New England's Premier Screen Printing Shop for Custom Apparel

Screen Printing Creation Process

For over three decades, College Hype has been the trusted screen printing partner for businesses, schools, sports teams, charities and organizations throughout New England. Our Weymouth-based screen printing facility combines cutting-edge technology with skilled craftsmanship to deliver exceptional custom printed apparel that makes your message stand out.

Screen Printing First Step: Choose Type of Printing Process

Spot Color

Vibrant solid color printing ideal for bold designs with up to 10 colors per design, delivering excellent "pop" and brightness.

4 Color Process

Perfect for photographic images using translucent CMYK inks to create full-color reproduction on light-colored garments.

Screen printed design featuring gradients and subtle color transitions created with halftone dot patterns

Half Tones

Creates subtle color variations and gradients by using dot patterns, efficiently reducing color count while maintaining visual depth.

Worn-looking t-shirt with deliberately faded and distressed screen printed graphic for retro appeal

Vintage Distressed

Achieves worn, weathered appearance with deliberate imperfections for that authentic retro or lived-in aesthetic.

Reflective

Incorporates light-reflecting ink that illuminates when exposed to direct light, ideal for safety wear and nighttime visibility.

Close-up of raised dimensional puff ink screen printing creating tactile 3D effect on fabric surface

Puffed

imensional raised ink effect creating tactile designs that stand out from the garment surface for added visual impact.

Shimmer

Metallic or pearlescent ink finishes that catch and reflect light, adding luxury and sophistication to printed designs.

Screen printed design demonstrating luminescent properties that emit green glow in darkness

Glow in the Dark

Specialty ink that absorbs light and emits luminescence in darkness, perfect for novelty and themed apparel.

Second Step: Artwork

College Hype has a full staff of Artists ready to create for you. We offer comprehensive design services including Logo Design, Logo Re-Creation, Logo Restoration, and Art/Photo Scanning.

Talk to our Designers

Submitting Logo or Digital Art

When submitting artwork, we recommend these pixel formats (in order of preference): TIF, PSD, JPG, BMP, GIF, and PNG - all at minimum 300 DPI at final size. For embroidery specifically, JPG and BMP are preferred, and photographs must be actual size or larger to maintain detail. "Camera ready" artwork should use glossy/high-quality paper, be as large as possible, and printed with highest quality ink settings.

Not Recommended

For artwork submission, we do not recommend using Microsoft Office formats including DOC (Word), XLS (Excel), PPT or PPS (PowerPoint), or other formats like Publisher and Virtual Card. While we can extract images from these files with additional processing time, it's less efficient than preferred formats. If your logo was created in a Microsoft Office application, providing a high-quality printed version is more effective than submitting the original file.

For assistance, contact us at 617-282-8883 or art@collegehype.com.

Step 3: Select Ink

College Hype offers standard ink colors for screen printing, with custom PMS color matching available at $35 per color. For specialty ink colors or embellishments like shimmer, puff, vintage, half-tones, or glow-in-the-dark effects, customers should contact the company directly for options and pricing.

Request a Quote

Step 4: Screens

College Hype requires a separate screen (stencil) for each color in your design, with each screen containing the artwork to transfer ink onto the garment. New screens must be produced for all new artwork submitted. However, these screens can be reused if a customer wishes to place a reorder of the same design, which helps reduce costs for repeat orders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Screen printing is a technique where ink is pressed through a mesh screen onto fabric. Unlike digital printing, screen printing creates more vibrant colors on dark fabrics and has superior durability. For businesses and organizations in Boston looking for long-lasting custom apparel, screen printing is often the preferred method for its exceptional color vibrancy and wash resistance.
At our Weymouth screen printing shop, we can print up to 10 colors on a single design. However, most designs in the Boston area typically use 1-6 colors for optimal cost-efficiency. Each color requires a separate screen in the silk screen printing process, which impacts both production time and pricing.
Our screen printing machines can print on various materials including cotton, polyester, cotton/poly blends, performance fabrics, canvas, and more. Beyond t-shirts, our Boston screen printing services extend to hoodies, sweatshirts, polos, jackets, tote bags, and other fabric items.
Yes! Our in-house graphic design team can create custom artwork for your screen printing project or optimize your existing designs for the silk screen printing process. This service is particularly valuable for Boston businesses and organizations without dedicated design resources.
There is no difference – "silk screen printing" is simply an older term for screen printing, dating back to when actual silk was used for the screens. Today's modern screen printing machines use synthetic mesh, but many people in Boston and throughout Massachusetts still use both terms interchangeably.
Yes, our Massachusetts screen printing shop uses the Pantone Matching System (PMS) to accurately reproduce brand colors. This precision color matching is especially important for Boston businesses and organizations with established brand standards.
For optimal results with our screen printing machines, we recommend vector files (AI, EPS, PDF). However, our skilled design team can work with high-resolution JPG or PNG files when necessary. If you're in the Boston area, we're happy to review your artwork in person at our Weymouth location.