Custom printed transfers can be another way to add a profit center to your t-shirt printing business. Screen printing transfers (especially single color transfers) is easy and they can be produced very quickly if you have the right equipment.  Many shops started printing transfers as a side line and developed into transfer specialists producing only custom transfers exclusively because of the high profit factor.

Another great feature of custom transfers is for servicing repeat customers who have small orders. By printing extra transfers of the customer’s art, you can save the transfers for their next order. And without having to burn new screens, you can fill the next order easily  and quickly. Custom transfers are also useful for printing some hard to print substrates such as ball caps, jackets, bags etc.

Think of printing custom transfers as a license to print money.  Printing a sheet of paper with a tiny amount of ink at a cost of a penny or less and turning it into something that sells for dollars is a great way to make money!

TYPES OF TRANSFERS: HOT SPLIT  and COLD PEEL TRANSFERS

What’s the difference between a Hot Split and a Cold Peel transfer?

Hot Split Transfer:  A plastisol ink transfer where the transfer paper is removed within a few seconds of application. The ink then “splits” leaving a portion of ink on the garment and a portion on the paper. Hot splits transfers are typically used on light colored garments and have a soft hand.

Cold Peel Transfer:  A plastisol ink transfer where the transfer paper is not removed until the print has completely cooled; resulting in the entire ink deposit being transferred to the garment.

VACUUMS PLATENS AND TABLES

The easiest way to print custom transfers is with the use of a vacuum attachment that fits on one of the stations of your screen printing press. A vacuum platen is a specially made platen that has many small holes drilled into its surface in which a vacuum hose is attached to its base. A vacuum platen is typically used for printing transfers, decals, and other light weight paper goods where adhesion by vacuum is more practical than chemical adhesives. A vacuum platen attachment will cost you around $500 and up.

f you’re the do-it-yourself type, you can also build a homemade vacuum table for around $150. All that you will need is a heavy duty vacuum cleaner or shop vac, a pair of screen clamps (available from any screen print supply vendor), and a decent quality flat bed table.

HOW TO PRINT CUSTOM SCREEN PRINTED TRANSFERS

The mechanics of printing screen printed transfers is very simple.  Place a sheet of transfer paper on the vacuum platen, start the vacuum, lower the screen and print with just one squeegee stroke. Release the vacuum and remove the finished print from the platen and send it through the dryer for partial curing (partial curing process is covered below). Multi-color transfer printing (which is covered below) is essentially a repeat of this entire process for each color until all of the colors have been printed.

HOW TO PREPARE ARTWORK

When preparing artwork for single color transfers, keep in mind that it is difficult to transfer fine detail. With multi-color transfers this is not a such problem because the details in an image will often be printed over another color or on an underbase.

We cover multicolor transfers in a section below. For the remainder of this lesson let us assume that we are printing only single color transfers.

You want to limit the amount of detail in the artwork when creating single color transfers because thin lines, halftone dots, and other small elements will deposit a very small amount of ink onto the transfer paper.  As a result, some of these tiny elements may not always transfer properly.

Moreover, the recommended mesh counts of 60-83 for creating single color transfers often make it difficult to wash out fine lines, halftones etc.  as these mesh counts are relatively coarse. It is important to understand that with all transfers, either hot split or cold peel it is necessary to deposit a sufficient amount of ink on the garment to obtain an acceptable transfer print.

REVERSING THE ART

When creating art for custom transfers it is necessary that you reverse the art when making screens so that the transfer will be “wrong reading.” The reason for this of course is that when the transfer is applied to the garment with a heat press it will then become “right reading.” To create a screen for making custom transfers, simply turn the film positive upside down (or face down) before exposing the screen.

MESH COUNT SELECTION

As previously indicated, for obtaining the best results for single color transfers, we recommend mesh counts of 60-83. You may on some occasions want to go as high as 125 mesh to resolve as much image detail as possible, however be mindful that the ink deposit on the transfer and on the garment will be diminished.

INK SELECTION (HOT SPLIT and COLD PEEL)

There are specially formulated inks just for the purpose of making custom transfers. These inks are primarily used for the creation of hot split transfers. Cold peel transfers can be made using almost any type of plastisol ink. It is this author’s recommendation that you try as many brands as possible of hot split transfer ink, as it has been our experience that they do not all work equally well. Shop around and experiment before you make any large investment when stocking transfer inks for your shop. Regarding inks for cold peel transfers, we recommend that you use a super opaque formulation whenever possible, as this will almost always produce the best print result. Moreover, we suggest you do not reduce inks that will be used for single color transfers so you may achieve the desired opacity and trueness of color.

TYPES OF TRANSFER PAPER

There are several types of transfer papers on the market. There are papers made that are recommended for hot split and there are papers recommended for cold peel transfers only. There are also transfer papers that are recommended for BOTH hot split and cold peel transfers. In addition, transfer paper is available in many different sizes. Based on our experience, we recommend that when starting out that you purchase just one type of paper from which you can produce both hot split and cold peel transfers. This will save you from having to stock two different types of paper and will eliminate the chance of using the wrong paper for the job. Further, if you stock just one size: for example 15” X 15” paper, this may eliminate the need for stocking multiple sizes of transfer paper.

Simply ask your screen printing supply vendor for a “multi-transfer” type of paper that you can use to make both hot split and cold peel transfers.

