What is Puff Printing ?

Have you ever seen graphic t-shirts in which the design seemed to pop right off the fabric creating a striking impression? If so, you may have encountered a Puff print, sometimes called a 3D screen printing.

To achieve this look screen printing companies use a specialty ink additive to give standard plastisol ink a third dimension. This additive expands when heat is applied to the ink, giving it that distinctive appearance.

This style of screen-printed apparel decoration has been gaining in popularity over the past couple of years, particularly in streetwear. Picking up momentum again in 2022 more brands are adding puff t-shirt prints? into their portfolio, and it's no wonder why.

Puff screen printing?can transform your simple flat screen print design into a raised textural work of art. This raised print calls attention to itself and adds textural and visual appeal.

In this post, we will look at the history behind puff screen printing. We will look into how artists now incorporate puff printing into their designs, pushing the boundaries of creativity and redefining the visual language of fashion.

How to Design for Puff Printing

When you are designing for puff screen prints, it is important to look at what does and does not work well with puff. Learning about the correlation between print surface area, and apparent puffiness of the print will help in getting the puff effect you are looking for.

In puff screen printing the general rule is that the bolder the surface area, the higher the puff effect will appear. Thicker, bold prints will puff up more prominently, and thinner lines and print areas conversely will show less height after puffing up due to the ink not being able to warp the shirt as much to get the raised effect. So it is important to consider the balance between your desired puff height and the thickness of the lines in your design/print. Getting a good balance between the two helps the puff stand out more.

Though the thicker the line the higher the puff will appear, it’s important to note that if a print has too much surface area that is puffed, the effect will appear less dramatic. Striking a balance between puff, non-puff, and surface print area is also important in getting the desired results.

Now that you have a general idea of the correlation between print area and puff effect, let’s talk about some of the popular design choices currently going on in the puff trend. One of the more popular puff trends is bold words using a tone-on-tone look, where the color of the ink used in the print is close to the same color of the garment the print is going on. This design choice is great for creating a subtle yet eye-catching design. One downside is, that if printing on multiple different garment colors, you will need an ink color change for each garment.

Another popular option is using the puff to emphasize certain words or elements of a print. The contrast between the flat and puffed ink adds more depth to the design and makes the effect stand out even more than normal, especially if the two ink styles are touching one another. Using this technique can be used to add more value to an otherwise already great design.

In summary, when designing for puff screen prints you must keep several elements in mind. Looking at the line thickness, total surface area, and contrasting ink types will help you create an outstanding design for your brand. Remember to experiment with a single-element puff, tone-on-tone printing, or even using puff ink to add texture to a print as talked about earlier in the article. It can also be good to combine puff with other special effect print styles.