What is halftone printing?
A halftone draws a picture with dots. Dark areas get big dots, light areas get small ones, and the shirt colour shows in between. Newspapers and comics have used the same trick for well over a hundred years, which is why a halftone print also has a retro, poster-like look.
Why use halftone dots on a t-shirt?
Our prints use solid ink: each spot is either printed in full or left clear. A glow, a drop shadow or a faded edge is partly see-through in your file, so printed as it is, it comes out paler or patchy, and a dark background prints as a box. Turned into dots, the soft look stays while every printed dot is solid, so it presses and washes cleanly. A dotted print also uses less ink, so a large design feels lighter on the shirt.
The four looks in the Dots tool
| Look | What it does | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Black background | Removes a black background and keeps its glow as dots | Neon, fire and glow designs on a black tee |
| Soft edges | Turns glows, shadows and fades into dots | Pictures with a soft drop shadow or a faded edge |
| White background | Removes a white background the same way | Designs for a white tee |
| Whole picture | Turns every tone into dots | The dotted poster or comic look |
Big, Medium or Fine dots?
Pick the dot size by how far away the shirt will be seen. Big dots are 12 lines per inch and show clearly as part of the design. Medium is 20 and Fine is 30, and both blend into the picture from a step away. Whatever you pick, dots smaller than 0.45 mm are left out, because dots that small can come off in the wash.
How to make halftone dots in Custom Lab
- Open Custom Lab and upload your picture, or open your design in the product designer.
- Select the picture and open the Dots tab.
- Choose a look and a dot size. The tool starts on Black background.
- Check the dots in the close-up and the before and after view, then choose your garment and order.
Does halftone cost extra?
No. The Dots tool is free, and a dotted design costs the same to print as any other design in the same print position on the same product. Full colour costs the same as one colour.
When to skip halftone
Leave crisp logos and solid colour text as they are. They already print cleanly, and dots would only soften them. Halftone is for the soft parts of a picture.