PRINTING TECHNIQUE(S)

The most important thing to know about screen printing plastisol transfers is that you print the image with just one stroke.  The ideal stroking technique for printing transfers is a normal squeegee angle with a slow and steady stroke with medium to heavy pressure to ensure that you are getting a good ink deposit onto the transfer paper. Multiple strokes may result in an undesirable “shadow printed” image.  If you make a mistake and the print is not of the quality you expect, simply discard the misprint and print another transfer. Paper is cheap and it is better to discard marginal prints than to give your customer a bad transfer.

Depending on the artwork and the type of ink being used, you may find that a flood stroke is helpful to give you an adequate ink supply over the stencil prior to doing the actual print stroke.

The key feature is using a light flood stroke that will only fill the screen with ink and will not produce a print onto the transfer paper.

USING POWDERED ADHESIVE ON COLD PEEL TRANSFERS

Regardless of the type of ink that you use, cold peel transfers have a tendency to not adhere completely to the garment when the transfer is applied.

This problem can become very frustrating and can cause you (or your customer) to needlessly ruin shirts. The problem becomes most apparent with small elements in a design, such as small letters, fine lines, or detail around the edges of an image.

This is one more reason why you want to limit the amount of detail in a design when planning art for custom transfers.
A solution to the transfer adhesion problem of cold peel transfers is to use powder crystal adhesive. Powdered crystal adhesive (available from your screen print supply vendor) is a finely ground adhesive powder that looks like salt. Transfer adhesive powder is usually sold by the pound and available in fine and medium ground versions. It has been this author’s experience that the medium ground version works significantly better and does not wind up on everything like the fine ground powder does.

Once a cold peel transfer has been printed, the transfer powder is applied to the not yet cured (wet ink) transfer. One easy way to apply powder adhesive is to use a small plastic storage box (available in most stores) and dump a pound of adhesive powder in the box. Coat each transfer by dragging it through the powder making sure the entire transfer gets covered with the adhesive.  Shake off any loose powder from the paper back into the box, as this will help reduce the build up of unwanted adhesive powder on your dryer belt (and everything else). The transfer is now sent through the dryer for the partial cure.

Applying custom transfers to ball caps can become a notoriously difficult task, especially when using cold peel transfers. Some ball cap materials make adhesion difficult and we strongly recommend that you always apply adhesive powder to any cold peel transfers that will be used for ball cap printing.

HOW TO “SEMI” CURE THE TRANSFERS

It is important to understand that you do not want to fully cure the ink on your transfers when sending them through the dryer.

The ink must be only partially cured so when it is remelted during the heat transfer process it will adhere to the garment. You do not want the transfer to go beyond a temperature of around 210 degrees for a partial cure.

The easiest way to achieve a partial cure of the transfers is to speed up the dryer belt. Using a heat gun, measure the temperature on the transfers as they come out of the chamber.

Once you have measured the optimum temperature for partially cured transfers on your dyer take note of the belt speed on your dryer and use that setting for all future transfer printing.

To be sure your transfers are partially cured properly, we recommend that you do some test transfers onto test rags with your heat transfer press to ensure that all is well. It is always a good idea to periodically perform actual transfer print tests to make sure your transfers are working properly.

HOW TO PRINT MULTI-COLOR TRANSFERS

Printing multi-color transfers can be very profitable, however the printing requires several more steps than single color transfer printing and is significantly more time consuming. The key feature of printing multicolor transfers is that each color will need to be printed and semi cured through the dryer before printing the next color. The amount of time each transfer spends in the dryer is extremely important as you do not want to over-cure the transfer as it will not transfer properly if it is over-cured. Each trip through the dryer adds a certain amount of curing time.

The first step in producing multicolor transfers is to send the transfer paper through the dryer before printing to “pre shrink” the paper. This is necessary because without the pre-shrinking of the paper you will have registration problems when printing the additional print colors.

Next, line up the screens of your individual print colors on your press in a reverse order of what you would use for direct printing. For example, if you have a three color image consisting of white, red and black ink, print black first, then red, then white. You always want to print the outline or darkest color first because that will be the top color of the image when the transfer is applied to the garment.

You can still use your regular choking and trapping of the artwork to achieve proper registration of a design. It is important that each color register as perfectly as possible.  An

easy way to do this is to use a simple three point registration system. On your vacuum platen, simply tape down two small, thin pieces of cardboard at the back and one on the side. The cardboard will act as a “stop” for the transfer paper allowing you to place it in the same position each and every time.

Once you have all your print colors set up and registered on the press, you can begin the actual printing. As previously indicated, print the black screen first and send it through the dryer for its partial curing.

Next, place the sheet back on the vacuum table to print the red ink and once again send it through the dryer for its partial curing. Lastly, line up the transfer one more time on the vacuum platen and print the white ink.

Send the transfer through the dryer one last time.

Congratulations, you have just printed a three color transfer!

DO A TEST APPLICATION OF YOUR TRANSFERS

Upon completion of your print run, we strongly recommend that you turn on your heat press and do some sample applications of your newly printed transfers to make sure they work properly. In fact, it is a good idea to do test prints as a matter of course for all multi-color transfer print runs if possible.

OUTSOURCING TRANSFERS

If you plan to use multicolor transfers in your shop for your own customers, you will find that there are numerous screen printers who specialize in creating them.

It is often more cost effective and time efficient to outsource multi-color transfers than printing them yourself.  You will find a list of transfer-only printers in the ASPA Equipment and Resources Directory.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CUSTOMER

If you are selling custom transfers to the public, you will want to provide an application  instruction sheet so they will know how to apply the transfers.

