design on the one side (.com) and reject it on the other (.net).

You can see from this example, that the issue is not an easy one. Let me explain in detail:

- the size issue: 1,5 mm refers to the size an element should have (min) so that we can produce it with plot printing. The 2mm issue refers to another point (although similar): Designs that have more than one size are combined on the shirt, that means we first press one colour element, then another. According to our experience it is better if the element on the bottom is 2 mm bigger because the flex foil might deform slightly due to the heat with which the designs are pressed on the shirt. Your design almost fits this criteria (the black element is ca. 1,9 mm bigger), so it seems that in this case my colleagues from .net were stricter than my colleagues at spreadshirt.com. In my point of view we could do it with the size as it is now (1,9mm), but making the lower element a bit thicker would bring you on the safe side.

- There is another issue concerning a design that consists of more than one colour, which I think is important to know: flex foils are slightly different from flock foils. We usually recommend to create designs that are mainly for flex printing in a way that you place the different colour elements on top of each other. With a big design and flock material, this sometimes does not look (and feel) good. In such a case we recommend to interleave the colour elements rather to place them on each other.

Here is what I recommend: Thicken the black element slightly so that it is a bit bigger and let us upload this version for both of your shops. It seems a minor amendment, but it can do much when it comes to the print result.

For further questions please don’t hesitate to contact me again.”

Now that’s support! The only problem is that SpreadShirt.com seem to approve designs much faster than SpreadShirt.net

I’m keeping my fingers crossed all will be well very very soon, in the meantime I’m sifting through over 100 archive designs and a book of new ideas, working out which designs are most suitable for flock, the old adage “less is more” comes to mind!