Tennyson Graphics International's forte is textile color separations, whether it be simple single repeat films to be step-and-repeated, or complex panel bedding designs up to 2800 x 3000mm - we can do it all!

Customers can supply us the design in may ways: often it is a fabric cutting or paint up; more often customers are designing using a computer and they will supply us with that file; and sometimes we are given a sketch,  photograph or design brief to create the design from scratch. Whatever is supplied, there are several matters that must be carefully considered.

• Printability - can the design be successfully translated into print on fabric? We need to look at the type of fabric it is being printed on and the printing method to be used, to see whether any line work or textures are too fine to be printed, and what sort of allowances for ink spread are necessary.
• Repeat Size - is the repeat size going to fit the required rotary roller or flatbed screen size? In conjunction with the printer this can be determined. If necessary we may have to adjust the size by scaling or if a significant amount, we can rework the design elements into a different repeat size that will fit. Often the designs we receive are not in repeat at all and the designers and printers leave that to us.
• Colors - the number of colors must be defined, and checked that the printer can print that many. The color of the base fabric should also be indicated, as this may affect the colors of the other colors you select. There are simple ways to reduce the number of colors in a design using halftones and over printing certain colors - a great way to save some money of screen costs. Another consideration is the use of certain colors adjacent to each other (e.g. pinks and greens) may need to be reworked to avoid resulting "dirty" colors on the print.

Tennyson Graphics International will advise you on these matters once we receive a design, and will provide a digital proof for approval prior to producing any films. It is important to remember that this proof is often not how the design will look on the final print - factors such as ink spread, color mixing and the actual colors used in printing must be taken into account.

We employ a combination of techniques to color separate a design, from utilizing sophisticated scanning options that can color separate whilst scanning, to redrawing by hand. Armed with the latest software packages and powerful PCs, we can quickly manipulate and build up designs and ensure the registration is micro-millimetre perfect.