Screen Printing at Home

I like to screen print on various articles of "blank" clothing to make them interesting and unique, something to fit my style.

You can buy a Screen Print kit from Michael's craft store (and use the 40% off coupon in the paper ad) or..

I do my own and it's relatively cheap.

**Read through my directions all the way before you begin, make sure you understand. I can get confusing at times.

What you'll need:

• Article of clothing to print on
• Speedball (brand that I use, it works the best) screen printing FABRIC ink (it's about $8 a jar, but it lasts a long time.) (Also, make sure you get the jars that say FABRIC or else it might not set forever)
• A medium sized paint brush and various sized smaller brushes
• Mod Podge glue
• Embroidery hoop
• Panty hose
• Newspaper/wax paper/ cardboard (something to put in between the sides of the fabric so it won't bleed through in reverse)
• A printed, monochromatic design.
• Sharpie pen
• Old fabric. (to test your screen on)
• Iron

Directions:

1. Take the panty hose and affix it to the embroidery hoop. Be sure to stretch it tight, otherwise it could ruin your design when you apply the paint. (Like you would if you were doing embroidery, but you'll have excess hose.) Trim the excess off so it won't get in your way. You'll now have the beginning of your screen.
2. Lay your printed design flat on a table and then lay the "screen" down (fabric side down) on top of the design. Make sure everything you want fits inside of the hoop. Good. Now with a sharpie trace every part of your design, fill it in if you want, especially if it's an intricate design - this will help you later. After you finish tracing you're ready for the next step.
3. This step requires patience and a bit of a steady hand. Don't be scared, this step takes a bit of time and is the most difficult. I should state that if you have a complicated and/or intricate design it probably won't come out exact. I found this out my first time, but you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU FLIP THE SCREEN OVER TO THE REVERSE SIDE SO YOU DON'T GLUE IT DOWN TO THE NEWSPAPER. Panty hose side up.(or whatever you're using for a drop sheet) Again, lesson I learned the hard way.
4. After that longwinded speech, here's what you do: Using the Mod Podge and smaller paint brushes, you want to paint AROUND the OUTSIDE of your design. You are blocking out everything you don't want paint to touch. The negative space. Take your time and make sure to cover the negative space well.
5. After you finish with the mod podge let it dry. Or if you're impatient like me you can use a hair dryer, low power so you don't stretch the panty hose...
6. After it's dry you're ready to screen print. But first, you really should test out the screen on a piece of scrap fabric just to make sure it's what you want and that their isn't any negative space that happens to be uncovered.

To print on fabric with your new screen:

1. Take your shirt (most likely) and put a piece of cardboard in between the sides. Smooth out the fabric, but don't stretch it . Lay the screen on the fabric, panty hose side DOWN. Panty hose should be in direct contact with fabric. Take your medium sized brush and the speedball fabric paint and slab it across the screen. Don't be afraid to put enough on, but don't use too much either. After it looks like you've covered your design, dip the tip of the brush in the paint and stab the design. This will ensure that you get through the screen and cover your design. After you feel comfortable that you've covered it well, carefully peel up the screen off of the fabric. The end result should be your design on your shirt or wherever you've decided to put it. Remember to test it first so that you get it to where you want it.
2. While the ink dries you can wash out the screen so you can reuse it. They are surprisingly durable. I've got one that I've used over twenty times for various items and it still works like the first time.
3. Let the ink dry and after it has dried well, iron over it for about five minutes to set the ink. These instructions come on the jar of Speedball screen printing fabric paint. After that the design should be permanent. (Unless you bleach it and then who knows?)
4. After you gain more and more experience and get a feel for it, you can try to do designs with multiple colors, layering, et cetera. http://www.speedballart.com is a great resource for tips, actual kits, inks, et cetera.

Avoid screen printing mistakes

By James Ortolani

Many years ago, one of my industry mentors told me that screen printing was an easy business to get into, but then I’d spend the next 15 years trying to figure out how to do it better. At the time I thought he was exaggerating, but more than 20 years later, I am still learning new tricks to the trade. Below is a list of a dozen problem areas you might have in your shop along with some solutions to these daily dilemmas.

1. KNOW YOUR WHITE INKS
Most ink companies offer a standard, multipurpose white plastisol that can be used as a mixing white (to lighten other colors) and to print as a standard white with decent opacity on dark shirts. In fact, many designs even call for white ink on white T-shirts as a spot color or as a highlight to the design. The reason for printing white ink on white garments becomes apparent after the garment is washed several times and begins to lose its bright, white look. The shirt will fade in brightness, but the white ink in the design will remain crisp and bright.

Athletic white is a high-gloss white ink with good elasticity and opacity, designed for printing on athletic wear and team jerseys. Some printers use athletic white as their primary white to print on everything, but there are drawbacks to this practice. For instance, athletic inks are thicker and more difficult to print through finer mesh, and the ink has a gloss finish that is not suitable for some designs.

It’s also not ideal when you want the whitest white print on dark garments. For this, use a fast-flashing white ink to print an underbase, then flash and overprint more white ink. These fast-flashing whites use a resin that gels at a lower temperature than conventional plastisol, cutting flash times by half.

Another specialty ink — low-bleed (LB) white — is ideal for bright, white prints on fabrics prone to bleeding — a problem referred to as dye migration. LB inks contain dye blockers that attack dyes from the garment as they bleed through the white ink deposit. Dye blockers are usually in the peroxide family, so use caution when stacking garments after they exit the dryer. Dye blockers work by bleaching the dyes in the garment and this bleaching action continues for a short time after the garment exits the dryer.

Thus, if you stack hot LB prints right out of the dryer, you will get “ghosting” on the backs of the garments as they stack up. Avoid this by allowing the T-shirts to cool completely before stacking.

2. FLASH CURE PROBLEMS
Occasionally a printer will call me explaining that he has a washout problem with screen printed designs on dark garments. In some cases, the underbase color doesn’t wash out, but the colors printed on top of the underbase do. Here’s why: The key to successful flashing is to simply gel the fast-flashing underbase ink at 190°F for three to six seconds. After other colors are printed on top, the finished print should reach 320°F in the dryer, at which point all the inks, including the gelled underbase, melt and bond together and to the garment.

The delamination problem starts when the underbase is flashed at too high a temperature. If you exceed 190°F and get to the 320°F range, you risk totally curing the underbase. When that happens, it becomes a solid sheet of vinyl (or plastic), and plastisol ink will not stick to vinyl. That’s why, after a few washes, the top printed colors will delaminate from the underbase and wash off.

Another solution to speed up flash times is to cover the shirt boards on your press with a thin sheet of 70-durometer, heat-resistant neoprene. The neoprene cover insulates the shirt board, directing infrared (IR) energy into the ink film instead of absorbing into the mass of the shirt board. Aluminum shirt boards are the worst for absorbing IR energy and slowing down flash times, so covering aluminum shirt boards with neoprene can cut flash times in half.

Over flashing also can cause the dye migration and bleeding problems mentioned above. Dye migration is a hot topic in most shops today because plastisol inks can appear to give good opacity as the printed garment exits the dryer, but hours (or even days) later the dye from the garment can bleed through the cured ink film. Dyes in the garment will bleed through the ink for several reasons — excessive flash temperatures, excessive dryer temperature or improper garment storage. Garment dyes heated up in the dryer will begin a “gassing” process that penetrates the ink film, tinting the ink to the color of the garment. Garments kept in hot, humid storage also can fall subject to dye migration.

You can fight dye migration by using an ink system that is opaque and contains dye blockers. Also, print 100% cotton T-shirts when you can. Natural fiber is more absorbent than blends and less likely to release dyes that bleed through plastisol.

3. SCREEN PREPARATION
New screen printers commonly ask about screen tension (measured in Newtons/centimeter). The key here is to be consistent. Whatever tension level you get your screens up to, it is important that all screens on press for a job are stretched as closely as possible to the same N/cm reading. If tension readings vary, screens will shift or slip differently under the pressure of the squeegee, causing registration problems. Most experts in our industry agree that 25 to 30 N/cm is a good place to be with your screen tension for standard, everyday printing.

