VG FAQ's
Ordering & Pricing
What's your turnaround time?
For new orders, expect 10-14 calendar days, plus transit time. Reorders of art on file can usually be procesed in 4 days plus transit time. Turnaround for record jackets, CD cases, and buttons is 2-3 weeks. These turnaround times are a guideline, not a guarantee.
Rush orders are typically possible, please call 800.528.6343 for pricing and availability.
Can I pick my order up?
Yes. We will call you as soon as your order is ready to be picked up, and you get to see our awesome shop in person.
Is there a discount if I order shirts and stickers together?
Occasionally we offer packages, we will announce any specials on our home page as they come along. Other than that though, no dice.
Is there a discount if I order the same design again later?
Nope. Since we don't charge a screen fee or keep screens on file there's no discount on reorders. That being said, we do store digital copies of all orders, so ordering more later is a snap.
How do I make a payment?
If you need to make a manual payment for any reason, you can use the payment page.
PLEASE NOTE: We require a 50% deposit up front on all jobs, and the remaining balance will automatically be charged when your order is shipped/picked up.
I'm with a non-profit, can I get a discount?
We're down for making things better. Drop our logo in your artwork, and we'll give you a 2% discounts.
Ink/Color
What ink colors do you offer?
We offer about 25 different Standard Colors-- the list is slightly different for shirts than it is for stickers. We're happy to mix custom inks for $15 each, and prefer the Pantone Matching System (solid coated), just like the rest of North America. Products that are full color (like buttons) don't have any color restrictions, but PMS matches aren't available on these products.
Do you have metallic inks available?
We have metallic silver and gold for shirts, stickers, cd cases, record jackets, posters and business cards. It's not ultra-reflective in nature, but definitely metallic. You might also be interested in gold or silver foiling. If you'd like to see a sample, get in touch.
Shirt Specifics
Is it more to print on dark shirts?
No, the majority of the work we do is on black or dark tees. As is the standard, we print our whites twice to make them opaque and bright. If you want a distressed or weathered look though, let us know; we're happy to oblige and may have some suggestions to help achieve your look.
What is an underbase and how do I know if I need one?
An underbase is a printing technique that allows us to print bright colors on dark garments. A layer of White ink is printed, then any colors that are getting underbased are printed on top of it. As a result the colored ink doesn't darken up from the color of the shirt like it would if an underbase weren't used. If white isn't a color in the design initially, we have to add an additional color-- which increases the price.
There is a trade off for doing this, though. Since a layer of White ink is beneath any underbased colors, the ink is twice as thick in those areas. For smaller designs that don't cover a large surface on the garment, this isn't really a big deal. If underbased colors cover a large portion of the surface of the shirt an underbase could make the print feel heavy and less wearable. So when considering an underbase you should think about how you'd like the ink to feel on the shirt as well as how you'd like the colors to look. People who want a more wearable print or don't want to pay for an additional color generally prefer skipping an underbase and letting the inks darken up a bit instead.
What's the largest I can make my image for a shirt?
Our maximum size for an adult shirt is 14.5" x 16.5". That's 14.5" wide, 16.5" down.
We can also print at 14.5" x 20" for an extra screen fee of $15 per screen/color, with a maximum of 2 colors to be printed.
What's the normal size for a design to go all the way across the chest of a shirt?
We recommend 11" as 'full width' for a unisex tee. Wider images begin to wrap around under the arms on smaller size tees. If you're only doing size Small and larger, 12" is usually fine. For a women's tee, 9" usually does the trick.
Can I break my order into different colors and sizes of shirt?
Yes, but we ask that you keep the number of different items within a job within reason. A good rule of thumb is that you should have at least 3 items of any size/color combination. Keep in mind that if the difference in sizes in your order require us to rescale the size of your art, those items will be considered a different design and billed accordingly.
Can I have part of my order printed in one color, and the rest in a different color?
Within reason. We ask that you have an average of 20 pieces per color variation, and we charge $15 per color change.
How should I break the sizes down for my shirts?
A typical order should look like a bell curve-- that is, light on the smallest and largest sizes and heavier on in the middle. Say you were getting 50 plain t-shirts-- start with 10 Smalls, 15 Medium, 15 Larges, 8 XL, and 2 XXL. Adjust accordingly based on your audience, but some form of the bell curve usually holds out.
What kind of ink do you use?
By default we use Plastisol, but we use Waterbased, Discharge, and Pigemented Discharge inks on a regular basis with great results. These inks add $.25 per color, per print. Thus, Waterbased ink on the front and back of 20 shirts would add $10 to your order. We use the same standard colors as plastisol, but they are not exact matches.
Can you print my logo on the inside of the shirt, where the tag is?
Definitely. We even have shirts with tear-away tags (Tultex brand, for example), so you can easily remove the manufacturer's tag. If you want the garment size printed with your art, there's a minimum of 20 pieces per size. Make sure to include all of the sizes in your art, and we'll print only the relevant size on each garment.
Can you print on shirts that I provide?
We can- there's a special category on the shirt pricing page so you can quote it out. Keep in mind that while we are quite good at what we do and it shouldn't be an issue, VGKids is not liable for damage or loss to customer supplied stock-- up to 3% loss should be expected, and is considered normal.
Artwork
What kind of artwork do you recommend?
We recommend working at 600 dpi or vector for the highest quality finished print. This is most important for stickers and paper products, but wouldn't hurt for t-shirt art as well.
Do you have templates to use to design my project?
We certainly do, you can download Illustrator or Photoshop templates for most all of our products.
There is a $5 charge for submitting sticker artwork NOT in one of our templates.
Other Services
Will you burn some screens for me?
We're considering bringing this service back. If you're interested get in touch with us.