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All website content, including but not limited to, designs on t-shirts, stickers, and postcards, and other images and essays are copyright or trademark protected.
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CUSTOM T-SHIRT PRINTING POLICIES & FAQS
Covers t-shirts and other clothing printed with your own design

Orders
To place a custom t-shirt order or other custom screen printing order, send an email including all the relevant details to CUSTOM@CONTEMPL8.NET. You may also place your order by calling 1-877-847-4478. Please note that your order is not considered placed (and it will not begin) until payment for your order is received.

Why is water-based ink more eco-friendly than other ink?
Let's start with why the ink used at most t-shirt print shops is toxic. Most screen printers (over 99%) use what is called plastisol ink, which is PVC based. That ink made out of PVC (poly vinyl choride) also has pthalates and other toxic ingredients in it. PVC is made from petro chemicals (that's oil derived chemicals) and chlorine among other things. PVC manufacturing produces dioxin (a persistent organic pollutant and known mutagen and carcinogen). Major pollution results from the manufacturing. This leads to enivonmental degradation and cancer in people and animals. The pthalates in PVC-based ink continue to leach out of the ink after it is printed on clothing. Pthalates are also carcinogenic and hormone disruptors. Do you want that next to your skin? or your child's skin? PVC-based clothing inks are banned in Europe.

At CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS we use only water-based ink. It does not have pthalates or the other harsh ingredients that are found in PVC-based inks. So, it is much better for you and the environment! Water-based ink is also a lot more difficult to print since it can dry in the screen easier than the PVC junk that would stay wet forever if it were not heat cured. But, we do all that extra work happily since we know we're not going to get cancer working with it. We work harder than the other guys for your benefit and our own. But, we do not charge you more even though we do more work. Water-based ink printing also uses tons less electricity because it does not require high temperature heat curing. So, CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS has a very small carbon foot print compared to 99% of other printers.

Does water-based ink wash out in the washing machine?
No it does not. Water-based ink is just as durable and indelible as the PVC ink used by most printers. In fact, water-based ink may last longer on your shirt. This is because PVC ink needs to be cured at very specific temperatures for specific lengths of time. Many times print shops that use PVC ink simply don't fully understand this, or they don't take care to ensure a proper cure. You don't have to worry about that with water-based ink printed by CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS. All t-shirt printing fades over time, but shirts printed with our water-based ink will last as long or longer than shirts printed by the other guys with PVC-based ink.

Do we only print political t-shirts?
No. Absolutely not. CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS will print whatever you want on t-shirts. We print band shirts, school fundraiser shirts, shirts for sports teams, student group shirts, club shirts, political shirts, non-political shirts, humor shirts, or any kind of shirts.

Payment
All custom screen printing orders are pre-paid. Your order will not begin until payment is received and deposited. Payment for custom screen printing orders can be made via credit card, check, money order, or cash (in person only, do not mail cash). Please specify how you would like to pay when you place your order via email or telephone.

Credit Card orders are processed using the safe and secure services of PayPal, the most trusted and widely used online payment processor (used by over 100 million people worldwide). Credit card orders offer the quickest way to get your order started and delivered to you when shipping the order is required. A small credit card processing fee will be added to your bill to cover the credit card processing fees charged to us by PayPal.

When paying by credit card, you will receive an email invoice with a secure payment link. When you click the link, you will be taken to PayPal's secure payment server where you can safely make your payment.

Check / Money Order payments can be paid in person, or be mailed to the mailing address for CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS. Please do not mail payment until your order has been received and confirmed by us via email or telephone. Contact us via email or telephone to arrange to make a check or money order payment in person.

Cash may be paid in person for those living in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area. Contact us via email or telephone to arrange to make a cash payment in person.

Can I Pay in Person? Yes. Please contact us via email or telephone to arrange to make a check, money order, or cash payment in person.

C.O.D. orders are not accepted. All orders must be pre-paid.

Turn Around Time
Your order begins once your pre-payment is received. Following payment, the blank t-shirts or other clothing items will be purchased by CONTEMPL8 T-SHIRTS. Then when the blanks are received, they will be printed. Printing can usually be completed within a week to ten days from the time your order was paid for in most cases. You will be contacted when your order is completed. If you live in the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area of Minnesota, then your custom order will be ready for pick up or delivery the same day they are done being printed. If you do not live in the metro area then add time for shipping.

Rush Orders
If you need your order quicker than the standard turn around time then you may be able to have your order rushed. The charge for rushing orders is $25 flat and up, depending on the size of the order. Inquire about rush options when you request a quote.

Shipping Time
If you do not live in the metro area, or if you do but you prefer that your order be shipped, then your order will be shipped upon completion. Shipping will be via FedEx Ground or UPS Ground unless you request otherwise. You will receive a tracking number once your order has shipped.

Shipping Costs
FedEx Ground and UPS Ground are the most economical shipping options. You can choose a faster shipping option if you desire. Please make any special shipping requests at the time you place your order. Shipping costs will be added to your order total.

Artwork
Please submit your artwork via email to CUSTOM@CONTEMPL8.NET. Please have your artwork in CMYK format, not RGB. Adobe Illustrator files are preferred. Adobe Photoshop or PDF files that are 300 dpi or higher resolution are also acceptable. GIF's, TIF's or JPEG's at 300 dpi or higher are the last resort but acceptable if necessary.

If you want a specific font used please tell me the name of the font and take the following steps as appropriate. If you are sending an Illustrator file, please send me a version of the design with "outlines" created. Do that by selecting all type/fonts in your design and then click on the "type" menu and then click "create outlines", then save your document. If you are sending a Photoshop or PDF file, then please send me the font in a separate attachment (it is best to compress the font in a winzip file). Fonts reside in the "fonts" folder on the C drive in the Windows/WINNT/WinXP/etc. directory on PC's running Windows operating systems.

Please print out your artwork onto paper from a computer printer before you submit it. Make sure it is the exact size you want it to be and that it doesn't look fuzzy. Corrections may be possible. The first half hour of corrections work is free, but corrections that require more time will be billed at $25 per hour. Low resolution photographs from the internet or elsewhere cannot be corrected in most cases.

Please send multi color designs (two color and higher) in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop with each color on a separate layer that is labeled with the color's name. Also, for multi color designs please make all the colors in the design 100% black. Don't worry, the t-shirts will be printed with the proper color ink, but for screen making purposes it is necessary that all parts of the design be 100% black.

Below is an example of a two color job that was printed in red and white ink on black t-shirts for Arise! Bookstore, a collectively run radical bookstore in Minneapolis. The three screen shots below demonstrate what is meant (above) by having each color on a separate layer. The first shot shows when all of the layers are turned on (visible).

The second shows when the white layer has been turned off, and only the red layer is visible. Again, it is necessary that what will be printed in red ink on the shirts is actually 100% black in the artwork that is used to create the screen. This would be printed onto a transparency and used as film for creating the the red screen.

The third screen shot is the opposite. The white layer (which is 100% black) is visible, but the red layer is turned off. This would be printed onto a transparency and used as film for creating the the white screen. Notice that the registration targets remain visible when printing out both the red and the white screens. These target marks are used to align the two screens precisely on the printing press, so that the red and the white will print in exactly the right area on the t-shirts.
 

Hours of Operation
By and large we are a Monday through Friday operation. We work our butts off all week and some times on the weekends too to make sure your orders get done well and on time everytime. But, we do not answer phones or email on week ends. Hours during the week are roughly 8am to 5pm Central Standard Time. You can always email whenever, but outside of these hours we are unlikely to answer your email until the hours begin again.

 

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