What are solid spot colors for t-shirt printing?
When we refer to solid spot colors with t-shirt screen printing, we are talking about colors that do not have any gradients or shading. Solid spot colors are the best kind of colors for screen printing because solid inks are used to accomplish the printing. It is a direct translation from the design to print when it is a solid spot color going on the t-shirt.
Gradients are when a color fades into transparency or fades into another color. When this happens, you are actually seeing hundreds if not thousands of colors in between the fade from one color to another. It is next to impossible with screen printing to exactly match a gradient change in a design as you see it on a computer screen. This is because on a computer screen you are using RGB values or CMYK. Screen printing just doesn't have a way to match those color values exactly as a computer would. There are ways to simulate and come close as possible but never exact.
Shading is difficult because it is a very common form of a gradient. It is typically grey in color and fades to other shades of gray or to transparency. We agree that shading looks great when designing artwork. The only problem is when that artwork is translated into a t-shirt print because shading can potentially look very muddy and unclear with screen printing inks. Shading can almost be duplicated with halftones but it is a very difficult and unpredictable piece of the process.
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