Create a separate application sheet for cold peel and hot split transfers and be sure to put one in the box in which the transfers are shipped.

A typical application instruction sheet should include the heat press settings including the press temperature, pressure, and application dwell time.
PACKING THE TRANSFERS

Because transfers are only partially cured, the ink is delicate and the transfers must be handled carefully.

This is especially important when packing and shipping transfers to your customers. After the transfers have cooled, stack them carefully and place them in a plastic bag to protect them during shipment.

Be sure to use a shipping box or package that does not have a lot of excess room for the transfers to move around.

SAVE A SAMPLE OF EVERY TRANSFER

It’s a good idea to always keep at least one sample transfer from every print run. Many times customers who purchase transfers are inexperienced and will try to blame your transfers for problems that are really the result of their improper application technique or incorrect settings on their heat press. Often enough, it is a simple issue of not using the right temperature, pressure or time settings for their heat press.

By keeping a test print for every transfer, you can apply their transfer in your shop to see if there is a real problem with the transfers you made or if the problem lies with the customers application.

Bloomington, IN

The content of this article is an excerpt from the ASPA training course The Secrets of Printing T-Shirts and How to Make Big Money!

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SELL “TEAM” WEAR?

If you are one of the many people who enjoy sports and think that getting into the screen printing business to print athletic apparel will be a great way to make money, let’s discuss some of the realities first. Sure, there is money to be made printing team wear and athletic jerseys, but you are usually going to be dealing with a type of customer who is usually less than ideal.

You will find that most team shirt orders are usually small and complicated involving personalized names and numbers with each shirt having to be a specific size for each player. In addition, you are typically dealing with unprepared people with impossible deadlines. Moreover, printing team wear for leagues, school teams, and other organized sports groups often involves a certain amount of politics often making it difficult to land orders if you are an outsider.

There are specially formulated plastisol inks that are made for the purpose of athletic printing. You will find these inks are typically very thick and will require two things: a thorough mixing before use and storage at a temperature of 72 degrees or above. If your shop is located in a cold weather zone, be sure to keep your inks in a location where they will be warm the day before the job is to be printed.

For most “t-shirt-based team wear,” it has been our experience that using general purpose and/or super opaque plastisol inks work just fine. It is our recommendation that you purchase a few quarts of athletic plastisol ink to see if it is even needed for your “team wear” applications.

LETTERING AND NUMBERING

You have a couple options for applying custom names and numbers to athletic wear. The options available to you are discussed below.

PURCHASING CUSTOM NAMES & NUMBERS FROM A VENDOR

The easiest solution of garment personalization is to outsource your custom names and numbers needs to one of many vendors who specialize in that service. All you need to do is send them a list of the names and numbers and they will send you back custom transfers that are ready to apply with a heat press. The cost is very reasonable. If you are operating a small shop, you will find that this is the most cost effective and time efficient way to go. Most vendors that offer custom names and numbers usually create the names with a computer cad cutter using special heat applied vinyl that is durable and will adhere to the garment very well. Player numbers can either be vinyl or most often cold peel plastisol transfers coated with a powdered crystal adhesive so they will transfer and adhere properly.

STOCK NUMBERS

Also consider purchasing ready made stock numbers. They are available in many colors and fonts. They make numbering shirts easy and very cost effective. Ready made numbers are available in single or multi color.

CAD-CUT VINYL LETTERS AND NUMBERS

If you are the “do it yourself type,” consider buying your own cad-cutting machine and you can cut the names and numbers as needed. You will need to keep in stock a certain amount of vinyl for this purpose. However you will find that in the long run, you will save money by doing it yourself. One advantage of doing it yourself is you can turn the order around very quickly and this is important for landing highly profitable rush orders. Having your own cad cutter can also open up new opportunities for your shop, as you will also be able to create custom signs and banners with your machine.

PAPER STENCILS

Although they are getting harder to find, there are still a few manufacturers who make paper stencils that will allow you to direct screen print numbers on apparel. The better quality paper stencils are usually made of a heavy gauge “parchment” paper that can be used over and over again if you handle them carefully. Using paper stencils is easy. All you need is a screen that has been taped off around the edges leaving a large open area. Place the paper stencil on the garment and with the screen filed with ink, lower the screen, pull the squeegee and you have a custom printed number. Once the number has been printed, simply peel the paper stencil from the bottom of the screen send it through the dryer and it is ready for reuse. Paper stencils are a viable solution only if you anticipate doing a decent volume of custom shirt numbering.

One advantage to using paper stencils is that the ink that you use for the numbering will match the color that you printed for the team’s name or logo. The ink used in the numbering system is the same plastisol ink that you would use on the front of the shirts. Moreover, because the numbers have been directly printing onto the garment there is no chance that the ink will come off when laundered.

MAKING YOUR OWN HOT SPLIT AND COLD PEEL NAMES & NUMBERS

A cost effective, but not exactly a time saving solution is to custom print your own cold peel or hot split transfers for names and numbers. The method for producing hot split and cold peel transfers is covered in another tutorial, however we will go over the basic concept here. Cold peel transfers are typically applied to dark garments where you want a complete ink deposit to achieve an complete opacity. Hot split transfers are usually applied to light and pastel colored garments and are peeled hot to produce a soft handed, direct screen printed look. Printing custom team names is easy, but time consuming. All you need is a bunch of coated screens with the players names all ganged together so you can burn as many names as possible on one screen. Simply print the transfers and apply with a heat press and you’re done.