The benefits of printing with high-tension screens are well-documented, so investing in retensionable aluminum frames should be high on the list of improvements needed in most shops. High-tensioned screens provide better opacity, lower ink consumption and lay down a thinner ink deposit that is easier to cure and produces a print with a softer, more desirable hand.

4. CHECKING THE CURE
The best way to check for a full cure on your prints is to conduct random wash tests in a standard washing machine. But in a high-paced production setting, you cannot wash every garment, nor would you want to. Instead, closely monitor all the variables that may affect ink curing.

Some companies use temperature strips to check the accuracy of their dryer temperature. I prefer using the pistol-type surface thermometer, or ray gun. Simply point the temperature gun at a plastisol print as soon as the garment begins to exit the oven. The digital readout should show at least 320°F to ensure a full cure. If the reading is less than 320°F, make the necessary adjustments to the dryer. Either slow down the dryer’s belt or turn up the temperature.

5. COLOR MATCHING
Printing for today’s corporate customers often involves matching plastisol colors with Pantone PMS colors. You will not match those colors by mixing standard, off-the-shelf plastisols, so purchase a PMS color matching system.

Also buy a digital scale and a “recipe” book showing all PMS color formulations. Since plastisol inks have a matte finish (low gloss), compare the plastisol color with both the Pantone “U” (uncoated) and “C” (coated) color chips to see which best matches the color your customer desires. Usually, you will find plastisol more closely matches the U color chip. By the way, always do color matching in natural light; artificial lighting reduces the brightness of a color.

6. PRINT COLOR ORDER
The common rule of thumb in setting up the screen/color order for printing on white T-shirts is to print light to dark — yellow, orange, red, blue, green and then black, for example, would be typical. However, use the exact opposite color order when printing on dark garments to reduce the amount of ink pickup on the backs of screens. This technique makes the last colors printed appear brighter and more opaque.

The exception to this rule is if you are printing a large block area of color. In this instance, move this screen to the end of the color order to avoid ink pickup on the backs of other screens. Conversely, a screen with a small design element should be moved to the front of the order.

Finally, make sure your color separations (artwork) are butt to butt (a.k.a., butt registration). This allows you to print colors in any order since the inks don’t overlap, though it’s still a good idea to follow the general rules above.

7. USING DIRECT EMULSION
There are many techniques for coating screens with direct emulsion — some screen printers prefer a one-on-one coating technique (one coat on each side), and some prefer two coats on each side. I find that the more passes I make with the scoop coater, the more emulsion I end up scraping off from prior coats. A good technique is to start by coating the contact side of the screen with one coat, flip the screen over, and coat one time on the squeegee side of the screen.

Be sure to use the correct emulsion for the mesh count you are coating. There are some direct emulsions that work on a wide range of screen meshes, but it is important to read the technical data sheet for recommendations. Screen emulsions are manufactured with different solids contents to allow for better “bridging” (coverage) on various mesh counts. For example, you will need an emulsion with a higher solids content to fill the holes in coarser meshes such as 60 and 86. Fewer solids are necessary in emulsions designed to coat 230 and 305 mesh.

Learn to properly expose screens by determining optimum exposure time for your shop’s conditions. Your combination of exposure unit, emulsion, mesh selection and screen coating techniques are unique. An exposure calculator can help you determine the ideal exposure time for the emulsion and screen mesh you use for each job.

8. SQUEEGEE SELECTION
The standard squeegee used by many manual textile printers is a straight edge, 70-durometer model. I prefer to print with a dual- or triple-durometer squeegee. A multi-durometer squeegee gives you the advantage of a soft edge blade combined with the support of a more rigid inner core or backing.

A simple rule to remember is that if you want to print a surface deposit of ink without driving the ink into the garment, choose a soft squeegee in the 55- to 60-durometer range.

Whatever squeegee hardness you choose, be sure the edge of the squeegee blade is sharp. And have your squeegees sharpened on a regular basis. A dull edge squeegee does not shear ink through a stencil properly.

9. MESH SELECTION
Approximately 40 mesh counts are commercially available to screen printers, yet most shops stock just three or four mesh counts. To be at the top of your game, have eight to 10 mesh counts on hand at all times.

“Mesh count” refers to how many threads per inch are woven in the screen fabric. A lower mesh count allows more open area in the mesh so more ink can flow through these openings. A higher mesh count has less open area and reduces the flow of ink onto the substrate.

The diameter of the individual strands of thread also affects the open area of the screen. A finer thread allows more open area than a thicker thread. Ask your mesh supplier for a mesh chart showing all the available meshes and thread diameters in microns.

Here’s a breakdown of common mesh counts used in a typical garment screen print shop:

• 30 to 40 mesh is used for printing glitter inks
• 60 to 86 mesh is common for printing flock transfers, metallic and puff inks
• 110 to 156 mesh is an all-purpose mesh for printing basic spot color jobs
• 195 to 230 mesh is used for jacket printing and fine detail work
• 255 to 305 is great for four-color process and simulated process printing

10. PRINTING TRANSFERS
Transfers are a great inventory control option, especially when you don’t know if a particular design will be a good seller. Why direct screen print hundreds of garments in advance and hope they will sell? Plus, you never know what sizes and garment styles will be popular for a given design. Transfers can take the guess work out of the equation.

All textile screen printers already have 90% of the equipment needed to print plastisol transfers — a one-color one-station press, vacuum platen, conveyor dryer and a heat press. Now you just have to decide which type of plastisol transfer you want to produce — hot split or cold peel. To make a cold-peel plastisol transfer, you can use the same plastisol that you currently use to direct print T-shirts, 110 to 156 mesh and a coated transfer paper stock.

To produce hot-split transfers, purchase hot-split ink, uncoated transfer paper and 156 to 195 mesh. Be sure to reverse the image when you make your screens, set the dryer at 190ºF, and set the dryer belt speed to retain the transfer in the oven for 30 to 45 seconds.

11. YOUTH-SIZED GARMENTS
When printing a job that calls for both adult and youth sizes, you must create a separate set of smaller positives to print the art on the youth-sized garments. Adult-sized artwork looks out of proportion on children’s apparel. You also will need to purchase a set of youth-sized shirt boards — 8″ x 10″ or 10″ x 10″ boards are ideal. If you contract print childrenswear and youth garments for large department stores or a major brand, the buyer may request flame-retardant inks.

12. FIGHTING FIBRILLATION
Fibrillation is a technical term used to describe the little hairs (or fibers) in the makeup of garment yarn. These fiber tips can protrude through plastisol, making a print appear washed out. Thicker plastisols are tacky and will stick to the back of the next screen that it comes in contact with. The result is an audible snap when the screen is lifted from the ink deposit. This is the sound of the ink ripping away from the screen and at the same time pulling the micro yarn fibers up through the wet ink deposit.

Plastisol that is thick and tacky will have a high sheer quality that greatly contributes to fibrillation problems. Plastisol manufacturers have perfected ink systems with very good mat down qualities that fight fibrillation. These inks possess a low shear quality and are very easy to print with.

Control these screen printing variables and you will be in better control of your shop’s destiny. It is impossible to make all of these changes overnight, but it is possible to gradually integrate these and other ideas into your daily production until you have a smooth running production operation.

Optilux™ Reflective Ink

Optilux™ 505, the most powerful and brightest reflective ink system on the market. Optilux™ 505 can be printed through fine meshes so printers realize substantially improved yields, fine detail and definition. Optilux™ can be printed on its own (brightest reflection), mixed with other plastisol inks such as a silver shimmer, or printed over another color.

Get some and experiment with this versatile ink today!

GEN IV PVC-Free, Phthalate-Free Inks

Introducing the GEN IV Series of eco-friendly inks: Extremely opaque, creamy, PVC-free and Phthalate-free inks that do not readily dry out on the screen. Clean up is simply with water. Good for you and good for the environment.

GEN IV comes in a variety of colors as well as a Glitter Base, Foil Adhesive and Puff.

Screen Print Products

Apparel Deco.com is dedicated to providing quality screen printing inks, eco-friendly inks, and specialty inks for your special products. We offer competitive prices, superior quality products and outstanding customer service.

