EMBROIDERY | SCREENPRINTING | MARKETING / PROMOTINAL PRODUCTS

ARTWORK | CUSTOM PRICING | MATERIALS/COLORS | ORDERING

You may have many questions. This list covers some of the basics regarding product, pricing, minimums, turn time, guarantee, and payment.

If you have any further questions please contact us via our contact page or call us at 800-800-7785 or 207-774-1104 .

- How much detail can be captured in embroidery?

- How many colors can I have in embroidery?

- How much is it to set up embroidery and does it cost more than screenprinting?

- Anything special that I should know about embroidery?

- What is the cost for embroidery based on the number of stitches used?

- Can I view my new tee shirt design before it is printed?

- My logo has a dark color in it, and I would like to get black tee shirts. Can this be done?

- How much is the set up for screen printing?

- What's better, silk screening or embroidery?

- Can I order mugs, pens and a giveaway item for my trade show using the same logo as the tee shirts?

- I have some employees who wear very large sizes. Can you get shirts to fit them?

- Do you have samples?

- Do you sell unprinted items?

- Do I need to supply my own fonts for my logo?

- How many colors can you print?

- What is resolution and must I submit my artwork at a particular resolution?

- Can artwork be submitted on a disk or e-mailed?

- How big can an image be printed?

- Can customers proof the final artwork before printing?

- What if I know what kind of design I want on my shirts but I don't have any artwork?

- What is digitizing?

- What format should artwork be submitted in?

- Will an image from a website work for my artwork?

- What is the difference between Vector images and Raster images?

- Do you have copyright policys?

- What is your policy on Trademarked Logos?

- Do you offer price breaks?

- What is your payment policy?

- Can I request estimates before an order?

- Do you have a price list?

- How do I determine my size?

- Can I pay extra for rush service?

- Do you have any discounts?

- What is the difference between 50/50 and 100% cotton?

- What does the fabric weight mean?

- What materials can you print on?

- Can customers supply their own screens?

- Can I supply my own shirts to be printed or embroidered?

- What’s that white felty stuff on this underside of my embroidered shirt?

- How can I define my casual dress expectations for my employees?

- How do I compare the quality of one shirt to the next?

- What's microfiber?

- Will the colors be the same as shown on your website?

- How long will it take to complete my order?

- Do you deliver?

- Do you do rush orders?

- Do you have a minimum order?

- What is your turnaround time?

- Do I have to come into LT's inc. to place an order?

- Do you sell products other than what's shown in your on-line catalog?

- What is your cancellation policy?

- Do you have a catalog and price list that you can send to me?

- Can custom embroidery be returned and digitizing fees refunded?

- How can payment be made for LT's inc services?

Q: How much detail can be captured in embroidery?
A: Embroidery can capture very fine detail - as small as the thickness of a thread. Some limitations of embroidery include, however:

• Color shading is not generally possible. Embroidery works best when done in blocks of solid color.
• Tiny embroidered lettering is hard to read. Letters should not be smaller than 3/16" high, and must be done in upper case if smaller than 3/8" high.

Q: How many colors can I have in embroidery?
A: We can embroider up to 10 colors per design

Q: How much is it to set up embroidery and does it cost more than screenprinting?
A: Embroidery set ups come in two versions. A simple design with lettering only can be set up in your choice of a few different typefaces for $25.00. If you would like to add a picture or a very stylized version of your unique logo, the cost will range from $65-150. The embroidery "tape charge" refers to the old days when paper tapes were run through a tape reader to program the sewing needle pattern required. Tape charges are based on the number of stitches in the design, so a full back design would be more expensive than a small left chest logo.

Q: Anything special that I should know about embroidery?
A: Yes...

1. For clarity, letters should be no smaller than 3/16". This is especially important when embroidering your corporate logo!
2. One solid square inch of embroidery = approximately 2,000 stitches. For example: 1" x 3" = about 6,000 stitches; 1.5" x 2" = about 6,000 stitches.
3. Are you embroidering more than one garment? If the fabrics are similar, and you use the same size and colors in your logo, there won't be an extra charge. You'll save time and money!
4. If you choose screenprinting over embroidery, be sure to choose a smooth material like jersey, and avoid textured materials. With pique and ribbed fabrics embroidery works best

Q. What is the cost for embroidery based on the number of stitches used?
A. Embroidery Personalizing and Monogram Fees:
Names $10.00 up to 10 characters. (Additional letters .60 each).