If you want to create custom transfers for player numbers, be prepared to burn at least (10) screens to cover all of the number combinations. As you can imagine, you will have many ink color changes if your intention is to create a stock pile for future use. It is this authors recommendation that for numbering, there are better solutions. Namely, purchasing ready made stock numbers from a specialist–they are very low in cost.

NUMBERING MACHINE

If you anticipate doing a large volume of custom athletic jerseys you may want to consider purchasing special equipment just for that purpose. There are screen printing frames and presses made just to print numbers. You will find that these machines can be a cost effective and time saving solution if you are doing a large volume of custom numbered jerseys.

PRINTING ON SPECIAL MATERIAL SPORTS GARMENTS

Not only will you be asked to print the usual softball, volleyball, baseball t-shirts and more, but your customer may come to you and ask if you are able to print mesh jerseys, hockey shirts, nylon, spandex and other types of special material. This author’s recommendation is never take on a print job on material that you are unfamiliar with. Many types of apparel including nylon, require specially formulated inks. It is recommended that you experiment and test before committing to any job.

Many times, customers may bring you shirts that they have purchased elsewhere and ask you to print them. They may be expensive athletic jerseys that will be very costly for you to replace if you ruin them because they were printed improperly. It is tempting to take on what you think may be “easy print job,” but think carefully before delving into uncharted waters.

Because of the numerous types of ink formulations that are available for printing special material, we recommend that you always consult with a knowledgeable ink vendor to obtain as much information as possible before committing to any print job that will require special inks.

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SECTION 7: Basic Screen Printing | CHECK FOR VIDEOS ON THIS TOPIC

This tutorial is limited to curing plastisol ink only.

IS IT “DRYED” OR “CURED?”

The last step in the screen printing process is the curing of the print. Plastisol ink must reach a temperature of 320 degrees to be considered “fully cured.” Although it would seem natural to use the term “dryed,” it would be a misnomer as the ink film on a product may feel “dry” to the touch, but not be fully cured throughout the entire ink deposit. The print surface may seem “dry,” but the inner portion of the ink film may not be.

A print that is not fully cured will not stand up to a washing. The ink will come off during the washing cycle as the ink was only “gelled” and not thoroughly cured. You can be sure that if the order of shirts that you sent out did not cure properly, you will found out the hard way by having the order returned to you. To avoid having your customer do your “cure tests” for you, we will offer some solutions to help ensure that all of the products that leave your shop are fully cured.

WAYS TO CURE A PRINT

USING A FLASH CURE UNIT

If you start off your shop on a small budget, you may be able to only afford a flash cure unit to completely cure your shirts. This author started a screen printing shop with just a flash cure unit, so I can give you first hand advice that it can be done. In fact, a textile dryer (the ideal method for curing) is essentially nothing more than a belt driven chamber that contains the same type of heating elements that you find in a flash cure unit.

Now for the downside. Using a flash cure unit for it’s intended purpose of “flash” curing (bringing the print to a partially cured state for a 2nd print stroke to achieve opacity) is ideal. With the right ink, you can “flash cure” a print in 7-10 seconds. However, to use a flash cure unit to completely cure the print will take around 35-45 seconds. While this is no big deal if you are only printing a few dozen shirts, it is less than ideal for larger orders.

“SIZING” BURN-OFF

Another thing that occurs when doing a complete cure with a flash unit is the amount of unpleasant fumes that are released into the work area from the shirt during the heating process.

Most shirts are treated with “sizing” agents to increase the weight, crispness, and luster of the shirt. When heat from the flash unit is applied to the shirt, these sizing agents begin to “burn off,” creating a characteristic odor. When you first experience this you will most likely become alarmed thinking that the shirt is “burning up,” but it is only the sizing being eliminated from the shirt. The best way to control this problem is to keep a fan operating nearby to blow the sizing fumes away from the work area. The sizing burn-off problem will be most apparent when flashing fleece (sweatshirts, sweatpants), and certain colors of dark shirts, e.g. (forest green and royal blue shirts).

OPERATING TIPS FOR FLASH CURE UNITS

The best small investment that you can make if you are starting out and all you can afford is a flash unit for all of your curing needs is to buy a digital countdown timer (available at Radio Shack or in the kitchen gadgets departments in many stores.) Just clip the timer on the unit and set it for the time you need to achieve a flash or full cure.

To use the flash cure unit, adjust it so that hovers above the platen around 2 to 2 ¾ inches, simply swing the unit onto the platen when you want to flash cure.

One extremely important caution. Some flash cure units do not come with an “on-off” light. This author recommends having some sort of light (like a bike flasher or similar) attached to the unit and “flashing,” every time the flash unit is in operation.

When a flash cure unit is operating, it reaches a temperature of around 600 degrees. NEVER touch the heating element on the unit to “see if it’s on.” This will result in a burn on your fingers that you will never forget.

Further, never leave the unit “hovering” over the platen when it is on. The least that can happen is destruction of the platen, the worst being your building going up in flames!

USING AN OVEN

While I have read in other books and publications that some individuals (on what has to be the lowest budget imaginable!) have actually used a household oven to cure their prints, I would definitely discourage anyone from using this method. The number of perils that would be involved in using this method are too numerous to mention, so don’t even consider it.

USING A HEAT GUN

If you have ever used a “heat gun,” you know that they are powerful heaters that look similar to hair dryers. Heat guns can be used to dry (and strip) paint, thaw frozen pipes, “shrink” tubing, etc. They can also be used to cure plastisol ink in certain situations. One application where they may be used (but not recommended by this author) is for the curing of the print on ball caps.

