Counted, not quoted
How many colors does each print on demand blank come in?
These numbers are counted from the actual photographs in this catalogue, not copied from a supplier page. Nobody publishes them because nobody has had a reason to count, and the gap between the widest blank and the narrowest is much larger than most sellers expect.
The counts
Colorways per blank
A colorway is a shade the garment is made in. A file is one mockup: the same shade photographed in a different style counts twice.
| Blank | Colorways | Styles | Mockups per design | Photographed as |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comfort Colors 1717 | 75 | 7 | 428 | Flat Lay with Props, Flat Lay on White, Flat Lay on Cream, Flat Lay, 12 Scenes, Folded with Props, Folded, 12 Scenes, Worn by a Model |
| Bella+Canvas 3001 | 169 | 2 | 210 | Flat Lay, Folded on Rattan |
| Gildan 64000 | 50 | 1 | 50 | Flat Lay |
| Gildan 18000 | 31 | 1 | 31 | Folded with Props |
| Total | 325 | 11 | 719 |
What these numbers are not:a manufacturer’s full range, or a promise about what your print provider stocks. A mill may list shades no provider carries, and providers differ from each other on the same blank. Check what is actually enabled in Printify for the provider you picked.
The spread
Why the range differs this much
Bella+Canvas 3001
The widest range here. Most of what puts it ahead is heathers, marbles and triblend shades, which are mixes rather than dyes and so are not limited the way a garment-dyed range is.
Gildan 18000
The narrowest. Fewer colors is not automatically worse: a smaller range on a heavier garment is easier to photograph, easier to stock and easier for a buyer to choose from.
One design, everywhere
Mockups for a single design across every blank and every style here. Per design. That multiplication is the entire job, and it is the reason the counts above are worth knowing before you enable anything.
What to do with it
Decide the range before you design
Every color you enable is a color a buyer expects to see. So the count above is not trivia, it is a commitment: pick the blank with sixty-odd shades and you have taken on sixty-odd photographs for every design you ever list on it.
That is fine if the photographs are free. It is a slow disaster if each one is a manual export, which is the position most sellers are in when they first look at this table.
FAQ
Color range questions
- How many colors does Comfort Colors 1717 come in?
- 75 colorways are photographed in this catalogue. Garment dyeing limits the range compared with a standard retail tee, which is the trade for the faded look buyers search it out for.
- Which print on demand blank has the most colors?
- Bella+Canvas 3001, at 169 colorways here — roughly 5 times the range of Gildan 18000. Most of the difference is heathers, marbles and triblend shades that garment dyeing cannot produce.
- Are these all the colors the manufacturer makes?
- No, and the distinction matters. These are the colorways photographed in this catalogue. A mill may list shades that no print provider stocks, and a print provider may stock shades your particular one does not. Always check what is actually enabled in Printify for the provider you chose.
- How many mockups does one design need?
- One per color you enable, per style you want to show. Across every style here that is 719 files for a single design on all four blanks, which is why doing it by hand stops being possible somewhere around the second design.
- Should I enable every color a blank comes in?
- Only if you will photograph them. A color a buyer can select but cannot see is a color most of them will not choose, so enabling forty and showing six quietly turns thirty four of them into dead weight in a dropdown.