Large Format Printing Alton, IL

You are excited about this awesome screen print design idea you came up with, but the size of the design is so large that you’re having trouble finding a place to print it. Many print shops are unable to fulfill or order or trying to convince you to shrink it down to something more reasonable. What you need is large format printing serving the Alton, IL area, something few Alton, IL print shops can provide. Large format printing is meant to catch the eyes of viewers, express messages from a distance, and present information with ease.

Put your Alton, IL large format printing needs only in the hands of the your favorite shop screen print shop that applies craftsman, care, and attention to detail to every job: STL Shirt Co. We have established ourselves as one of the top screen printing shops in the Alton, IL area and have been trusted by countless famlies and businesses to deliver on all screen printing and embroidery requests large and small.

Are you ready to start your large format printing order? Contact us online, call us at (636) 926-2777, or send us a text at (636) 299-0162. STL Shirt Co. has your back for all your Alton, IL large format printing needs.

Large Format Print Shop Alton, IL

Large format printing is a specialty printing service that involves printing designs and printing on surfaces that are larger than standard screen printing is capable of printing (which is typically capped at around 14 inches). To offer large format printing options to their customers, a shop must comply with certain space requirements and make an investment in special machinery and equipment, which must be custom ordered from manufacturers. STL Shirt. Co is proud to bring premium-level large format printing to the Alton, IL area.

Uses for Large Format Printing

Alton, IL large format printing can be used for anything from a really big design printed on a t shirt, printing on large clothing items, and a number of promotional and industrial materials. Large format printing is commonly used in printing:

• Whole-shirt designs
• Window and wall displays and posters
• Store displays
• Banners
• Trade show displays
• Indoor/outdoor signage for business promotion
• Vehicle wraps
• Backdrops
• Signs and calendars
• Murals

For large format printing specifically on t-shirts, possibilities are endless and amazing. We see a lot of excellent large format printing jobs for t-shirts and other clothing items for uses like:

• Clothing Brands and Brand Merch: A large logo or other artwork covering a wearer’s front side instantly captivates viewers, fosters brand recognition, and sends a bold statement. Large prints are a useful tool in branding and wearable marketing.
• Music Industry: Enter the band tee. A large, bold, high-contrast print works perfectly to visually express the message a band or DJ wants to send. Extend your art to the t-shirts that help bring in additional revenue and allow your fans a way to support you by designing exciting, daring large format printed shirts and other merchandise.
• Special Events: Special events are the perfect occasion for screen printed shirts of any kind. There are always so many individuals and organizations that contribute to making any event happen. For runs, festivals, fundraising events, competitions, and more, you want to commemorate the date and thank those who made the event possible. Accomplish both with large format printing for your event t-shirts in Alton, IL. Large format allows you to fit all sponsor logos without cramming them together in tiny columns.

Did you know we do a lot more than just large format printing? Check out some of our other services:

How Large Format Printing is Possible

Large format printing calls for special care and craftsmanship. In order to provide true Alton, IL large format printing options with quality results, a screen printing shop must have the right equipment. The first three things a screen printer needs to produce large format printing work are:

1. The Press

To screen print anything at all, you need a proper printing press. Regardless of whether a printer uses a manual or automatic press, the resulting print can only be as large as the squeegee is wide, and the squeegee size is limited by the build of the machine. The smooth, even colors on a screen printed garment are the work of the machine, and large format printing means – you guessed it – a machine with larger-than-average parts to allow for a larger print area.

2. The Film

If you’re not familiar with how screen printing works, here’s a micro-lesson of the set-up process; your design is “stenciled” onto a fine mesh screen within a framethat holds the mesh taut. How does one get that image or pattern stenciled onto the screen, you ask? The image is printed on a sheet of film, and a photosensitive chemical called emulsion is applied to the screen. The light hardens the emulsion to the screen in the areas of the image where the film is transparent and allows light through. The hardened parts are where the ink will not pass through. The positive space where the mesh is still exposed shows your image and is the part of the screen that allows the ink to pass through and come to rest on the shirt or other item.

Make sense?! If you don’t quite get it still, no sweat (your shirts will still come out looking just as great)! Because we need film to put your design on the screen, your design can only be as large as the size of the film sheet. The film in generally available in standard sizes, but for larger designs, we have film with a larger surface area.

3. The Screens

The screen is the next ingredient to printing your design. If there was no screen, screen printing would just result in a messy, undefined blob. Maybe you’re going for an abstract look, but in most cases, this is not what you want.

The size of your stencil and, in turn, your design, is limited by how large the screen is as well as the film. The biggest sheet of film in the world won’t matter if they don’t fit withn the screen’s frame. Likewise, your frame could be big enough to cover a huge area, but without film in the correct size, the image would end or would simply print smaller than you would liked. We also have to consider the type of mesh we use. For larger print sizes, we opt for a particular mesh that allows for clean lines and detail that looks great for the particular size of the print.

The paintbrush in the hands of a novice, though, does not produce the same results as it does in Van Gough’s hand. What we mean by that is that these large format printing tools and equipment won’t do any good on their own. Quality Alton, IL large format printing, as with any type of screen printing, requires skill and craftsmanship. When you need large format printing in the Alton, IL area, all print shops are not created equal. Some print shops might have the right equipment for large format printing, but don’t have the personnel with the skill and experience to for quality large format printing. To produce good large format printing work, we also invest in special inks and meshes and specialized training to make sure that what we print looks good, lasts, and isn’t too heavy or thick.

[Large Format Printing city], IL | STL Shirt. Co

Don’t let other screen print shops fool you or try to get you thinking small. You can count on STL Shirt Co. for all your Alton, IL large format printing needs. Whether you’re looking for a large printed sign for an event or just like the look of a big, full print on a shirt, STL Shirt Co. can walk you through every step of the process, from the initial design to the final product. We guarantee quality, long-lasting results from all our work.

Reach out to us to begin your Alton, IL large format printing now, and see what can happen when there are truly no limits! To learn more about STL Shirt Co.’s large format printing serving the Alton, IL area or any of our other services, get in touch with us today. Call us at (636) 926-2777, text us at (636) 299-0162, or jump right in by requesting a quote.