Frequently Asked Questions

Popular Help Topics:

Placing an Order

Setting up a design takes a lot of work. For this reason, we set minimums for each decoration method we provide.

  • Screen Printing: 24 minimum
  • Embroidery: 12 minimum
  • Direct to Film: 10 minimum
  • Promotional Products: Varies per product, typically 100 minimum

Can’t hit the minimums, give us a call and we’ll check the available options.

Yes, you can order a sample(s). Sample orders vary by decoration method. Please contact us for available options. 

As long as orders meet our decoration minimum, you can mix-and-match sizes from youth small though adult 5XL.

Keep in mind that the design must be the same on all the shirts.

Yes. As long as the design doesn’t change.

Keep in mind, mixing shirt colors my cause your design to look different. 

All of our garments are ordered and produced on demand. Turnaround times can vary depending on the season. 

  • Screen printing: 7-10 business days
  • Embroidery: 7-10 business day
  • Direct to Film: 5-7 business days.

Rush orders are available on a limited basis. 

We prefer vector format, but feel free to send us what you have. We’ll work with you to get the best quality print.

Preferred Vector File Types:

PDF (Adobe Acrobat)

  • Embed the fonts used or export as generic .eps

AI or EPS (Adobe Illustrator)

  • Convert text to outlines, embed any linked images

CDR (Corel Draw)

  • Convert text to curves
Other Accepted File Types:

DOC, PPT or PUB (Microsoft Office Files)

  • Embed or include fonts

BITMAPS (.jpg, .tif, .pcx, .gif, .png, .bmp)

Our current turnaround time is 7-10 business days once payment is made and artwork have been approved. Your sales rep will let you know exact turnaround times.

Use our request a quote page for the quickest response.

We create a screen for every color in your design and then we have to set that screen up. Printing colorful designs takes some extra work, time and screens and we’ve got to pass that cost along. 

Yes. For sales related information we welcome any of our clients to meet with us in person at our Walnut, California location. We are open Monday thru Friday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Our showroom has our top-selling garments as well as various samples of past work.

Yes. 

Customer pickup hours are from Monday thru Friday, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Please call or text in advance so we can have your order ready. (626) 461-5010. 

 

Yes, all orders receive a digital mockup/proof prior to printing. New orders go through a multi-step approval process to ensure you receive what you approve. 

Payment and Pricing

Cash, credit card (preferred), check, ACH bank transfer, Venmo, Zelle are accepted.

Purchase orders can be arranged, however, we do not begin production of your order until all paperwork is submitted and approved.

Yes, we require 100% payment prior to processing orders.

Quotes, or estimates, are good for 30 days unless stated otherwise. This term is subject to seeing the final artwork to confirm any quotes. Final invoices will reflect the quantity shipped, not the quantity quoted.

Return, Refunds, & Reprints

Due to the nature of custom decorated and or created items and apparel, we do not accept returns or exchanges of any items unless the merchandise is grossly misprinted, materially flawed, or defective. In addition, please note that sizing can vary between manufacturers and styles. If you have any questions about how a garment may fit, or to purchase a sample product, please contact us at (626) 461-5010. 

For all samples and/or one -of-a-kind custom samples, we offer no refunds regardless. Even if the sample or prototype does not meet your satisfaction, we do not offer refunds on samples.

For any returns or refunds, you must pay initial shipping and return shipping of the item, any refund provided by us will only include the cost of the item. We do not reimburse shipping charges.

You must contact us prior to returning your item at (626) 461-5010 or send an email to info@bluecactusprinting.com. Please be sure to let us know in your email the date of your purchase, what you would like to return and why you want to return it. 

What can’t be returned:

  • We are not responsible for the purchase of incorrect sizes and will not be able to accept returns for this reason once the garments are custom printed. 
  • We are not responsible for slight variation in color of garment or print color.
  • Custom manufactured products.

If your items are misprinted, materially flawed, or defective in any way, please contact us within 14 days from receipt of merchandise and we will be happy to arrange for a return, reprint, or credit. Please provide your order number with all correspondence. 

To return your items, send the package to:

Blue Cactus Printing

354 S Lemon Ave

Walnut, CA 91789

If your items are misprinted, materially flawed, or defective in any way, please contact us within 14 days from receipt of merchandise and we will be happy to arrange for a return, reprint, or credit. Please provide your order number with all correspondence. 

If an item does need to be replaced, it is at the discretion of Blue Cactus Printing as to how the reprinting will be redone. 

Typically as follows:

One piece items that were originally screen printed in bulk, will be reprinted with Direct to Film technology. 

