Choosing A Printing Method For Your Artwork
Match the method to the artwork before you match it to the budget
Most umbrella reprints happen because the printing method was chosen before anyone looked closely at the artwork. Screen printing cannot hold a gradient. Digital printing on a dark canopy will not give you a metallic mark. This is how to get the decision right the first time.
Start By Counting Colours
One to three solid spot colours, printed in volume, belongs on silk-screen. It is the most economical method and gives dense, accurate colour. Each additional colour adds a screen and a pass, so the economics change quickly above three.
Look For Gradients And Photography
If the artwork contains a gradient, a photograph, or a soft shadow, digital printing is the only method that will reproduce it. That is what our Colour Shaft Auto Open and City models are specified for, with full coverage across eight panels.
Check The Canopy Colour
Ink on a dark canopy sits flat. If you want a metallic mark on black or navy, hot stamping or silver stamping will do what ink cannot. This is a decision that has to be made with the canopy colour, not after it.
Consider Texture
Foam printing gives a raised, physically textured logo. It is specified when the brand mark needs to be felt, typically on gift programmes where the umbrella is handled before it is used.
Do Not Forget The Sleeve
Embroidery is used on sleeves, straps and handle areas rather than on canopies, because stitching through a canopy panel compromises the fabric. A printed or embroidered sleeve gives you a second branded surface for the time the umbrella spends closed.
The Panel Test
Whatever the method, lay the artwork over a panel outline before approving it. Anything crossing a seam will show a step. We do this at layout stage and flag it, but knowing it in advance saves a round of approvals.
The Models Discussed In This Guide
Straight UmbrellaColour Shaft Auto Open Single Layer Straight UmbrellaFull coverage digital print across eight panels on a colour fibreglass frameView specification →
Golf UmbrellaColour Shaft and Handle Manual Open Golf UmbrellaBrand colour carried through the shaft and handle, not just the canopyView specification →
Straight UmbrellaAuto Open Double Layer City UmbrellaA double layer canopy on a wooden shaft for daily city useView specification →Questions On This Topic
What file format should we send?
Vector artwork wherever possible, with colour references. For photographic designs, send the highest resolution original you have rather than a file already sized for print.
How small can text be on a canopy?
Smaller than you expect stops working, and the limit differs by method. Send the artwork and we will tell you the minimum size that will survive on your chosen canopy.
Can two methods be combined on one umbrella?
Yes, for example a screen printed canopy with an embroidered sleeve. Tell us what you want on each surface and we will confirm.
Put The Question To Someone Who Builds Them
If a specification decision is not clear after reading this, email us with the use case. We would rather answer it now than quote the wrong umbrella.