Day 20 of 21
Craft of Cloth · Print authenticity · Spotting which is which
Hand, Screen, Digital — Train Your Eye
Day 20 of 21. Three ways a pattern gets onto cloth — each leaves its own giveaway. Once you've seen them, you can't unsee them.
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Today's Lesson Begins
Three printing methods, three clear giveaways
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THREE METHODS, THREE TELLS
Day 20 · Week 3 · Colour
Hand vs Screen vs Digital
Drift, crisp repeat, or photo gradient — then flip it.
The Idea
Three ways a pattern gets onto cloth — and each leaves a giveaway. Hand block is stamped by hand: slight drift, tiny overlaps, and colour that sinks into the cloth. Screen print pushes ink through a stencil: crisp, exact, the same motif spacing every time, sitting just on top. Digital print is printed like a photo by machine: smooth gradients and shading no block can make — but the colour stays on the surface, so the back is usually pale. The quickest check of all: flip the cloth over.
Honest test — the flip: hand block and proper dyeing push colour through so the back shows the pattern too. Digital and most screen prints sit on the surface, so the back looks faded or plain white. Turn the cloth over before you decide.
The giveaways
What each method leaves behind
Look for drift, repeat, gradient, and what the back of the cloth shows.
The tell, method by method
Tiny gaps, colour into cloth
Most hand-work
Exact repeat, sits on top
Machine-even
Photo-like shading, pale back
No block can do this
Pattern through = hand/dye; pale = surface
Settles it
Drift, repeat, gradient — then flip the cloth and read the back
Side by side
The three methods (and the test)
What gives each one away — and the one check that works on anything.
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Hand
Method
Block by hand
Slight drift, colour sinks in
Drift
🖼️
Screen
Method
Stencil ink
Crisp, exact repeat
Repeat
🖨️
Digital
Method
Printed like a photo
Gradients, pale back
Gradient
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Flip it
Test
Read the back
Through = hand; pale = surface
Settles it
In a customer DM
How to answer honestly
When she asks “is this hand-printed?”
Answer truthfully using the tells. If the listing doesn't say hand-printed, don't claim it — you can still explain what it is.
“Let me show you, ma'am. See the slight unevenness here, and how the colour has gone right through to the back? That's a hand block print. If it were digital, the front would look like a photo and the back would be pale. I only call something hand-printed when it truly is — and this one is. Either way, I'll always tell you exactly what you're buying.”
Today's anchor: Hand block drifts slightly and sinks into the cloth. Screen is a crisp, exact repeat on the surface. Digital shows photo-like gradients with a pale back. The fastest test: flip the cloth — colour through to the back means hand or dye; a pale back means surface print.
Day 20 Quiz · 3 Questions
Answer to mark your attendance
Train your eye. Get all three right to stay in the running for the top-3 craft gift. Answer before 9 PM tonight to stay near the top.
Question 1
What gives a digital print away?
A
Photo-like gradients and shading, with a pale or white back
B
Gold thread woven in
C
A strong flower smell
D
It is always handmade
Question 2
What is the giveaway of a hand block print?
A
A perfectly seamless machine repeat
B
Slight registration drift and tiny overlaps, with colour sunk into the cloth
C
No pattern at all
D
It only comes in blue
Question 3
What is the quickest test to separate a digital print from hand-printing or dyeing?
A
Flip the cloth — colour coming through to the back means hand/dye; a pale back means a surface (digital) print
B
Smell it
C
Weigh it
D
Check the price tag
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