# Screenprinting a picture onto a shirt???



## nicrbocr (May 14, 2006)

I just got illustrator and barely know how to use it. I will begin screenprinting funny sayings I have come up with, so that is not a problem. But since I have limited illustrator experience and have taken some nice pictures with my digital camera, is it possible to copy and paste a picture from something like shutterfly and put it into illustrator? OR...can I just print the picture onto the film and screen print it onto a shirt? Any other steps that need to be taken? Thanks so much for the help!


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

screen printing full color photos is not an easy thing to do.
some screen printers can play around with the artwork and simplify the set up process some what.

1 color with some percentages is a lot easier.

for full color photos, litho-transfers are a good way but you need to make a large quantity.

DTG may be a good option.

As for the art prep, most screen printers have in-house staff that can take your art and prep it for the screen print job.


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## jimiyo (Jul 23, 2006)

photo separations will need index separations if you want it to look good. which means photoshop.

it can be done, but it will take 8-14 screens if you get it screenprinted. and the art time will probably run you $$$ too. 

T-BOT is right. if its not too many. DTG, or transfers is the way.


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## nicrbocr (May 14, 2006)

I am sorry, I wasn't very clear. I have a screen printing machine (one color) and I wanted to screen print a photo I have taken using only one color. The picture obviously has more than one color, but I was hoping to take the picture, somehow put it into Illustrator and then print it onto film to put on the screen. I am not worried about the colors, since I would only use one color (using the photo more like a drawing), but I really want to know how to put the picture into illustrator in the first place without having Photoshop software. Is that possible?? Thanks again!


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## Ross B (Apr 28, 2006)

nicrbocr

I am not an experienced Illustrator user, but I think you need to use Live Trace to convert the pic to vector. 

Initially, open up Illustrator, then a new page, then Place your pic, then apply Live Trace. You will need to experiment with the different Live Trace options until you get a result you like. 

I have found Live Trace to be an exceptionally powerful and accurate vector conversion function. I have seen some folk claiming it is not accurate enough etc, but I have nothing but good things to say about it going by my experiences so far, which have all been converting photos to vector. Maybe it's not so good for very detailed and complex drawings, but for what you're seeking to do, I think you'll find it very suitable.


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## solomonshop (Dec 9, 2006)

Another option that I like is to use the picture as a template and create a new layer where I can re-create the picture.


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

You can convert it to halftones. Did you see my reply on your other thread? The tutorial I linked to is for both PS and Illustrator.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/graphics-design-help/t9661.html#post64068


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## sinisterguido (Jul 20, 2006)

Illustrator CS 2 has a tracing option built-in that can turn your raster graphic to vector. Although, you could probably open or paste your image into Illustrator, convert it to grayscale and print out your black channel.


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