Our product technicians and seasoned printers will be able to help you with your projects. Our company has been in the textile printing business for over 50 years! Shop our site with confidence. Feel free to browse our online catalog and check out our how-to section and printing tips.

Check our site often to see new product offerings and the latest tips and techniques.

Here are the current items featured:

Screen Printing with Speedball

Screen printing is the traditional method of printing images onto fabric and paper. It is possible to duplicate an image many times using a simple stencil placed on the silk screen. An ink colour is poured onto the screen to one side of the stencil and then dragged across the stencil using a squeegee. The ink is pushed through the fine mesh of the screen and transferred to the fabric or paper. The areas of fabric or paper masked by the stencil remain untouched.

The printing process can be repeated along a length of fabric making it possible to create unique printed fabric for curtains, bed linen, clothing and more. Alternatively, the screen can be used to print items such as T-shirts, posters, cards, scarves and ties.

To make screen prints with more than one colour a new stencil is used obscuring or revealing areas of the previously printed material.

Fibrecrafts offer Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Inks for use on paper and board and Speedball Fabric Screen Printing Inks for cotton, polyester and other synthetic fabrics. The colours are intermixable and have good washfastness.

There are also two excellent value screen printing kits which give the beginner the inks and equipment to experience the craft for the first time.

Creating the Printing Mask

There are several ways to create a screen which holds the printing mask. At the simplest the screen merely supports a mask which is dropped into place. The mask can also be created by painting a filler on to the screen, which is then cured to an effective block. Each of the methods are described below:

Paper Stencil

This is the fastest, simplest and least expensive way to prepare a screen for screen printing. First cut out your design from a strong paper or acetate sheet. Position the paper or fabric to be printed under the frame, put the cut-outs in place and lower the screen.

Press down on the screen frame to ensure complete contact with the cut-out. The first drag of the paint loaded squeegee will stick the stencil to the screen mesh creating a stencil that can reproduced up to 15 prints.

Screen Filler (Negative)

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Speedball have developed a simple system for screen printing onto fabrics and paper which does away with the traditional cut-out stencils.

Preparing the screen using Drawing Fluid or Screen Filler is simple as you can easily follow a design set beneath the screen.

Screen filler blocks out areas of the screen to stop the ink from penetrating. Place the screen over your design and trace it directly onto the screen with a soft lead pencil. Paint the areas of the screen that you do not want to print with the screen filler, ensuring that the screen is slightly raised above any surfaces. When all required areas are blocked, turn over the screen and clean up the edges of the design.

Allow to dry overnight before printing.

Drawing Fluid with Screen Filler (Positive)

With this method, the areas of the design to be printed are first blocked out with the drawing fluid.

Trace a design onto the screen and paint over the areas to be painted. Allow to dry before applying a coat of Screen Filler to the whole of the screen with a squeegee.

When dry, spray cold water onto both sides of the screen, concentrating on the area covered by the drawing fluid. The drawing fluid will dissolve leaving an area through which the inks can pass.

Allow the screen to dry thoroughly before printing.

After printing is completed the screen should be washed immediately and lightly scrubbed using hot water and a strong cleaner such as 'Cif' cream or household bleach. It is then ready for reuse.

Speedball Diazo System

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The Speedball Diazo System is an exciting method of screen printing, for fine line drawings and photographic half tone prints, giving over 300 prints on polyester or synthetic screen materials. Full instructions are available with the products.

Prepare the resist by mixing the photo emulsion and sensitizer; the sensitised liquid can be kept for 2 months at room temperature and up to 10 months in a refrigerator.

Spread a thin, even coat of the mixed liquids on both sides of the screen. Allow the screen to dry thoroughly away from light and heat. The prepared screen will keep for up to 2 weeks, away from light, until it is ready to be used.

A black, high contrast image on an acetate sheet is the ideal master. The resist needs to be exposed to a light source (150W clear incandescent bulb or photoflood) held 30cm above the screen. Exposure times range from 10-90 mins, depending on the screen size and light source. After exposure the unwanted emulsion is removed from the screen with Photo Emulsion Remover and the screen can be reused by scrubbing with household detergent, applied within a few days of the original screen preparation.

Screen Printing Tips

• Use fabrics free of sizing. Many have a coating, which sits on the fibre and prevents the screen printing inks from bonding with the fabric. It’s always worth testing the fabric first.
• Pre-wet the screen with a damp cloth before inking. This will prevent ink thickening. The ink can be thinned with up to 5% water.
• Stir the screen printing inks well before using. Print with a loose 'flood stroke'. Avoid thick or multiple coats which can affect wash fastness.
• Mix the ink with Speedball Transparent Base for transparency, economy, and a softer hand. Mix with up to 10 percent Speedball Retarder Base during periods of low relative humidity, high temperature, or slow printing.
• During breaks of ten to fifteen minutes, mist the ink in the screen with water using a spray bottle. For longer breaks, wash the screen thoroughly with water. Always keep the lid tightly sealed to prevent skin forming on the surface of the ink in the container.
• Wash the screen with water immediately after use. After the ink is thoroughly cleaned out, use normal stencil reclaiming.
• Protect the inks from freezing and do not store above 35°C for extended periods. At 20°C, inks have a shelf life of two years from manufacture.
• Buy a book or use the internet to pick up information and tips. Other techniques can be explored with screen printing. Discharge paste can be used to discharge colour from acid dyed fabrics and devore paste can be used to remove the pile from velvet. Browse the Book Shop for Screen printing books.

To find out more about these quality products, please visit the Speedball web site

Industry Links

Visit the links to our partners for more information about screen printing plastisol ink and One Stroke Inks. links

Tips & Tricks

Screen printing polyester ink on uniforms does not have to be a horrible process. One Stroke Inks has compiled a few tips and tricks to help streamline this process and introduce athletic printers to new products. These products include pallet tape, water based adhesives, and Saatichem Fixer 9. Click the following link to read some polyester ink printing tips. learn more

Color Selection

Sports Series polyester ink is available in an unbelievable selection of colors. One Stroke Inks does not want you to be limited in color selection due to the mass amounts of different trim colors available in the polyester uniform market. Custom color matching and Pantone colors are available in the Sports Series. learn more

Sports Series

Sports Series polyester ink is the best in the industry. This ink has excellent bleed resistance, adheres and stretches well, and is available in a huge selection of colors (see below). Without the Sports Series, screen printing on most 100% polyester uniforms, jackets, and bags would be impossible. That is unless you plan on screen printing black ink on every polyester garment that is brought to you. Sports White will stay just that...bright white on top of red, black, or any bleeding color that you have to print. Polyester ink colors such as gold, orange, scarlet, and many more will also remain the original printed color when you are printing with Sports Series, the best polyester ink on the market. learn more

About Polyester Ink

Screen printing polyester has become one of the most difficult tasks in today's garment decoration industry. One Stroke Inks now manufactures numerous polyester ink series formulated to prevent dye migration or "bleeding". 100% polyester will have dye migration problems if the proper steps are not taken to prevent these problems. The most important step is purchasing a polyester ink capable of screen printing on the most difficult polyester fabrics. The new Sports Series will do just that.

Using Photoshop to create color separations for use in screen printing?

How do I create a custom halftone separation for use in silk screen printing?

I am trying to create a custom halftone separation for use in screen printing. What I have done is use the Photoshop color halftone filter. I can then output each of the CMYK plates onto transparencies as halftone screens.

However, when using the color halftone feature, how can I use this to simulate an output screen? The color halftone dialog box only mentions Max Radius in pixels. But how would I use this to calculate, for example, a 45lpi line screen? Or am I going about this in completely the wrong way?

There are numerous approaches for producing color separations for screen printing. Especially as there are also a number of different applications of the process. Some implementations of screen printing are for one-off art projects, whilst others might `be for commercial T-Shirt printing for example. For commercial projects it is always advisable to check with the printer first as to their preferred method. Or even better, get them to do the prepress to match their systems, as this probably varies a lot depending on the equipment that they use and the substrate being printed on.