The problem with heat guns is that it is very difficult to control the curing with any degree of precision. Unless you place the heat gun on a “rest” to keep it in precisely the same spot each time and monitor the curing time exactly (with a timer), you run the risk of scorching or burning the cap. You also face the issue of incomplete curing with the use of heat gun. While the heat gun may work in a pinch, there are better curing solutions and it is not recommended.

USING A TEXTILE DRYER

The ideal curing solution is a textile dryer. Why it is not called a textile “curer” is a mystery, but “curing” the print on your shirts is effectively the function that it performs.

As previously indicated, a textile dryer consists of a heated chamber in which the shirts are placed on a belt and pass under the heat element in the chamber for a finite amount of time determined by the belt speed setting.

Once the dryer has properly set-up in your shop for optimum operating temperature (usually operating at around 900 to 950 degrees) and the ideal belt speed has been determined for complete curing, all you need to do for each print session is to allow the dryer to “warm-up” (run at operating temperature for 20-30 minutes) and you’re ready to go.

Using a textile dryer is as simple as putting your shirts on the belt and having a box at the other end to “catch” the shirts. The great thing about a dryer is that you can print as fast as it can take shirts! In large shops, that means thousands of shirts each hour are possible.

Each dryer brand is slightly different in it’s set-up and operation. The best recommendation for use of any particular dryer is to follow the manufacturer’s instructions that came with it.

CURE TESTING

As indicated previously, the ink deposit on the shirt must reach a temperature of 320 degrees to be completely cured. There are several methods that can be used to help with the determination of “full cure” and we’ll explain each one below.

TEMPERATURE STRIPS

Temperature strips or temperature “tapes” are little strips of specially made paper that have
temperature readings printed on them that will indicate the temperature as the garment is being run the through the dryer or flash cure unit.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for their use. Temperature strips are inexpensive and available at most screen printing supply vendors but are somewhat troublesome to use and limited in their usefulness.

THE “OTHER” HEAT GUN

This type of “heat gun” has an entirely different purpose. A heat gun also known by it’s fancy name (non contact pyrometer) is a useful device for checking the temperature of the print as it is coming off the dryer belt or when being flashed.

Simply point the gun at the imprint on the shirt and observe the reading. Holding down the button and you read the temperature as the shirt passes through the dryer. The one shown at the left is available at Harbor Freight.com and is very affordable.

While the “heat gun” does not give you the “final” word that a shirt is completely cured, it is very useful for measuring dryer temperature and for providing a reasonable assurance that you’re shirts are most likely curing properly.

THE “STRETCH” TEST

“Stretching” the print on the shirt to see if it cracks has a limited value for checking for curing of the print.

The idea behind this test is if the print “cracks” during stretching it is most likely under cured.

It is suggested using this test for “spot checking” only and we recommend relying on more definitive testing methods, e.g.: wash testing (see below).

WASH TESTING

The only guaranteed way to determine if your prints are curing properly is to do a “wash test.” It is a good habit to periodically wash a test shirt to see if your dryer is working as expected. It is also a good idea to wash test a shirt for any “high value” order, large quantity orders, or if the order is for any type of garment or product that you may have concerns for curing issues, e.g.: metallic, glitter inks, etc.

To do a wash test, simply place a printed shirt in with a load of your regular wash. This is exactly what your customer will do at home. If the print stays on (or has no noticeable defects) after the shirt is washed, it has passed the wash test–it’s that simple. What can you tell from the wash test? If the print was only partially cured, some or most of the print would have “washed off.” If the print was severely undercured, the print will most likely be completely gone. If this problem does occur, go back to your shop and find the source of the problem before beginning any further production.

PRECAUTIONS AND TIPS

MOISTURE IN THE SHIRTS

If your shirts are stored in a high humidity area, they will absorb moisture, especially 100% cotton fabrics (cotton will absorb more moisture than 50/50 blends) and this moisture can cause ink curing problems as plastisol ink will not adhere properly to a moist surface. A good idea if you print in high humidity conditions is to run your shirts through the dryer before printing them to eliminate the moisture from them. This is true with all garments, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. Another option to consider is to add a dehumidifier to your shop and/or air conditioning.

GARMENT COLOR & CURING TIME

As indicated above, the fabric type affects the curing time. So will the fabric color. Dark colored shirts will cure faster than white and light colored shirts. White, cotton shirts will take longer to cure than black (or other dark) 50/50 blend shirts.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO “OVERCURE” THE PRINT?

Yes. If the print is subjected to temperatures exceeding 350 degrees, the result will be overcured ink. Overcuring will result in a print that will crack and fade prematurely. Monitoring your dryer and flash curing times will keep this problem in check.

ADEQUATE DRYER & FLASH WARM-UP

Always let your dryer and flash cure units warm up prior to beginning production. Even if your dryer has a temperature read-out, it is still a good idea to let the unit warm up.

A 15-20 minute warm-up is usually sufficient. However, if in doubt, it’s not a bad idea to check the temperature with a heat gun.

KEEP A PRODUCTION “SPECIFICATIONS” BOOK  
It’s a good idea to keep a book in your shop to keep a record of dryer settings, temperature settings, notes about inks, and other important details that are specific to printing in your shop’s operation.

A production “specs.” book is nothing more than a “composition” type book that you can pick up in most office supply stores.

