DEDSHIRTs are made with an ancient fine art printing technique called relief printing, a technique already in use back in 1400.
Matrix creation
The illustration is transferred to the matrix, specularly to the original one, and is eventually engraved: engraved parts are called the whites, areas in relief are obviously the blacks of the image.
Matrix inking
Inking is made with a rubber roller loaded with a homogeneous ink layer, eventually slid on the matrix surface.
Printing
The etching press, an ancient machine made with a movable table compressed between two heavy metal cylinders, is used for printing. The t-shirt is placed on the table and then the matrix is brought into contact with the t-shirt, the inked side being placed downwards. By means of a handle or star the lower cylinder is rotated and, by friction, it propagates the movement to the whole system, enabling the table to slide between the two rolls and to press together both the t-shirt and the matrix.