Items that were originally embroidered or done with heat transfer, will be reprinted in the same way.

Shipping, Pickup, and Local Delivery

All orders are shipped within 48 hours Monday – Friday. Bulk orders can ship via UPS, Fedex, or USPS.

  • Orders under $199.99 typically ship via USPS
  • Orders over $200.00 ship for free (customer supplied garments do not apply)

The shipping provider information and tracking number is provided by the shipping carrier and will be provided when the product has been shipped. The rate charged for shipping is based on the weight of the product and your location. 

Signatures are required on orders exceeding $10,000. If you have any questions about your shipment, please contact us with your inquiries at the information listed on our website.

Customer pickup hours are from 9 am – 4:30 pm. Monday – Friday. 

Please call or text in advance so we can have your order ready. (626) 461-5010

Local deliveries are made Tuesday & Friday only, between 10am-2pm.

We have a 10 mile radius from our headquarters.

Screen Printing

We use plastisol screen printing inks. 

Yes, we can PMS match any color in the Pantone Solid Coated book. A fee of $25.00 is applied for custom mixed inks. 

We currently do not print over seams.

We currently do not print over zippers or pockets.

It depends. Send us your artwork prior to printing and we’ll be able to better suggest printing options.

Yes, we do! We offer one color foil printing, gold or silver metallic inks, and glow-in-the-dark inks.

Yes, but each item must use the same design, print size, and ink colors to qualify for a bulk discount. For example, a design in white ink on black t-shirts and navy long sleeve t-shirts can be combined for one bulk order to help lower your cost. 

Hooded Sweatshirts and Raglan t-shirts are always considered unique orders and can not be combined with other product styles due to the smaller print sizes needed for those garments. An example would be 36 short sleeve t-shirts and 36 hoodies would be priced out as 2 different orders of 24 items each.

All shirt sizes in an order will be printed with the same image size unless otherwise requested. Different image sizes being printed on different shirt sizes will be treated as a new order and priced as such. An image size printed within 1 inch of any seam is subject to distortion, print imperfections, and/or other small inconsistencies. These are all considered acceptable goods. We will not assume responsibility for print imperfections due to printing too closely to seams.

In order to ensure image longevity and vibrancy, we recommend machine wash cold, tumble dry low for all screen printed designs. Foil prints should be washed inside out and line dried. All goods should be washed before wearing.

We will do everything we can to ensure images are printed in a consistent location on all garments within a run. However, small variations should be expected.

For example, if a request is made for an image to be printed 2″ below the bottom of a collar, a 1/2″ standard deviation in either direction will be considered acceptable.

If a request is made for images to be printed near the tag area on the back of the shirt and directly over the tag, it could have small ink coverage inconsistencies and will be considered acceptable.

Due to the nature of our inks, we cannot guarantee requested Pantone colors. Our standard ink color list has approximate Pantone values listed with most colors. This value may or may not be used in the mockup provided. We cannot guarantee ink colors based on visual mockups alone. We recommend checking the colors given against a Pantone book. Monitors can vary significantly from one computer to the next. Please check a Pantone book for color accuracy. Pantone books can be purchased from Amazon.com.

Our press is capable of printing a maximum of 6 colors.  Most designs we print use 3-4 colors. 

Artwork

Simple custom artwork is free to our clients as long as you are placing an order with us. However, detailed artwork does incur an additional charge.

Contact us and we can discuss your needs.

You can browse free design ideas here.

Preferred file types: .AI, .EPS, .SVG, .PSD

Accepted file types: .PDF, .PNG, .TIF, .JPG, .GIF

Yes, all orders receive a digital mockup/proof prior to printing. New orders go through a multi-step approval process to ensure you receive what you approve. 

All artwork created by Blue Cactus Printing is the sole property of Blue Cactus Printing. If you hire us to create artwork for you, you are strictly paying for the labor and thought process to produce the artwork. You are not paying for the ownership and rights of the artwork. Rights to the artwork can be purchased in addition to the creation fees.

Any artwork you submit to us for printing that is not being created by Blue Cactus Printing is owned by you or its rightful owner, not Blue Cactus Printing. We will not reproduce your artwork, trademarked or not, without you or the rightful owner’s consent.

Art not supplied in print ready format, as specified in our File Prep section, is subject to be billed at our current rate. We will always give you an estimate before doing this work. Any art preparation done is the property of Blue Cactus Printing. For example, if you supply artwork for your order which incurs a $150 charge for separations on your 5-color simulated process print, you do not own the separated art file. That separated file is the property of Blue Cactus Printing, although the artwork itself is still your property.