The techniques used in the above question might work, as it kind of simulates the CMYK separation process. But the color halftone filter is not really the correct way to create a halftone screen for screen printing. It is predominantly a Photoshop special effects filter rather than a prepress tool. For example, you can't really be precise about the resolution of the line screen. It also doesn't take account of screen angles and the color halftone filter will not produce different angles for each separated screen color.

The following is just one home brewed method and concentrates on achieving an adequate result by controlling the production of the halftone dots themselves. It is always worth experimenting with your own particular setup before commencing with an important screen printing project.

1. First we create our CMYK (or duotone for that matter) image at a normal print quality resolution. Let's assume 300dpi in this case.
2. We then copy each color layer (channel) into a grayscale Photoshop document and then convert that document to a bitmap single channel file (we usually choose 1200dpi at this stage, but your mileage may vary). When you get the Option window choose Method -> Halftone Screen.
   
   You then get to choose your halftone screen frequency, which may be around 65lpi for for commercial printing, or probably less for an art project. Once again, it is always best to check with the printer as to what is best.
3. To reduce the likelihood of a moire pattern, it is best to specify different screen angles for each color, which may be different for screen printing than it is for offset-litho printing (have we mentioned checking with the printer?). The following are two possible variations.
   • Yellow at 7.5%, Cyan at 22.5%, Magenta at 82.5% and Black at 52.5% or Yellow at 5% Cyan at 55% Magenta at 22% and Black at 80%.
4. For dot shape, the ellipse halftone dot is often recommended for screen printing.
5. Once you have converted each plate to Photoshop's bitmap format, you can save them as tiff files, import the file into a page layout program and then print each color plate onto your acetate or film.

A completely different approach would be to print separations directly from QuarkXpress, InDesign or a PDF file and specify the type of dots, line screen and screen angles that you wanted to use. This might save a certain amount of times, although arguable gives you less visual control.

SMR Premium Vellum Tips & Tricks

Many printers wonder: "Could I really use vellum and cut my photographic costs?" Most printers who don't believe they can use vellum have tried, and failed only because nobody had shown them how to properly use vellum. It is true that not every screen printing job can successfully use vellum to replace film positives. Extremely fine alignment jobs, such as 4-color process, and very large sized jobs with tight alignment needs often disqualify themselves as candidates for using vellum. However, for most screen printing jobs in the textile and small signage fields, vellum is usually a better answer than film positives.

Most reasons why printers believe they cannot use vellum fall into two categories. Either they think that they cannot get a dense (black) enough image from their computer printer, or they contend that due to shrinkage under the heat of a laser printer's fuser, the vellum shrinks and an adequate alignment becomes impossible. Both of these objections are easily overcome through the use of proper techniques.

Inadequate Density - Laser Printer: Many laser printers do not produce a dense enough image on any carrier to expose a screen properly. There are a number of ways to get a better image without getting a new laser printer:

• Keep your laser printer in top shape. If possible, do not use refurbished toner cartridges, as they do not provide as dense an image as is provided by a factory - fresh cartridge.
• Experiment with your printer to find the darkest toner setting you can get without toning. Toning is the word used to describe the gray shading in blank areas when too much ink or toner is used by a printing device.
• Even a weak printed image on vellum can be improved dramatically. After printing on vellum, lightly spray Krylon tm Artist's Matte finish spray #1311 on the image side of the paper. This spray is usually available at most hardware stores, and at almost any art store. A light spray of this substance can make a relatively transparent image appear dense and black. (You really have to try this to believe it! It works great!)

Inadequate Density - Ink-Jet Printer: Most ink-jet printers can produce a vellum image dark enough to burn a screen, but few printers know how to adjust the printer setup dialog to attain an adequate amount of ink laydown.

• In the printer setup dialog, most ink-jet printers ask you to select a type of paper that is being used. Set the paper type to a very absorbent paper, such as plain paper or card stock. If your printer has a vellum setting, this is probably not a good choice for your purposes! Even though vellum is not very absorbent due to it's extreme density, you will want to select the most absorbent paper type possible where the ink will not run from the sheet.
• Use regular ink! Many printers have purchased specialty ink-jet inks for use on film or other substrates. While these inks work great for their intended purpose, they usually cause problems printing on vellum. Regular ink-jet ink that you buy off the shelf for your printer usually works best.
• Use your multi-color ink cartridge if possible - or when needed. Some (but not many) ink-jet printers have a dialog in the printer setup that allows you to select to use all four colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) when printing black items on the page. This gives you nearly 4 times the density of ink if you need it. Most cheaper ink-jet printers come with just a multi-color cartridge, and you have to purchase a black cartridge separately as an option. If you don't insert the black cartridge on these models, the printer will create all black areas by applying all 3 colors, again dramatically increasing the density of your print.
• Allow adequate time to dry. Vellum is less absorbent than regular paper, and it takes longer to dry - roughly one minute per sheet to be "dry to the touch." Make sure that vellum positives are allowed to dry in a horizontal position (laying down) and that subsequent sheets emerging from the printer are not allowed to land on top of previously printed sheets.

Tip: Most modern screen printing emulsions do not require nearly as dark of an image as many printers believe they need. Please make certain you know how to determine a correct exposure before determining whether an image is dense enough. Click Here.

Laser Toner Flakes Off: While vellum is translucent and might seem to be "Lightweight," vellum is actually one of the most dense substrates you can run through your printer. Toner flaking - which might be observed as dark powder rubbing off from separations, chips in the image, or toner sticking to areas of screens after exposure - is a result of inadequate fusing. Modern laser printers have driver software designed to apply the minimum amount of heat required to prints you make, in an effort to extend the longevity of the heater (fuser) unit, and safeguard delicate papers. The biggest mistake most printers make is in failing to select the paper type when printing vellum, or - worse yet - setting the paper type to a substrate that cannot accept much heat, such as "Transparency." (The "transparency" setting is one of the lowest heat settings on your printer)

When printing on SMR Premium vellum you are printing to a substrate that has as much heat-absorption capability and heat-requirement needs as heavy, coated cardstock. You would have a very hard time scorching SMR Premium vellum in your laser printer. For most jobs - and especially when using large sizes of vellum stock - you will want to choose the hottest setting your laser printer can deliver. Heat settings are determined when you set-up your printer by choosing paper types. Look for the thickest, most heat-requiring paper in your printer's setup dialog. Look for choices such as "Thick," "Cardstock," or "Rough."

Some older printers do not have paper-type selections. These printers usually run the fuser (heater) at it's highest setting at all times, and usually do a great job on Vellum. However, as printers age, the fuser unit becomes weak, eventually failing. At some point, the fuser becomes too old and weak to properly fuse the toner on vellum.

Poor Alignment - Laser Printers: Laser printers use heat to fuse toner powder to the paper carrier. Alignment problems with vellum are caused by paper shrinkage when the laser printer's fuser heats the paper, and humidity in the stock escapes and / or certain elements of the paper itself react to the heat. If the vellum you are using is all cut with the same "grain," then the paper should all shrink relatively proportionately. This means that even though a slight shrinkage has occurred, it has occurred in the same dimensions on each sheet of the separations, so the sheets should still line up.

Still other problems are caused by the laser printer's inadequacies as well. Your laser printer uses measurements based on various points of reference to place each dot of toner on the sheet. The fact is, even if your paper were perfectly dimensionally stable, your laser printer would still make some small mistakes in alignment due to which reference points it used to plot one line vs. another. For most screen printed art, using most good-quality laser printers however, this error is negligible. To make alignment problems as minimal as possible:

• Make certain all papers in a separation set have the same grain. Never use vellum from two different packages in the same separation. Also, never "gang" two separations on the same page, facing different directions.
• For critical separations, pre-shrink the vellum before printing on it. The best way to pre-shrink the vellum is to run it through the laser printer before you print on it. Do this by printing a blank page onto the vellum with your art program, such as by printing an entirely white object. Make certain you run it twice, once on each side.