Q: Can I view my new tee shirt design before it is printed?
A: Every customer receives a full artwork rendering of the design by email, showing the shirt color, artwork measurements, and options on different choices you can select. All we need is your email address.

Q: My logo has a dark color in it, and I would like to get black tee shirts. Can this be done?
A: Printing on dark shirts is more difficult than on white, however we can use a white underlay and print the other colors over this. So for green ink to show up on a dark colored tee, a white underlay is needed. The total number of color would be two: white and green. Sometimes a design with many colors is best printed on a light shirt so that the underlay is not necessary.

Q: How much is the set up for screen printing?
A: The cost depends on the number of colors in the design, screens are $25 per color per side, so a shirt with a one-color front and two color back would require three screens or $75.00. These are reusable on a reorder, so you only pay for the screens one time.

Q: What's better, silk screening or embroidery?
A: Silk screening has improved greatly over the last few years. It is cost effective, except for the initial set-up charge which will vary for the artwork involved. Embroidery requires a one-time design set-up charge and is more expensive per application but is hardier and more intense. Your budget and promotional needs will determine what is best.

Q: Can I order mugs, pens and a giveaway item for my trade show using the same logo as the tee shirts?
A: LT's provides a full line of thousands of promotional items such as keychains, coffee mugs, yard signs, pens, pencils and any other item you may have seen with a logo. If you would like us to send you ideas, just email us and let us know the price range and the quantity. Sometimes we can come up with new ideas you might not have thought of.

Q: I have some employees who wear very large sizes. Can you get shirts to fit them?
A: Our catalog provides you with a complete selection of shirts sized from toddlers to 4XL. We can also provide you with outerwear, tee shirts, woven and golf shirts in sizes up to 6XL. In addition, we have sources for Tall sizes and a complete line of shirts that are made and sized especially for women.

Q: Do you have samples?
A: We have a showroom in our store with hundreds of different samples to look at.

Q: Do you sell unprinted items?
A: Yes we do. As a member of the Advertising Specialties Institute (ASI), L:T's inc. has access to over 600,000 promotional products (custom pens, mugs, golf balls, ect.) from thousands of vendors.

Q: Do I need to supply my own fonts for my logo?
A: If you know the name of the font used in the text of your logo please include it. There are thousands of type styles and it can be difficult to determine which of them your organization has chosen. Identifying the font ahead of time can avoid time consuming delays. We can prepare you a list of readily available fonts for customers to choose from.

Q: How many colors can you print?
A: For garments that are screen-printed, we can print up to 10 colors, and up to 15 colors can be stitched to embroidered garments.

Q: What is resolution and must I submit my artwork at a particular resolution?
A: Resolution is how many dots (pixels) are in a one-inch by one-inch area (dots per inch (DPI)). To properly convert artwork, our design team needs the resolution to be at least 300 dpi but preferably 600 dpi.

Q: Can artwork be submitted on a disk or e-mailed?
A: We take artwork from either a disk or from email.

Q: How big can an image be printed?
A: The size of an image depends on where the artwork is printed. For a full front it is 12 inches by 12 inches, although we do print oversized work up to 14.5 inches. The print area does however range on the type and size of garment used for printing.

Q: Can customers proof the final artwork before printing?
A: Yes. We recommend that our clients proof their order before we print.

Q: What if I know what kind of design I want on my shirts but I don't have any artwork?
A: We have a full art staff on hand which can help get your idea onto a shirt. Whether it is converting artwork, working off of an original artwork or if it is creating a complete design, LT's has the capabilities of creating whatever you can imagine.

Q: What is Digitizing?
A: Digitizing is the process of converting the existing artwork, an image or design, to a computer code so that the embroidery machine can read the image and stitch the artwork correctly.

Q: What format should artwork be submitted in?
A: LT's inc. can work with a wide range of artwork. The best format is anything that is saved as a vector image (yourart.ai, yourart.wmf, yourart.eps, yourart.pdf) but the file must be saved correctly in these versions. Other artwork can be submitted in common file types (yourart.jpg, yourart.tif, yourart.gif, yourart.bmp, yourart.psd,). We can work with you to make sure your artwork is submitted correctly.