Keeping a record of problems and their solutions is vital to your success as screen printer. Leaving things to memory is a poor way to operate your business.
You’ll be happy you kept those notes about that tough job you printed last year involving “special requirements” when that customer re-orders.

Published by:
American Screen Printing Association, Inc.

SECTION 9: Advanced Printing Techniques | CHECK FOR VIDEOS ON THIS TOPIC

To be able to screen print photographic or grayscale images, an image must be converted into what is known as “halftones”. A halftone image consists of many small dots that make up the grayscale portion of that image. Screen printing halftones can present certain challenges and we’ll address them in this chapter.

HOW BIG A “DOT” SHOULD YOU USE?

The size of the halftone dot used will of course be determined by the type of artwork that you are going to print or the printing technique that you will use.

For example, screen printing on apparel typically involves printing halftones in a range of 35-65 LPI. There may be occasions where you want the halftone to be very noticeable and exaggerated for a special effects look, where you may want to go down to a 25 LPI size halftone which will produce a very noticeably large dot.

If you are printing four color or simulated process color with a manual screen printing press it is recommended that you print from 45-55 LPI.

If you have a high end automatic screen printing press along with a point light source exposure unit and are using professionally produced film positives you may want to consider printing 65 LPI.

55 L.P.I.Halftone

25 L.P.I. Halftone

If you are new to halftone  printing we suggest you experiment with various LPI sizes so you can see what the limitations of the equipment are in your particular shop.

DOT SHAPE AND ANGLE

The ideal halftone dot shape for printing on apparel is an elliptical dot. When outputting your film through Adobe Photoshop or similar programs choose an elliptical dot shape whenever possible.

If that is not possible, make round halftone dots your second choice. Regarding the screen angles which refers to the alignment of the dots as they reference to each individual color in the print order, a good rule of thumb for simulated process printing is to use an angle of 56 degrees for the white underbase and 26 degrees for all other colors including black.

The dot angle is another function that you can adjust when outputting through Adobe Photoshop.

One of the main purposes of adjusting the dot angles is to minimize or eliminate a moire pattern.

MOIRÉ PATTERNS

MOIRE CAUSED BY FABRIC WEAVE

Moiré is the visual effect of radiating curves created by superimposing two regular patterns. For example, a moiré pattern can result from overlapping two halftone screens of different angles, dot spacing, dot size and the weave of the fabric.

Moiré patterns are the undesirable result of rescreening an image with a different halftone screen or with the same halftone screen on an angle different from the original.

Moiré patterns create a “herringbone” appearance and make the printed image visibly distracting. Eliminating moiré can be as simple as choosing a different brand of shirt or as complicated as outputting the art at different halftone angles and reburning the screens.

Moiré in multi-color prints is covered in more detail in the chapter on simulated process screen printing.

DRAWBACKS OF VELLUM VS. FILM FOR HALFTONES

The ideal halftone dot on a film positive will be as dense a color black as possible and each succeeding color separation will line up in registration as perfectly as possible. Because of that you will find that ink jet positives or professional made film positives will produce a film positive that is vastly superior to using vellum paper.

Vellum paper will shrink as it is going through the laser printing causing a slight registration error. And the toner deposited on vellum paper from a laser printer cannot produce a dot as dark as can be obtained from an inkjet printer onto ink jet film.

As a result, we recommend that you print halftone and halftone color separations whenever possible using an ink jet printer. Be advised that to print halftone dots will require that you have a Postscript printer and/or a RIP processor for your ink jet output device. There are software utilities that can be used for creating halftone images that can be printed a regular inkjet or laser printer. Wilflexeasyart.com has a free download of one such application. Adobe Photoshop is required for the use of this halftone creation utility.

COATING YOUR SCREENS FOR HALFTONE PRINTING

Use the sharp edge of the scoop coater for mesh counts of 162 and up. Most jobs involving fine detail and/or small halftone dots do not require a heavy ink deposit and you’ll want to be able wash out the image on the screen easily. The sharp edge of the scoop coater deposits less emulsion on the screen resulting in a thin ink deposit on the printed product. For mesh counts of 162-305 and up put just one coat of the emulsion on the print side and one coat of emulsion on the inside using the sharp edge of the scoop coater.

MESH COUNT CHOICES FOR HALFTONES

For apparel printing, we recommend the following mesh counts for halftone printing. 162-200 for the white underbase and 305 mesh for all top colors. If you are printing large halftones from 25-35 lpi, you can use mesh counts as low as 140.

BURNING HALFTONE SCREENS

High end exposure units that have a light integration system are the best possible light source for screen making, particularly for exposing screens that contain halftone dots.

A light integrator is an electronic component in the exposure unit that detects and controls changes in light intensity. It will automatically adjust the light output to a consistent light level despite changes in electrical power line levels and for the light intensity changes due to the aging of the light bulb.

With a light integrator, you will be assured of getting the same amount of light each time you expose a screen.

When exposing images such as fine halftone dots, having a light integrator will improve the quality of your screens considerably. Without a light integrator, you will experience light scattering and the halftone dots will not resolve as sharply.

If you are burning screens that contain large halftone dots (25-35 lpi), almost any light source will work provided you have a dense black film positive. When burning halftone screens it is important to expose them for the correct amount of time. Over exposure will result in a screen that is difficult or impossible to wash the dots out.

An under exposed screen will result in the dots being “washed away” during the screen wash out process. Also be sure to blot out the screens with newsprint or newspaper after the wash out process so no clogging will occur during the screen drying process.