Poor Alignment - Ink-jet Printers: When you consider that an ink-jet image is created by a paint head running back and forth on a bar, it is a miracle that ink-jet printers can produce pages that line up at all. Yet, most ink-jet printers line up fairly well. Some printers do not reproduce exact sizes well, however, in which case no type of paper or film will be of any help. SMR Premium vellum is relatively moisture resistant, and does not usually shrink in the ink jet printing process. Extremely large areas of solid ink laydown can, however, cause moisture distortion, and jobs with such areas that require tight registration might not be suitable for vellum use.

Tip: Before you expose screens in a multi-color job from the vellum positives you have printed, place the positives on a light table and look to see how well they line up. If you placed centering marks in all four corners, most printers find that - if their computer printer is capable of holding good registration - less than 1/100 of an inch of variance should have occurred between separations. That is usually good enough for all but the tightest registration on jobs. If you burn screens from positives that lined up well on the light table, but they don't line up well at the press, then your problem is not in the vellum! Most printers who complain that jobs don't line up (whether they used vellum or other methods of creating separations) fail to get good registration due to factors in the screens themselves, or failure to level screens to the platens and properly use off-contact.

Paper Curling: Being a type of paper, sometimes vellum (and transfer release paper) curls up on the shelf. This happens when the paper is allowed to absorb humidity from the air around it. While SMR premium vellum is more resistant to humidity problems than many other brands, small problems can be noticed, especially if pre-shrinking is performed. To avoid curling problems:

• Store vellum in an area of low humidity. One strange, yet very well-working solution is to store vellum - well sealed - in the refrigerator.
• When pre-shrinking vellum in your laser printer, make sure you pre-shrink once on each side so the moisture in the paper is treated evenly.

Industry Links

Visit the links to our partners for more information about screen printing plastisol ink and One Stroke Inks. links

Flash Time & Temperature

Flash time and temperature will vary dramatically depending on many factors including the flash unit, garment type, and the exact ink you are screen printing with. Every ink is different and should be treated as such. 222 Series will not flash as quickly as the Colormax Series even though both inks will screen print on 100% nylon. It is best to pre-test with all inks and uniforms. learn more

Curing Nylon Ink

Proper curing the screen printing ink is critical on 100% nylon materials. This can be a very difficult process due to the weight of some nylon uniforms. Testing the temperature of the conveyor dryer and knowing the time the garment is spending under the heat can be the difference between many seasons of use and an angry customer wanting new uniforms. learn more

Adding Catalyst To Nylon Ink

The only time it is recommended to use a nylon catalyst with nylon ink is when you are printing on water resistant or waterproof materials. Team bags and jackets will commonly require the use of catalyst. learn more

Nylon Ink Tips & Tricks

Screen printing nylon ink on uniforms does not have to be a difficult process. One Stroke Inks has compiled a few tips and tricks to help streamline this process and introduce athletic printers to new products. These products include pallet tape, water based adhesives, and Saatichem Fixer 9. Click the following link to read some nylon ink printing tips. learn more

About Nylon Ink

Nylon screen printing ink is specially formulated for extra adhesion, stretchability, and durability. One Stroke Inks manufactures a full line of nylon ink for screen printing basketball reversibles, football uniforms, soccer uniforms, baseball jerseys, and much more. Over 30 stock colors as well as metallics and custom color matches are available in the 222 Series by One Stroke Inks. Send us any wet sample, material sample, or pantone color to match and we can usually ship the custom mixed ink by the next business day. This can save you much time and effort of mixing your own inks. learn more

Screenprinting At Home

in

• Do-It-Yourself

Author

Brent Johnson

The Twin Cities Green Guide

Materials:

You can find most of these supplies at Northwest Graphic Supply, 612-729-7361 located at 4200 E. Lake St. in Minneapolis or check your local art store. Although many art stores have stopped selling these products, you can still order them from online companies. Check out Sax Art Supplies and Dick Blick, to name a few.

• Frame and Screen
• Light sensitive emulsion - "Speedball" is a brand name
• Squeegee
• Sheet of glass to fit into frame
• Flood light bulb
• Lamp - adjustable height
• Inks for screen printing - I use the acyrlic kind, easier to clean up
• Aluminum pie pan or tin foil
• Images you wish to transfer, copied onto transparency paper

Instructions

IMPORTANT: The instructions are specific to a 12 x 18 frame and 150 watt bulb. Check instructions in the photo emulsion box if your frame size and bulb wattage are different.

1. In a dark area, apply emulsion to screen, usually only a couple tablespoons, and spread thin (the thinner the better) over screen with squeegee. Let dry in a dark place (a closet) for a few hours or until dry. You can use a fan to get it to dry quicker.
2. Meanwhile, set up light station: cover table with black sheet, unless table is already dark. Set lamp so it is directly over area where screen will be, centered and 18" above. Cut a hole in the middle of pie pan, just big enough so base of bulb can screw into lamp socket. See drawing.
3. Once screen is dry, IN THE DARK, place screen under light station, with the lamp off. Arrange your transparency images on screen. No need to reverse them, they will appear as you see them. Place glass on top of them and turn the light on. It takes 1 Hour, 15 Minutes to transfer image.
4. After 1 Hour, 15 Minutes, turn light off. Put screen under sink or tub and gently run cool water over it for a couple of minutes. With your hands, gently rub screen. Allow water to get warmer, still rubbing screen. The image should appear after about 5 minutes.

Printing Tips

Once you have the image transferred on to the screen, let dry and then start printing! Here are a few tips to make it easier:

• Crop image using paper and tape so ink won't get all over screen and through unused images on the screen
• If printing on a t-shirt or cloth that is double-layered, stick a piece of paper between the layers to keep ink from bleeding though.
• Elevate the piece you are printing on, for example: place a stack of paper or cardboard under t-shirt so there is better contact between t-shirt and screen.
• When applying ink, move squeegy slow and forcefully over image. Generally if you make more than a couple passes with the squeegy, you risk the chance of blurring the image.

Clean Up

In a sink or bucket, mix a cup of bleach with enough water to cover screen. Let sit for half an hour, sometimes a couple of hours if image has been sitting on screen for a while. Then rinse and scrub emulsion off. If there are tiny spots that won't come off, you can rub them with fingernail polish remover.See Also:Arts: Art Centers

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Screen Printing with Wide format Printer.

If you are now doing screen printing you can use wide format inkjet printers for two reasons: first, to make your screen printing masters with a wide format printer, or second, to add wide format digital printing to your services in order to keep your clients from going off to the competition. Also consider upgrading to wide format digital printing to escape the potential cancer rate from breathing the venomous fumes from screen printing. I can still remember my first day attending the SGIA or ISA trade shows, the headache from the screen printing fumes. Of course the fumes from giant solvent ink printers are even more an assault on the environment but skip solvent ink printers and use water based inkjet printers.

If you are currently seeing your clients wander off to competition who have inkjet printers, then you need to enter the world of digital imaging. Any graduate of a local community college can train your staff on how to use Adobe Photoshop and all the digital software (though you may already know the basics). You can learn to use the RIP software in a few days. After all, if your competition learned it surely you and your crew can also.

Just don't let any inkjet printer sales rep talk you into considering inkjet printers as a total replacement. Coated inkjet media and inks are still overpriced. Any printer using Epson piezo printheads will be slow, too slow for mass production of more than a few copies. Any printer using Xaar or any other piezo printheads will be fast enough but will have banding and other noticeable defects if you view them closely. At present the fastest inkjet printer that simultaneously offers top quality would be the with thermal printheads such as ColorSpan, then the Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 5000. If you don't need true photo-realism then the Encad 850 is okay, though has slightly grainy ink dot structure in the highlights and areas of solid light color.

To make your screen masters you need a really black black. Some printers simply don't produce good blacks, probably because some RIP software creates black from CMY not from K, so avoid those RIPs. Surely somewhere else in your city will be another screen printer who is already using masters from an inkjet printer, so you can ask them, or ask your trade association. Trade magazines can sometimes help though tend primarily to reproduce manufacturer's advertising claims, which is precisely what you seek to avoid.

FLAAR is establishing a new facility at a state university. There we will be able to devote more staff to questions related to the orderly transition from screen printing to inkjet printing.