Q: Will an image from a website work for my artwork?
A: No, the quality of images on a website will not be clear and crisp on a printed garment. Images on websites are saved at a resolution of 72 dpi and for rasterized artwork, 150 to 300 dpi at the desired printed size is needed.

Q: What is the difference between Vector images and Raster images?
A: In the design world, there are two types of artwork Vector and Raster.
    Vector images are the best type of artwork to give your image the best look on both the screen-printed and embroidered work. A vector image is made up of lines which are a mathematical equation. The benefit of vector art is that it can be sized as big or as small as you like, but the capabilities in quality of vector art is limited.
   Raster images are different from vector art because the image is made up of small dots or pixel. Each pixel on the image has an actual defined color. Raster art can have much more detail than vector, but it is limited to the size and resolution which the art is created at. If the image is made bigger, it will look blurry, low in detail, or pixilated.

Q: Do you have copyright policys?
A: We do not reproduce copyrighted material and can not accept any liability for copyright infringement for agreeing to reproduce a customer's order. If you wish to have us reproduce a national brand logo or trademark, we do require written proof that that you have permission to use that logo or trademark.
    We will NOT decorate any of our apparel products with licensed college or professional team sports logos such as the NBA, MLB, NFL, etc. These require special licensing agreements with the colleges and sports leagues.

Q: What is your policy on Trademarked Logos?
A: LT's inc. reserves the right to require written notice from an authorized employee granting permission to reproduce the certain trademarked logos. LT's inc. will not be held liable for unauthorized use of logos.

Q: Do you offer price breaks?
A: Yes, at 25 and 50 pieces of the same style, size, and color.

Q: What is your payment policy?
A: LT's inc. accepts the following payment methods:

• Credit Card
• Check
  
• Purchase Order - LT's inc. offers payment via PO as a convenience exclusively for qualified institutions, such as universities, government entities, and large corporations with established PO systems.

Q: Can I request estimates before an order?
A: Yes, absolutely.

Q: Do you have a price list?
A: No, we do not have a set price list. Because of variations in garments, quantity , sizes, and number of colors or stitches used, a set price list would minimize the amount of options we can offer you.

Q: How do I determine my size?
A: Most garments are sized in accordance with the scales listed below. Like all garments, there are variations between manufacturers. Returns will not be accepted for reasons of size if you received the size you ordered. Please use the chart below as a guideline only.

Q: Can I pay extra for rush service?
A: If you require faster than standard service for your order, our Rush Service is what you are looking for. You can learn more about this service by calling us at 800-800-7785 or 207-774-1104.

Q: Do you have any discounts?
A: YES, we have discounts! All of our prices here are based on a minimum purchase of ten pieces. As you go up in quantity of a particular style garment, the price per item goes down. We even let you combine styles, depending on the embellishment of each item, so you can be adventurous with your choices!

Q: What is the difference between 50/50 and 100% cotton?
A: The difference between cotton and cotton/poly blend is often a matter of personal taste. 100% cotton is very popular in because it is comfortable, cool and available in a great variety of styles and colors. It is a natural fabric, more absorbent than the cotton/polyester blend, and "breaths" better. By blending polyester with the cotton, the fabric gains many of the qualities of poly, such as strength, light weight, more stain resistance, wrinkle resistance, color-fastness, and faster drying time.

Q: What materials can you print on?
A: We print on an almost endless range of items for screen-printing and embroidery. Generally if there is at least a one-inch by one-inch area we can print it, but it depends on what the image is.

Q: Can customers supply their own screens?
A: No. Our machine requires a certain style of screens in order to work and therefore we will not accept screens which are not ours.

Q: Can I supply my own shirts to be printed or embroidered?
A: Yes, but we do not warranty any garment which we do not print.

Q: What’s that white felty stuff on this underside of my embroidered shirt?
A: The white felty stuff is call backing. The reason for the backing is so when the garment is being embroidered the stitches will not sink into the shirt. Backing is a necessary piece to support the shirt. Our embroidery staff trims the backing as close to the stitches as possible.  

Q: How can I define my casual dress expectations for my employees?
A: One person's idea of acceptable attire may be different from someone else's, so it's important to let your staff know exactly what's appropriate in your workplace. Here are a few guidelines to determine which style may fit your working environment?

