T shirts/merchandise of pop culture characters with incorrect color palettes

[mysterionz]

See picture below. I don’t know what it is with improper or wrong color palettes of pop culture characters on clothing like t shirts. Also just felt like taking a pic to show you folk here.

 

[tree]

@mysterionz

What is incorrect with the color palettes of these items?

 

[mysterionz]

@mysterionz

What is incorrect with the color palettes of these items?

Idk what happened, but the gloves on the character on the bottom right in the purple superhero suit are more of a greyish yellow than it should be. I’ve had others like color sheing too light

 

[Judge]

Idk what happened, but the gloves on the character on the bottom right in the purple superhero suit are more of a greyish yellow than it should be. I’ve had others like color sheing too light

Are you referring to clothing you simply purchased online, or are you printing the images to fabric yourself?

Sounds like someone printed a source with one color mode (like RGB) when they should have used CYMK.

RGB color usually looks great on a computer monitor, but not when printed to paper or fabric. Where the colors can shift and not look right. Took me a long time to figure it out when printing color images on paper. Even while I used a specific color profile (Adobe RGB 1998) between my OS and Photoshop. Saving the source file in CYMK finally allowed me to produce accurate color prints.

There are also other concerns not relative to color modes, but rather to the type of print process to fabric itself. Such as sublimation printing can look washed out if the fabric has insufficient polyester. In essence it all can be complicated, and it's easy for someone to make a mistake that results in partially incorrect colors.

So "buyer beware".

 

[mysterionz]

Are you referring to clothing you simply purchased online, or are you printing the images to fabric yourself?

Clothing I’ve purchased online. I had another one job fail where the hair color of a character got changed to orange when his hair is strawberry blonde.

 

[Judge]

Clothing I’ve purchased online.

Yeah. Lots to go wrong depending on the equipment and technical expertise that may or may not exist with such products. No telling whether they are made in a factory or in someone's garage.

I used to agonize over trying to print out teal to aqua shades because I was using the wrong color mode (RGB) when I should have saved a graphics file using CYMK. Until I figured this out, teal came out more like royal blue!

Some entrepreneurs may think with a fancy printer it's easy when it's not:

https://graphicdesign.stackexchange...-scheme-to-use-for-a-shirt-design-cmyk-or-rgb

 

[mysterionz]

Yeah. Lots to go wrong depending on the equipment and technical expertise that may or may not exist with such products. No telling whether they are made in a factory or in someone's garage.

I used to agonize over trying to print out teal to aqua shades because I was using the wrong color mode (RGB) when I should have saved a graphics file using CYMK.

Some entrepreneurs may think with a fancy printer it's easy when it's not:

https://graphicdesign.stackexchange...-scheme-to-use-for-a-shirt-design-cmyk-or-rgb

I order my t shirts off of Amazon for context

 

[Judge]

I order my t shirts off of Amazon for context

But who is the actual manufacturer and where are they actually made?

Plus there are all kinds of things that can go wrong depending on the printing technique used for fabrics. I know with sublimation if the polyester content isn't high enough you can end up with washed out colors.

But it's still possible that even with an industrial manufacturer that someone can screw up. Just comes down to quality control and whether or not they have it, and can catch- or if they even care about such errors.

 

[mysterionz]

But who is the actual manufacturer and where are they actually made?

Amazon merch on demand. They’re made at an Amazon factory.

Amazon Merch on Demand offers graphic tees, hoodies, clothing and accessories from a vast selection of popular brands and independent content creators. Each design is printed when you place your order. Our products have reviews averaging 4 stars and include free Prime delivery and returns.

 

[Judge]

Amazon merch on demand. They’re made at an Amazon factory.

Amazon Merch on Demand offers graphic tees, hoodies, clothing and accessories from a vast selection of popular brands and independent content creators. Each design is printed when you place your order. Our products have reviews averaging 4 stars and include free Prime delivery and returns.

First off, are you uploading them a graphics file to be printed on fabric, or are you simply ordering a specific t-shirt? If not, are the graphics on the t-shirt done by a third party? And if so, do they send a graphics file to Amazon for the final product?

When there is a question of color accuracy, the first thing I'd examine is what color profile is embedded into the actual graphics files used to print to fabric. Using the wrong profile can leave specific colors being somewhat off. Of course it it's done by a third party, you the customer would never likely know.

Yet if you are handling those graphics yourself, then we have to examine how you process embedded color profiles.

 

[mysterionz]

First off, are you uploading them a graphics file to be printed on fabric, or are you simply ordering a specific t-shirt?

I ordered a specific t shirt. Hope that helps.

 

[Rodafina]

Idk what happened, but the gloves on the character on the bottom right in the purple superhero suit are more of a greyish yellow than it should be. I’ve had others like color sheing too light

You have a good eye for detail. And also, I like your pics.

 

[Judge]

I ordered a specific t shirt. Hope that helps.

So they process the appropriate graphics to the appropriate fabric. Well, I'd wager someone dropped the ball whether over a proper color profile used for the source graphics, and/or considerations relative to the fabric itself. In as much as such items can be mass produced, there's still a lot of things that can go wrong with them, and whether or not they are caught before shipping them to a customer.

I'm just wondering to whomever they actually subcontract out for those products as to whether or not they even care about such concerns. Kind of like movie producers who scoff and say, "They'll never know the difference". But you do. So do I.

I can explain the possible technical problems involved, but whether or not the printer is willing to rectify them is anyone's guess. I'd guess that more likely Amazon would just cheerfully refund your money than seriously address this sort of problem with the actual seller. Especially if the seller is overseas.

Though the link I provided gives you a bit of insight into many considerations of printing color to fabric.

https://graphicdesign.stackexchange...-scheme-to-use-for-a-shirt-design-cmyk-or-rgb