Your needs	Which FLAAR Report is pertinent. Inside these reports are the names, addresses, fax, phone, and e-mail of vendors and sources of additional help. Titles are informal, to give general concept of contents of report.
Midrange inkjet printers, 36"-44" for signs, posters, banners, Point of Purchase and lots more.	Several different reports are available, depending on what you need the printer to do? Just let us know what you want to print, and our staff will send you the appropriate report.
Where to buy large format printers, 54" to 72" for everything from signs to trade show displays.
Large format electrostatic (e-stat) printers for signage or for subsequent heat transfer via dye sublimation?	You can select either the FLAAR Report on outdoor signage or the FLAAR Report on dye sublimation heat transfer for textiles.
What large format printer can do screen printing masters?	FLAAR Fast Facts on Using a Large Format Inkjet Printer to produce Screen Printing Masters
How to get started in large format printing if you do primarily screen printing today and wish to expand into digital large format printing before your competition takes all your clients away.	Several different reports are available, depending on what you need the printer to do? Just let us know what you want to print, and our staff will send you the appropriate reports.
If you have a vinyl cutter and wish to expand into using a large format printer for capturing more of the sign market today and into the future.	Several different reports are available, depending on what you need the printer to do? Just let us know what you want to print, and our staff will send you the appropriate reports.
Where to buy layout software for large signs up to the size of billboards?	Solvent Ink Printers for Outdoor Signage
Which grand format superwide printer?	Solvent Ink Printers for Outdoor Signage
What inkjet printers can handle thick and rigid material over an inch thick, in some cases up to 3 inches thick?	Flatbed Inkjet Printers for Thick and/or Rigid Materials
What to use: vinyl and other substrates for use with solvent ink printers?	Media and Inks for Printing Signs with Large Format Printers
What is a RIP? Do I really need a RIP software? If so, which RIP is best for my needs?	RIP + Help, a special report for first-time buyers of large format printers or intermediate level who already have a printer but need a better RIP solution.

Making Selection Between Screen Printing And Heat Transfer

Before anything else, let's have a brief description of the screen printing and heat transfer processes. What are screen printing and heat transfer? Let's do a comparison between them and try to make a better selection.

Too much of a ‘good thing’ can be, well, too much!

I was recently on The Martha Stewart Show showing her how to silkscreen and we had an oops moment. I didn’t mention it on air. I didn’t want to call attention to it because it was TV and really we had to keep moving! But I thought I should call attention to it for my readers. What happens when you use too much pressure with the squeegee? Well, it turns out that too much is, well, too much. If you press down too hard with the squeegee you can actually STRETCH the screen fabric underneath and cause your image to distort. That will make your colours not meet up. You might never notice it if you print just one colour but in a two colour print you’ll see the problem right away. Screen printing is part art and part craft. It’s easy to learn but it might take some time to get it just right. So if you are printing and your colours don’t match up once printed check to see if you might be pressing too hard. It’s an easy fix! Happy printing.

Tips & Tricks For Managing Screen Printing Ink Inventory

Learn how to get the maximum money's worth out of your inks and to set up a system that allows you to locate and replace inks most efficiently.

Effective ink management may seem like a production issue, but it's really a management challenge. Maintaining the right amount of product, managing costs, and organizing inventory are all important issues for every shop owner or manager to handle - issues that could translate into higher profits, if handled properly. Our shop has around 50 standard ink selections, 18 of which we use regularly for the majority of our jobs. While many shops keep a separate ink room away from the presses, putting the ink right by the presses is more efficient, as it minimizes the distance press operators have to walk to get ink. They pick the ink they need, put it on a wheeled cart, and roll it over to the press. Part of our shelving system is made from 2" x 4" plywood, and the rest is made from pallet racking that we purchased from companies going out of business. The shelves don't match, but we're striving for functionality and cost efficiency, not beauty. Inks are housed on the shelves starting off with lower PMS numbers (032, for instance) and working their way around to 9999. This way, employees can walk by the shelves and find what they're looking for with just a quick scan. We keep primary colors in three sections of shelving; all the bases, modifiers, tools, pylon, etc., are in another area of shelving. Next to that is an 8-foot area, where we do all of the ink "cooking," if you will. Formula sheets are stored in a three-ring binder, as the area is too messy to keep a computer for ink mixing. Production employees can use either the computer in the receiving or shipping area-both of which are in the production area. They simply call up the software, print off the formula, and add it to the three-ring binder. Mixing It Up Every time we mix a color, we store it in this formula book. When the production staff sees an ink number that they're not familiar with, they can leaf through the book, find the ink number, and see the formulation. They can look on the 48-foot shelving we have that contains about 100 custom mixes. If there's leftover custom ink from the previous job, they'll use it; if not, they'll mix more and store it on that 48-foot shelf afterwards. We mix a minimum of 1,000 grams at a time using 32-ounce cups, which are big enough that it's easy to mix without making a mess. We also use empty gallon buckets. (Note: We don't purchase gallon buckets; these are used, emptied ink buckets that we clean and recycle.) Next, they use a permanent marker to label the container with the PMS designation number, and whether it's a C (coated) or UC (uncoated). Sometimes the difference between coated and uncoated Pantone colors is significant. Throughout the course of the day, the production manager may have as many as 30-100 orders laid out in sequence for that shift's jobs. He'll need to sift through the jobs and see which inks need to be mixed, and when that should occur. We try to have the ink prepared two hours prior to the job's start time. We don't want to fire up the presses only to discover that ink isn't ready, or that there isn't enough of it, so this two-hour window gives us plenty of room to avoid that problem. The amount of ink you should mix depends on the likelihood that you'll use it again. If there's a strong likelihood of using it again for that customer or others, you may mix a gallon. However, our shop never mixes less than 1,000 grams, which is the minimum for getting consistent coverage on an automatic press. Again, the key is to make sure you mixed enough to cover the job, because it's costly and inefficient to stop the presses and mix more. Ink mixing software can help minimize waste by developing formulas that reclaim ink leftover from other jobs. You might have 1800 grams of a particular custom mix of green left from a job, and by adding a calculated amount of other mixing components; you'll get the required color. This cuts down waste and keeps your ink shelves from getting completely overloaded with leftovers. Keeping it Organized Periodically, we'll take a look at our ink inventory and realize it's time to reorganize things. About once a year, we adjust the spacing to keep everything balanced and easy to find. We also use this opportunity to remove ink blobs and messes on the shelves. Of course, screen printing is a messy business, and that's not going to change. That said, it's still a good idea to wipe down the shelves, even if you're not going to be eating off them, or things will not get so messy they become intolerable. As far as grouping inks, you could organize them by AP ink, MP, and specialty ink. Or, you may want to organize them in terms of frequency of usage. The key is to develop an organization system that everyone understands, and then stick to it. It's a waste of time and money to have employees walking back and forth in front of the shelving trying in vain to find a particular color. Our ink shelving stacks so high that we use a long stepladder, called a stock picker, to reach items at or near the top. We keep those inks used less frequently near the top, while the 18 we used most often are at or near eye level. Throwing It All Away Ink management doesn't end when the job is over. We live in an increasingly eco-friendly, eco-conscious world. Certainly no one would dispute this is a good thing-one that will help keep our planet, its resources and its inhabitants safer for generations to come. However, there are some practical tradeoffs, not the least of which is figuring out what to do with materials that may be perceived as hazardous - even if they're really not a big deal. Plastisol ink is one such material. I'm no chemist or Environmental Protection Agency employee, but my understanding is that you could literally eat plastisol ink and it wouldn't cause you much trouble, aside from a little intestinal distress. Still, even though ink is relatively benign, the environmentally responsible thing to do is to dispose of ink properly, not just toss it in a dumpster. Although plastisol isn't flammable, it is leachable, so you need to lock it up, or make it "non-leachable," which you can do by curing it. Let's say you had a long run with a lot of flashing, and ink started to gel on the screen, so you scrape it into a sludge bucket. You could get rid of it by spreading it thinly on cardboard, running it down the dryer and curing the ink. Then you're generally safe to take the piece of cardboard and toss it the dumpster. Of course, if you have a larger amount of ink, this would be a slow, impractical way to get rid of it. In these instances, you can use ink additives available from industry suppliers to cure the ink. For example, one supplier offers a powder that mixes with the ink to chemically cure it, turning it into a hardened, non-leachable material. In most areas of the country, it's acceptable to pitch this material into the dumpster. What if you have even larger quantities of ink to dispose of - if you're going out of business, for instance? In this situation, you'll want to make contact with a waste disposal company, which will haul away the ink for up to several hundred dollars per drum. They usually dispose of the material via incineration or by incorporating it into something like asphalt or cement. As with most things that aren't much fun to do, ink disposal can be put off week after week, leaving you with a big mess to handle. Keep things under control by getting rid of excess ink fairly regularly-when the ink is, in fact, waste. You don't want to throw away dollars inadvertently, and in many cases, you can scrape ink back into the buckets for later use. One exception: Yellow process ink is something that we rarely put back into the bucket. That's because we print on a screen with a blue dyed emulsion, so the yellow leaches blue dye from it, giving the ink a green cast. There's no point in saving color-shifted ink, so it goes right into the sludge bucket.