WASHING OUT HALFTONE SCREENS

As was previously noted, care must be taken when washing out any screen that contains halftones. If your screen is exposed properly you should not experience any problems. Washing out a screen containing halftone dots should not be any more difficult than washing out any other type of screen.

PRINTING HALFTONES

This discussion is limited to manual screen printing only. The angle, pressure, and speed at which you pull the squeegee will effect how a halftone dot is printed on the substrate. Our recommendation is to use as little pressure as possible to clear the ink from the screen and to print at a regular and deliberate speed at a normal squeegee angle.

You want to try to print “like you are a machine” with consistent, repeatable strokes of the same angle, pressure and speed. Automatic screen printing machines always produce a better result than a manual printer and your goal is to try to “emulate an automatic press” in your printing technique.

Avoid flood stroking if possible and use as few strokes as possible with one stroke being ideal.

Probably the most important element that will control manual halftone printing is the angle of the squeegee.

The more the squeegee is angled downward (assuming equal pressure and speed in the stroke) the more ink that will be deposited and the darker the print will become. Printing halftone dots by hand to achieve good looking prints requires a certain amount of practice and experimentation.

Further, it is recommended that the squeegees that you use for printing halftones have sharp blades that are free of nicks and other imperfections and are of medium, hard, or multi-durometer.

Again, practice makes perfect. The more experience that you have, the better you will become at printing halftones.

DEALING WITH DOT GAIN

As mentioned above, it is important that you limit the number of strokes, be mindful of your squeegee angle, and control ink buildup on the bottom of the screen once that starts to become a problem. Dot gain is simply the function of the halftone dot enlarging in size during the printing process. While it can not be eliminated completely, it can be controlled to some extent by using the proper printing techniques described and by periodic “wiping clean” the bottom of the screens during the print run.

]]> http://www.screenprinting-aspa.com/2010/05/halftone-printing/feed/ http://www.screenprinting-aspa.com/2010/01/use-your-e-mail-address-as-a-branding-tool/ http://www.screenprinting-aspa.com/2010/01/use-your-e-mail-address-as-a-branding-tool/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:21:12 +0000 admin http://www.screenprinting-aspa.com/?p=2607 Use Your E-mail Address As a Branding Tool
————————————————-
By Wanda Loskot

Even before you launch your website, you can (and should) begin
to use your domain name. Why? Because it is the worlds cheapest
advertising tool and an excellent way to brand your business.
How? By using your domain name in your email address and in your
signature file.

If your email address reads yourname@aol.com or you@bell.com -
you are branding the name of your Internet Service Provider. Why
should you do it? Your ISP doesn’t pay you for it. Indeed, you
pay THEM a monthly fee!!!

Quite likely you were not aware that you do have a choice here.
Instead of advertising Earthlink, GTE, BellSouth, or AOL, you
can advertise and brand your own business and your own name.

In case you didn’t know, here is how it works. For example, my
own service provider is home.com — but my e-mail program is
configured so, that the address I use in my “from” field says
“wanda@loska.com”. I can do that because my web host provides
me with a forwarding service. That means, any message sent to
wanda@loska.com is forwarded automatically to my *home.com*
account.

Don’t think that you need to launch your web site to be able to
do this — even if you are not ready, you can use this feature.
I suggest that once you get a domain name, you set up a simple
page like this: http://internetsuccesscoach.com/bizcard.html
– but even this is not necessary.

To use your domain name in email address, you only need to have
a domain name and a decent web host. Yes, really. With domain
name registration costs as low as $9.95 per year, and with web
hosting fees around $15-30 per month — can you afford NOT to
do it? I don’t think so!

To register a domain name, you might want to use a special
name-find tool at http://BuyDomains.com  — it allows you to
search for the domain names containing your specific key words.
Excellent time saving device!

When choosing your domain name keep this in mind:

-> Select a name that is not only easy to pronounce and easy to
spell — make sure that it spells the SAME way as it sounds.

-> Avoid hyphens, numbers and abbreviations to prevent future
confusion — unless registering both versions — for example,
I registered both domain names: EMailMarketingTips.com and
E-MailMarketingTips.com

-> Chances are that the name you really want is not available as
dot-com anymore. If so, select another, less perfect name, but
try to get dot-com before you opt for .net or .org — or any
other extensions.

-> Make it is as short as possible. Yes, virtually all one word
domain names with dot-com extension are taken, but don’t give
up too easily on two-word names. There are still many great
ones available.

-> Three, or even four-word domain names can be good too if
they are not too long. Make sure you count syllables as well.
If it is easy to pronounce and under six syllables, most
likely it is fine (my http://InternetSuccessCoach.com has three
words and six syllables for example)

Using your own domain name is not only cost-free branding tool.
In addition this type of email address adds instant credibility
to your correspondence and - even more important - your e-mail
address will stay the same even when you change your ISP (and
most likely you will, trust me!).

*   *   *

Wanda Loskot is professional speaker and business coach for small
business owners and self-employed professionals who LOVE what they
do - but HATE selling. For a cornucopia of free business strategies,
marketing tips, teleclasses and other valuable resources visit
Wanda’s Success Connection at http://loska.com

———————————–
(c) Wanda Loskot

Even when you grow your business through referrals, from time
to time you need to advertise. Make sure that you do not become
a victim of these common - and very costly - advertising myths:

MYTH # 1
=> The ad needs to be substantially large to generate a good response.

Wrong. Some small ads dramatically out pull the big ones. Many
of the most successful ads in history were quite modest in size.

