It’s not too early to be thinking about spring sales. What are your plans for going after new league business? There are plenty of options when it comes to team uniforms. While many of you out there are experienced pros, there are other garment decorators that have never used a heat press to apply numbers or player names. It can be intimidating for the beginner. But with the availability of pre-cut names and numbers, personalizing a team jersey with a heat press is easy.
Advantages of Heat Print Numbers: The advantages of using heat print numbers over screen printing are numerous. In fact, textile screen printers are some of the largest users of heat printed numbers in the world. Heat printed numbers are—and always will be—a fast, easy and clean way to number jerseys, whether you’re printing ten shirts or 10,000. If you stock pre-cut numbers you can print jerseys today. Even screen printers, who will screen print the front of the uniforms with mascots or team names, use pre-cuts for the individual team numbers and names that go on the back. The beauty of heat print numbers is that you can create a single jersey, with a single number, in just seconds. This makes heat printing ideal for last minute orders or replacement jerseys. The same can’t be said for screen printing.
Every player needs an individual player number. Here are some of the most popular heat applied numbering solutions available:
1) PRE-SPACED PLAYER NAMES: To take care of both numbers and player names at the same time, order Player Perfect heat transfer text and numbers.
2) PRE-CUT or DIE-CUT: You can buy a wide selection of pre-cut (die-cut) numbers and letters in packs, convenient kits or team sets for a lower cost, which allows you to layout the names and numbers yourself. Adding names and numbers is easy. Just arrange on your garment and heat apply. Layout guides and templates are available for proper alignment. Numbers are available in the most popular styles and sizes, in both one and two-color styles. Thermo-FILM® is the world’s most popular athletic numbering heat transfer material, offering excellent opacity, wash- ability and durability. When applied properly, they don’t peel, chip or flake off—ever!
3) CUT IT YOURSELF: If you have a vinyl cutter and a heat press, you can use cuttable heat transfer materials designed for use on garments. Cutting your own player names is usually very cost effective and can be done for around .30 cents per name, depending on the size of the lettering. You may choose to combine cutting player names with die-cut numbers.
4) TRANSFER NUMBERS: For a look that is indistinguishable from direct screen printing, try screen printed transfer numbers. They are available in the most popular athletic styles, sizes and colors. Another huge advantage transfer numbers have over die-cuts is apparent when it comes to two-color styles. Two color screen printed transfer numbers apply just as quickly and easily as one color and have a lightweight, soft finished hand.
There’s still more to do with your uniform…the player name, the team logo, sponsor names. These days, more and more teams need multiple sponsors in order to afford uniforms and costs for fields, equipment, etc… I’ll talk about lettering strategies next time.
If you are cutting your own names or numbers, Cadworxlive.com offers the ultimate team wear design tool in Easy Teams. Sign up for a free trial account and save tons of time with Easy Teams.
Yes Greg excellent point. I will be talking more about Easy Teams in an upcoming blog. Folks out there truly don’t realize the power and ease of use of Easy Teams.