Best Fabrics for Screen Printing

When searching for the best fabrics for screen printing, it's not necessarily the weight of the fabric that matters, but the knit. Our fabrics are softer and higher in quality than our competitors' because we use a higher count of longer, more desirable fibers in our thread, which we then weave tighter to produce a finer knit. Combed Cotton Fibers 30-Gauge Thread 20-Gauge Weave
The following fabrics deliver superior screen printing results. We always advise that you test your set up on multiple pieces, no matter what fabric you're using. Follow each link to see a list of wholesale styles in that fabric.

Fine Jersey Cotton Made of 100% fine ring-spun combed cotton, this lightweight fine jersey is exceptionally smooth and tight-knit, making it just as opaque as a much heavier fabric. See Styles		Baby Rib Cotton Made of 100% fine ring-spun combed cotton, this finer 1x1 rib knit features a comfortable stretch with excellent durability through repeated washings. See Styles
California Fleece Unlike typical synthetic fleece, our California Fleece is made of 100% extra soft ring-spun combed cotton, pre-laundered for minimal shrinkage. Extra thick for extra warmth, yet breathable. See Styles		Interlock Cotton Made of 100% ring-spun combed cotton, this fabric is woven to feature a smooth surface and extra give for extra comfort. See Styles
Tri-Blend Made of a 50% polyester / 25% cotton / 25% rayon blend, this ultra-soft fabric is extremely comfortable against the skin, and features remarkable recovery, even after being stretched out. See Styles		Poly-Cotton Made of 50% cotton / 50% polyester, this ultra-soft blend is finer than our traditional combed-cotton yarn. With superior draping and a perfected worn-in texture. See Styles
Cotton/Spandex Jersey Made of a 95% cotton / 5% Spandex blend, this soft fabric features elasticity for a great fit on most body types. Tumble dry on low and remove promptly to preserve stretch. See Styles		Nylon Taffeta Made of 100% nylon, this soft and lightweight fabric is specially treated to be water and wind repellent through repeated washings. See Styles
Screen Printing Tips Here are some tips on how to get the best results with fabrics that generally offer "good" or "fair" screen printing results. We always advise that you test your set up on multiple pieces, no matter what fabric you're using.		Micro-Poly Cure at 330°F (165°C) for 24 seconds.
2x1 Rib Cotton Cure at 350°F (180°C) for 12 seconds.		Mélange Jersey Use inks formulated for use on polyester fabric and cure at 300°F (150°C) for 60 seconds. Do not exceed 325°F (160°C).
Highlighter Jersey Cure at 350°F (180°C) for 12 seconds.		Baby Thermal Cure at 350°F (180°C) for 12 seconds.
Color Options
Since our wholesale products come in more than 80 colors, you're likely to find a color that works with your design. If it turns out our selection doesn't meet your needs, you may wish to place a custom order. We can produce any style in virtually any color — all we need is a swatch or Pantone™ number.

Screen Printing Design Tips

Creating artwork for screen printing requires different techniques than creating artwork for offset printing. Here are some tips to help your job go smoothly and look its best.

1. Use our templates. Designs that are incorrectly sized can be very difficult to correct.
2. Be sure your artwork is of high enough resolution (300dpi minimum).
3. Graphics and images should be supplied in EPS format.
4. Use PMS colors wherever possible.
5. Text should be no smaller than 6 point. Reversed text should be at least 8 point.
6. Do NOT create text in Adobe® Photoshop®.
7. Keep screened areas between 20-80%. Lower values will not be visible, higher values will fill in.
8. If your artwork is not being printed over a while flood, there will be color variations compared to a proof on a white background.
9. If your design includes printing inside of the mirror band, there will be a color variation compared to the printing on the metalized area of the disc.
10. Screen printing is a relatively coarse output. Complex designs are possible, but the simpler designs tend to look better.

Other resources:

• Templates
• File requirements for electronic design
• Preflight checklist
• Design specification document
• Design FAQ

Screen Printing Tips

Promotional product Distributors

Promotional Products Buyers
Welcome to the exciting world of promotional products!

Whether you’re looking to: • drive traffic to your tradeshow booth, • improve response rates on direct mail campaigns, • increase referrals, • improve return business or • improve employee morale, promotional products work.

According to a recent study, 76.1% of respondents could recall the advertiser’s name on a promotional product that they had received in the past 12 months. In addition, 75.4% of respondents said they kept their promotional product because it was useful.

By coming to this site, you’ve taken a significant step towards growing your business. Within this site you’ll find out how to locate products, as well as how to find a qualified distributor.
Take advantage of an advertising medium with a proven track record, one that easily out shines its competitors.

There are multitudes of Internet sites and I have so many catalogues that let me order direct. Do I really need to go through a distributor?
A professional and experienced promotional products distributor will help answer your questions…even those questions you might not think to ask or didn’t know you needed to ask. He or she will be able to help you design a program to get results, and save you time and money. Here’s 10 good reasons why you should consider using a professional promotional products distributor:
1. GOOD DISTRIBUTORS GO BEYOND JUST SELLING PRODUCTS. Successful promotion campaigns don't happen by chance. To realize goals, promotional products programs must be carefully planned, taking into consideration the audience, budget and, of course, the ultimate result to be gained. While it’s true that you can buy a product anywhere, an experienced distributor can help you solve problems, plan a program and get results.
2. PROFESSIONAL DISTRIBUTORS HAVE ACCESS TO VAST PRODUCT RESEARCH RESOURCES, INCLUDING AN EXTENSIVE DATABASE WHICH CONTAINS MORE THAN 500,000 PRODUCTS. Yes, you can find a mug online, but a distributor can find hundreds of mugs, in a multitude of colors, sizes, shapes, materials, designs, etc. Have you saved money if you get the mugs and they are not the right color? Is it worth the extra savings if you get the mugs and they are so breakable due to inferior materials that they are virtually unusable?
3. DISTRIBUTORS ARE IN TUNE WITH THE TRENDS, INCLUDING HOT ITEMS AND THE NEWEST PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES. A qualified distributor can add creativity, innovation and imagination to your overall program to achieve your goals. Many online service show you the products they want to sell; a qualified distributor will listen to what you want and help you find the right product for your needs. And a distributor can provide tangible samples that appeal to your senses: taste, touch and feel!
4. YOUR DISTRIBUTOR IS MORE THAN JUST A SALESPERSON. Chances are, you will buy promotional products more than once in your life. Once a company uses a distributor, that relationship often continues for years…and even decades. Your promotional products distributor is someone you have worked with, someone you know and someone you trust. In many cases, companies use the distributor as part of the creative team, even including him or her in marketing meetings.
5. PERSONALIZED SERVICE IS THE ROLE OF A DISTRIBUTOR. When going online, your selection is what the Internet company determines to make available. When you work with a distributor, your selection is determined by your needs and goals, enhanced by the experience, creativity, and recommendations of that counselor who has your best interests at heart. Online, you're a faceless, nameless buyer. With a distributor, you're a client with your own personal shopper, receiving service along with ideas and prices. When you order online, who monitors your order and your deadline? Your distributor has your interests in mind. Seldom do you receive that kind of personalized, “hand-holding” customer service from an unknown online company.
6. INDUSTRY DISTRIBUTORS CAN OFFER EXPERIENCED ADVICE ON HOW (AND IF) TO IMPRINT ITEMS. You may have found the perfect key chain, but will your logo imprint on it? Will it be recognizable? Some things DON’T work and there might be something that will work better. A qualified promotional products distributor can explain to you the best printing process for your program, your imprint and the product you’ve chosen.
7. TRAINED DISTRIBUTORS CAN SAVE YOU MONEY IN THE LONG RUN. Many times, a price you see in a generic catalog or on the Internet does not cover many “hidden” costs involved—set up, imprint duplication, shipping, etc. A distributor can help you avoid unexpected and un-budgeted costs by quoting the total price up front.
8. DISTRIBUTORS WILL WORK WITH YOU TO GET YOUR ARTWORK IMPRINTED PROPERLY. Say you want your company’s logo embroidered on a golf shirt. How do you insure that it will be done properly, using the correct colors? A trained distributor can work with you to insure accurate transfer of your artwork, including correct fonts, size, spacing and many other important factors. And your distributor’s commitment to quality customer service will guarantee that you are satisfied with the finished product.
ShirtWholesaler.com
9. PROFESSIONAL PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS CAN ASSIST YOU IN DEVELOPING A WORKABLE DISTRIBUTION PLAN FOR YOUR PRODUCTS. Distribution of a promotional product is as important as the item itself. Research shows that a carefully executed distribution plan significantly increases the effectiveness of promotional products. But what if the cost of distributing your product is more than the product and more than your expected ROI (return on investment)? A distributor can help you avoid unexpected problems like this.
10. DISTRIBUTORS ARE THE EXPERTS IN THEIR FIELD. When you’re sick, you want a doctor who has the specialization and training to help you. PPAI distributors meet the highest qualification standards in the industry and display “The Mark of a Professional.” A MAS (Master Advertising Specialist) or CAS (Certified Advertising Specialist) designation after a distributor's name means he or she has earned the industry's only official certification. There’s no need to spend all your time on the Internet or searching through catalogues. Your promotional products distributor will come to you…like a doctor who makes house calls!
It all adds up. You NEED a distributor!
To get EXAMPLES of successful distributor programs using promotional products, click here.