MYTH #2
=> Use a lot of “white” space because people will not read crammed copy.

Not true. Some very effective ads are packed with so much
information that they look pretty awful — yet they make the
telephone ring and they sell a lot of products and services.

MYTH #3
=> Ads in reverse, white text on black or color background get better response.

Quite the contrary — ads in reverse print, when tested against
traditional layout, generate significantly less interest (and
fewer calls).

MYTH #4
=> The best section for your ad is your own business trade section.

Not necessarily. Some of the highest quality leads you can
generate are from people who are not actively looking for your
kind of service or product.

MYTH #5
=> The shorter your message, the better because people get bored with a long copy.

Quite the contrary. People who are not interested in what you
have to offer will be bored, but those who are interested will
read every single word, even if it is long copy (unless it is
boring copy, for example bragging about you and your business).

MYTH #6
=> Use original titles and clever words so that your ad gets noticed.

Not a good idea. Cute and original advertising often confuses
serious shoppers. The most effective advertising is quite “low
brow” stuff.

MYTH #7
=> Watch what the big guys are doing and follow their proven ideas.

Ouch! Large companies have different objectives and quite often
expect different results from their advertising than do small
businesses. They generally get more benefits from so called
“institutional advertising.” Small businesses have no matching
budget and have vastly different needs.

Now, when you know what doesn’t work - would you like to find out
what works? Visit http://www.advertisingcoach.com for many tips,
strategies and teleclass “How to Make Your Advertising Work”

*   *   *

Wanda Loskot is professional speaker and business coach for small
business owners and self-employed professionals who LOVE what they
do - but HATE selling. For a cornucopia of free business strategies,
marketing tips, teleclasses and other valuable resources visit
Wanda’s Success Connection at http://loska.com

Someday the time will come when you are ready to sell your business.  Maybe you want to retire, have become ill, or maybe you’re just ready to move onto other things.  Whatever your reason, selling a business is an involved process.  It can be made much easier if you follow some simple to follow steps.

GET YOUR FACTS AND FIGURES READY
All interested buyers in your business will want to see your business figures–your cash flow, annual sales, operating expenses, equipment inclusions, asking price, etc. Gather all of the documents necessary and have them ready. Take photos of your business, your equipment–everything that will be included in the sale. You will need all of this information when you start the promotion and marketing of your business.

HOW DO I SET MY ASKING PRICE?
This is probably the most sought after answer by everyone selling a business. This is a tough question with no easy answer.  An old “rule of thumb” selling price “estimator” that is sometimes used is 2.5 to 3 times the cash flow.  This may be used as a “ball park” estimation but has no real scientific basis for establishing a selling price. If it is possible (and applicable for your type of business), it is better to use a “comparables” method.  If you are in a business where competitors with similar values as yours have sold recently in your area, you can compare their selling price to help establish your selling price. Using the “comps” method is popular in real estate transactions.  Seek advice of experts and take your time in setting your selling price.  Remember that the sale will almost always involve bargaining on the price, so set your price accordingly.

PROMOTE THE SALE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Finding prospects is the name of the game and reaching prospects via the internet is one of the best ways today. Buyers search the internet to find out the information they want and they want to find things quickly. There are several websites that are very useful to find prospects for your business. Take a look at Ebay, BizBuySell.com,  BuyBusiness.com, and Bizilla.com. Research websites to list your business by doing an internet search for “sell your business.”  If you want to restrict the sale of your business to local buyers only, look into advertising in local business newspapers and general circulation newspapers in your area.  You may also want to have your business for sale listed in commercial “real estate books” as well.  This will require that you sign up with a sales agent.  See below for details.

CAN I DO IT MYSELF OR DO I NEED A BROKER?
This is a question that can best be answered by the size of your business and the amount of personal involvement that you are willing to expend. Many small businesses can often be sold by the seller alone. A large business will most likely require the services of a broker. A broker (or local real estate agency) will list your and promote business for sale for a fee.  Expect to pay anywhere from 8 to 10% of your selling price.  It is not essential that you use a broker. No matter how you how you decide to sell your business, it is recommended that you consult with a competent legal adviser for advice. Let them look over your agreement of sale and all of the important documents relating to sale of your business.

PERSISTENCE
In a soft economy, it can be difficult to get your business sold.  It may be difficult and take longer, but it is not impossible. Be persistent and don’t give up.  There is almost always a buyer for a profitable business. Be patient.

PROTECT YOURSELF
Being careful about disclosing sensitive information about your business is very important.  Often, competitors and others may want to find out “inside” information on a business.  Protect yourself.  Screen all prospects carefully. Use a confidentiality agreement requiring non-disclosure of information and require completion and submission of a financial qualifications form to weed out spies and scammers.  Consult with a competent legal adviser to provide additional guidance on this important subject.

“PACKAGE” YOUR BUSINESS FOR ONLINE SELLING
Build (or have built) a custom website to showcase your business.  Let your prospects learn about your business by just “clicking away.”  Having a “business for sale” website will answer most of the questions that prospects want to know about your business. A custom “business for sale” website will save you much time by not having to answer the same questions over and over again.  SellYourBiz.aspa7.com builds “business for sale” websites at very affordable prices.

GET IT SOLD
By following the guidelines above, you can make the business selling process much easier.  Consider the six “P’s for selling a business: Preparation, Price, Promotion, Persistence, Protection, and Packaging. These are the keys to success. Implement them properly and get it sold!