All artwork must be approved online. Upon receiving your initial mockup, you will be allowed one additional set of revisions free of charge. Any additional revisions past that point will incur an additional Art Preparation fee to be billed at our current rate. Changes to the artwork after approving the mockup could push back your ship date. We will not be responsible for errors, misspellings, or otherwise in approved digital mockups and artwork.

Apparel

We generally do not accept customer-supplied garments. The screen printing and embroidery processes are not 100% mistake free. We would hate to misprint your highend garment.

Plus, we have a huge catalog of products at discounted rates, so you’re getting a great deal by letting us handle the whole order. 

If your shirts come with tear-away tags, we will tear those out free of charge. Please be aware that tear-away tags may leave small pieces of the tag in the shirt seam. Unless you have paid for tag removal service, we are not responsible for removing all pieces of the tag, should some remain in the seam. If you want them unsewn for removal, thus eliminating the chance of the tear-away remnants, standard manufacturer tag removal fees and turnaround time will apply.

If you choose to order “Blank Apparel” before placing your full production run, you will be limited to 5 garment pieces at full retail costs.

We enjoy showing off your product and our craft to the world. It’s a great way to showcase our skills and send some of our followers and fans your way as well. We do this by taking photos and posting them online via social platforms, such as, but not limited to, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

Please be sure to notify your Sales Rep when placing your order if you are not comfortable with us photographing and sharing your shirt socially. If you do not notify us, we will assume that we have your full permission to post photos of your shirt(s) online.

Quotes, or estimates, are good for 30 days unless stated otherwise. This term is subject to seeing the final artwork to confirm any quotes. Final invoices will reflect the quantity shipped, not the quantity quoted (see Invoiced Quantity).

Digital photos acting as proofs of the shirt being printed are available for $50 per location. A two-hour window will be given by Blue Cactus Printing for an approximate digital proof time. Once the proof is sent to the client from Blue Cactus Printing, the client will have 15 minutes to approve. If we don’t hear from you within 15 minutes, the order will be taken off press and subject to a re­-setup fee of $50/color/location. If additional time is needed over and above the first 15 minutes to approve of the digital photo proof, you will be billed in 15-minute increments at $100 per increment.

We fully stand behind our work. If for any reason we make a mistake printing your order and it is not what was agreed upon and falls outside of these Print Policies & Guidelines, we will gladly reprint your order within 10 business days. We do not offer refunds.

If credit terms are desired, please contact us for a credit application. Your application will be reviewed and you will be notified within 7 business days.

Any orders that are late on payment by 10 days or more will incur interest of 1.5% per month dating back to the invoice date. A $50 late fee will also be added to the invoice.

Orders that are cancelled prior to printing will be subject to a Cancellation Fee based on the total order value. Cancellations will not be accepted once shirts have been printed. Cancellation fees are as follows:

  • Within 4 days of placing your order: 15% Cancellation Fee
  • After 4 days but at least 5 days before the est. ship date: 75% Cancellation Fee
  • Within 5 days of the est. ship date: 100% Cancellation Fee

There is a $30 charge for returned checks. The subsequent payment must be made with cash or a cashiers check.

 

Print Policies & Guidelines may also be referred to as Terms & Conditions and vice-versa. Blue Cactus Printing reserves the right to change its Terms & Conditions at any time without notice.

Blue Cactus Printing will observe the following holidays for the year 2023. These days will not count as production days towards turnaround times.

  • January 1, 2023: New Year’s Day
  • May 31, 2023: Memorial Day
  • July 4, 2023: Independence Day
  • September 6, 2023: Labor Day
  • November 25, 2023: Thanksgiving Day
  • December 24, 2023: Christmas Eve
  • December 25, 2023: Christmas Day
  • December 26, 2023-January 2, 2024: End of year break

Yes, for sales related information we welcome any of our clients to meet with us in person at our Arcadia, California location. We are open Monday thru Friday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Our showroom has our top selling garments as well as various samples of past work. 

If you have any questions regarding our Print Policies & Guidelines, please call or contact us before placing your order. Our goal is to set clear expectations to ensure our working relationship is pleasurable for all parties involved. Thanks again for working with us, let’s have some fun!

We create a screen for every color in your design and then we have to set that screen up. We love printing crazy colorful stuff but it takes some extra work, time and screens and we’ve got to pass that cost along. Everybody does it – we promise.

Nope. Our pricing is transparent up front. We don’t charge screen fees for standard printing and in the off chance we have to charge for artwork or something, you’ll know as soon as we do.