Quick Tips

Customers receiving promotional gifts are more likely to give salespeople referrals. In one experiment, the difference in the number of referrals was as much as 24 percent.

Since everyone naturally likes to receive gifts, that makes promotional products marketing the only advertising medium that has built in ingratiation.

For that extra performance boost, look to awards and incentives because employees are willing to work hard to get them. That's the conclusion drawn from a new study by Baylor University. Employees say they are likely to try harder when competing for awards and incentives in teams rather than individually.

Promotional products improve the recipient's impressions of an advertiser. A survey revealed that 56 percent of resondants had a favorable impression of the advertiser before receiving a promotional product. That number increased to 71 percent after receiving a promotional item.

You can triple booth traffic just by including a promotional product in your pre-show mailing, according to the Trade Show Bureau. Most effective are the use of "companion gifts," such as sending an imprinted coaster before the show and giving away a matching coffee mug at your booth.

Using me as a consultant can mean the difference between success and failure of a promotional campaign. As a professional promotional products distributor, I have the expertise to help you create a campaign theme, an imprint message, method of distribution and products which are appropriate to your campaign and budget.

When charged with such challenges as building a company or product image, promoting a new facility, motivating employees, introducing new salespeople or improving client/customer relations, a promotional product distributor will give you guidance and ideas to assure success.

Promotional product recipients prefer subtle imprinting for certain products -- particularly the higher-end items including awards, plaques, briefcases, luggage, clothing, portfolios, writing instruments, etc.

To change employee behavior, corporate awards and incentive programs need to be frequent and should specifically reward employees for sustaining the desired change. Otherwise, the Baylor University study reveals, up to half the time, the particular behavior change that management seeks disappears once the program ends.

As a professional promotional products distributor, I can offer many special services like artwork, computer graphics,layout/paste-up, warehousing, fulfillment, packaging, gift wrapping, copywriting, imprinting and engraving.
Promotional products should relate to the advertiser's message. However, prior to choosing the products, we will spend important time discussing the best way to achieve your goals. Consider these six elements when planning a successful promotion: 1.Define Promotion Objectives 2.Identify Target Audience 3.Plan Product Distribution 4.Determine Central Theme 5.Develop Message for Imprint 6.Select Products

Promotional product mailings can dramatically improve response rates for campaigns involving other media, such as print advertising. In a study by Dallas Marketing Group, a national tile distributor wanted to integrate the use of direct mail and promotional products into an existing print advertising campaign. Response rates were tracked for a known group of subscribers. Some subscribers received only the trade ad, while others also received a sales letter, a promotional product, or a promotional product incentive. From those respondents exposed to both the trade ad and some form of direct mail, two-thirds identified the direct mail piece as the catalyst that prompted their response.

Seven Steps to a Successful Promotional CampaignSuccessful promotion campaigns don't happen by chance. To realize goals, promotional products programs must be carefully planned, taking into consideration the audience, budget and, of course, the ultimate result to be gained.
Ready to plan your next promotion? Use the distributor search engine to locate a PPAI member distributor in your area. You and your distributor will discuss these seven important elements to help you plan the best promotion for reaching your objective:
1. Define a specific objective.Whether the goal is to increase traffic at a trade show exhibit or to boost sales with current clients, the first step in any campaign is to clarify the purpose of the program.
2. Determine a workable distribution plan to a targeted audience.Distribution of a promotional product is as important as the item itself. Research shows that a carefully executed distribution plan significantly increases the effectiveness of promotional products. For example, a pre-show mailing to a select audience delivers more trade show traffic and qualified leads than simply distributing items to passerby at the show.
3. Create a central theme. Linking a recognizable logo and color to all aspects of a campaign, from promotional products to sales sheets to product packaging, helps create an instantly recognizable image.
4. Develop a message to support the theme.Supporting a campaign's theme with a message helps to solidify a company's name, service or products in the target audience's mind. For instance, to promote its services to small businesses, a bank created the theme "Are you tired of being treated like a small fish?" and sent fish-related products to its prospects along with promotional literature.
5. Select a promotional product that bears a natural relationship to your profession or communications theme. A good example is a company that developed a magic motif for its conference at Disney World. Attendees received magic-related products to tie in with the theme "Experience the magic at Disney®."
6. Don't pick an item based solely on uniqueness, price or perceived value.Don't fall prey to the latest trends or fads. The most effective promotional products are used in a cohesive, well-planned campaign.
7. Use a qualified promotional products distributor.A good promotional products distributor will help you answer all of these questions as well as offer a variety of value-added services, including unique product ideas, creative distribution solutions and insight on the different imprinting methods just to name a few. PPAI distributors have met the highest qualification standards in the industry and display "The Mark of a Professional." A MAS (Master Advertising Specialist) or CAS (Certified Advertising Specialist) designation after a distributor's name means they've earned one of the industry's only official certification. To find a PPAI distributor, use the search engine on this site or e-mail PPAI at PR@ppa.org.

# posted by SWC @ 2/15/2006 03:07:00 PM 0 comments links to this post

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Screen Printing

What type of equipment do we have? We have a 18 color M&R high-performance Challenger II. It is designed for quick setups and high-speed production.

We also have a 12 color M&R Formula 5090. Here is a quick manufacturer supplied video printing some shirts with the M&R Formula 5090.

and a 6 color Sidewinder manual press.

What brand of inks do we use? Only the Best Rutland Inks.

Do you we use retensionable screen frames or wooden? Retensionable screen frames
How long have we been in business? 12 years.
Do we really have the experience to handle your job? Experience is our middle name.

How often do we check the temperature when sending the shirts through the dryer? During every single job. Can we be sure that the ink is reaching the correct cure temperature so that it will not wash out of my t-shirts? Yes you can. That's why we check the temperature over and over again.

Will the printing on my t-shirts be straight or crooked? We use laser guided systems to make sure the logo is on straight.