• BOARDROOM CASUAL
  It's not a business suit, but there's still a certain polished look. Blazers and oxford shirts worn with ties or scarves, get the nod from corporate decision-makers.
• BUSINESS CASUAL
  This look is more approachable, but it tells everyone who's in charge. Try oxford button-downs, denim shirts (with or without ties), vests or sweaters.
• RELAXED CASUAL
  Comfort is the key, but so style. Golf shirts, denims, chambrays, fashion fleece, sweaters and turtlenecks are ideal.
• DRESS-DOWN CASUAL
  Are you packing to move your headquarters? Cleaning out your files? Reorganizing the office? Golf shirts, tees, fleece, and denims are fine.
• ALSO CONSIDER...
  A twill or denim shirt for any type of business...from restaurant waitstaff to heads of corporations...it feels comfortable and looks professional!

Q: How do I compare the quality of one shirt to the next?
A: Here are some of the areas we have examined, in order to make sure our customers get the best quality available.

• BUTTONHOLES
  Clean stitching, not ragged.
• COLLAR
  Collar balanced, not favoring one side or the other of a shirt. Is the seam taped?
• SEAMS
  No evidence of puckering, all seams smooth and flat. On higher-quality shirts shoulder seams will be taped.
• PLACKET
  What type of stitching does it have? Is the placket reinforced?
• TAIL
  Is the tail long enough to ensure a comfortable fit? Is the tail extended?
• DECORATION
  When placing the logo on the left chest, make sure it remains recognizable. Also consider the less traditional placements areas that are becoming more popular, such as the back or sleeve edge.

Q: What's microfiber?
A: Microfiber is tightly woven from a very fine poly thread and has a sueded finish for a luxurious, soft feel. Microfiber fabric is naturally water repellent due to its construction process and when specially treated, can also be waterproof. Microfiber may look and feel silky, but outerwear made from this material stands up to wind and rain. And now it comes in a wide range of jackets and windshirts just right for a company's incentive programs or golf tournaments.

Q: Will the colors be the same as shown on your website?
A: Every effort is made to insure that pictured fabric colors on our website are as close as possible to the actual fabric color. Because of the difference in monitor brands, models, personal settings and calibrations, we cannot guarantee that the colors you see on your screen will be the actual colors of the garments. Shirt colors may also vary depending dye lot. LT's inc. does not accept responsibility for these color variations.

Q: How long will it take to complete my order?
A: Most orders are completed within three weeks. However, if you have a special event or situation that requires a tighter deadline, we can usually accommodate your rush order without additional charges. Just ask, we are always happy to help you.

Q: Do you deliver?
A: We deliver locally in the Portland, Maine area and we ship products nationwide on a daily basis.

Q: Do you do rush orders?
A: Yes we do. We work on a individual by individual basis and depending on what our work load is at a given time, we will do everything we can to help you meet your deadline.

Q: Do you have a minimum order?
A: Our minimum order for screen prints is 24 pieces and for embroidery the minimum is 12 pieces. Under special circumstances we may modify these minimum orders.

Q: What is your turnaround time?
A: Our turnaround time is three weeks for all new art orders, and for reorders the turnaround time is two weeks.

Q: Do I have to come into LT's inc. to place an order?
A: No. Our experienced sales staff work with clients through many different mediums. We can process your order through email, telephone or in person.

Q: Do you sell products other than what's shown in your on-line catalog?
A: Yes. The online catalog is a small sample of some of our most popular items. LT's inc. has access to an almost infinite range of apparel from 111 different vendors. You can be sure that we have exactly what you are looking for.

Q: What is your cancellation policy?
A: Once an order has been placed and the sample approved by you, orders cannot be cancelled due to the personalized nature of our products.

Q: Do you have a catalog and price list that you can send to me?
A: Because all of our embroidery is custom, it is not available for catalog presentation. We do offer garment and soft goods catalogs produced by our vendors (manufacturers and distributors), and we can send you samples of embroidered emblems. Because everything that we do is custom, each order is priced according to its own specifications.

Q: Can custom embroidery be returned and digitizing fees refunded?
A: A custom embroidered product cannot be returned unless the item received is different (either size or embroidery) from the original order. Digitizing setup fees cannot be refunded.