That depends. We’ll need to know how many garments you want, what garments you want, the number of colors in your design, and how many prints you want per garment. Use our Get A Quote form for a speedy custom response for your project or give us a call if you’d rather talk through it with someone. We’ll get you an estimate right away.

Blue Cactus Printing will not be responsible for items that are out of stock. All purchasing of products is done on an order-by-­order basis. Very few goods are stocked at our facilities. We do our best to provide you with an accurate inventory prior to your order being placed, but we cannot “hold” goods from the time you receive a quote to the time you actually place the order. Should items become out of stock, we will do our best to find a replacement and get it approved by you prior to using it for your order.

Blue Cactus Printing is not responsible for manufacturer defects such as garment color inconsistencies, mislabeled sizes, loose stitching, label inconsistencies, or other garment defects. We do our best to inspect the garments as they are printed, but we cannot guarantee each garment. We highly recommend ordering 5% extra of each size to avoid the possibility of the aforementioned issues.

Blue Cactus Printing will not be responsible for you not liking the garment printed on or the printed artwork. We do our very best to make sure you have selected a garment that you will expect and matches your needs, but we also expect you to do some research on your own. We do our best to provide garment size specs for each product listed on our website. If size specs are not listed on our site, we recommend you confirm and verify them on the manufacturers’ site to ensure the garment is going to fit as you intend. If there’s any doubt about whether you’ll like the selected garment, we recommend ordering a blank sample first. Please keep in mind that ordering blank samples will push back the turnaround time. Blank samples are available for purchase but are not refundable or transferable towards a full production run.

General

At Blue Cactus Printing, we take your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to provide the products and services you have requested from us. We will not sell your data or use it for any other purposes than this.

From time to time we would like to contact you with details of other services, content, and resources we provide. By providing us with your email address, you are opting into our terms and services agreement, and providing consent for us to contact you in regard to these items. If at any time you no longer wish to receive email communication from us, please let us know immediately by replying to the email you were sent or by clicking the unsubscribe button on any of our emails.

We do use outside third-party GDPR compliant partners like LiveChat, Drip, and Google Analytics. For a list of all the marketing companies we work with, please email info@bluecactusprinting.com.

No. We do not charge a setup fee for screen printing the minimum order size. 

There is a 24-piece minimum per design per order. However, we understand that not all orders will meet the minimum order size. If the minimum order size is not met, we do charge a setup fee of $35.00 per screen color.

Custom printing is an art form. We do our very best to deliver, at minimum, the ordered quantity for each and every size on your order. However, printing mistakes happen, screens break on press, shirts arrive with holes or stains from the manufacturer. For that reason, we have an under/over run allowance. This is simply an acceptable margin of error.

All orders within the Under/Over Run Allowance of the ordered quantity will be considered acceptable for delivery. For this reason, we highly recommend you order extra garments for each size. Blue Cactus Printing will not be responsible for profit loss on under runs. If requested, in the event of an under run greater than our Under/Over Run Allowance, we will reprint the remaining quantity.

  • Standard Under/Over Allowance: 5%

Under/Over Run Allowance on Contract Orders is calculated by number of impressions on the order, not the number of pieces.

IMPORTANT: Your final invoice will reflect the total quantity shipped. This total quantity will be within the Under/Over Run Allowance for your order. This means that if you order 100 oversize prints, your order will show 100 pieces, but your final Invoice after production could show an invoiced quantity between 95 and 105 pieces. This is the Under/Over Run Allowance for that order (5%). The price per piece will not change from the Order to the Invoice.

Orders that require an in-hands date sooner than our standard turnaround time (per the order specs and services) are subject to rush fees. Below is the rush fee percentage schedule which indicates the percentage amount to be added to the order total, based on how many days are being cut out of our specified turnaround time. Rush orders still incur the same limitations as outlined in the turnaround time above. So, if a rush order needs an in-hands date 3 days earlier than our standard turnaround time for your order, 30% of the total order will be added as a rush fee.

  • 1 Day: 10%
  • 2 Days: 20%
  • 3 Days: 30%
  • 4 Days: 40%
  • 5 Days: 50%
  • 6 Days: 60%
  • 7 Days: 70%
  • 8 Days: 80%
  • 9 Days: 90%
  • 10 Days: 100%

Rush Orders are subject to the same Under/Over Run Allowance as standard orders. Rush time frames are based on our current production schedule and do not include shipping time. Blue Cactus Printing will not be held responsible for shipping issues once your order has left our facility.

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