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"Here's How You Can Design And Create Your Own Graphics Without Photoshop, Quickly & Easily With Our Step-By-Step Video Tutorials"

The GIMP Software is Free to Download and use.

"In Just A Few Hours or Days Following My Step-By-Step Online Video Tutorials, I'm Confident You Will Be Able To Start Editing & Manipulating With Graphic Design."

From:American Screen Printing Association, Inc.
Subject: Graphic Design Simplified With Gimp™

Dear ASPA Friends,

Do you want to start creating your own graphics using GIMP, but have no idea how to get started?

Are you already a graphics expert but struggle when you try to de-code the tricks and unusual interface of GIMP?

Well I am about to reveal the step-by-step guide to becoming a GIMP guru and make your graphics stand out from the crowd… in under 3 hours!

GIMP is an amazing Open Source graphics program that is practically a direct clone of Adobe Photoshop. This incredible graphics program is FREE to download and use… and the quality of graphics that GIMP produces is superior to any program that costs $200, $400 or even $600 dollars!

It’s really no surprise that GIMP has become a favorite with seasoned experts and graphic newbies all over the globe. But there is one thing that really holds most people back from becoming a GIMP master… learning how to use it can be overwhelming… even for graphic designers who use these types of programs on a daily basis.

A Simple, Easy-To-Follow, And Entertaining Video Tutorial On How To Become A Seasoned Pro At GIMP

You can discover the secrets to create top-notch graphic work in under 180 minutes!

Even if you have never used any other graphics program my video tutorial will allow you to discover all the little tricks, step-by-step. You will be amazed at your own abilities and you will be amazed at how easy it really is (once you know exactly what you are doing).

With my GIMP Video Series I leave no stone unturned. I will show you every tool, every trick and every shortcut you need to start designing amazing graphics.

Just take a second and look at the complete GIMP Video Series and what doors it can open for you…

"Graphic Design Simplified With GIMP™"

This video coaching series come in the form of 28 videos that you view on your computer. I've included a full list for you here:

Effective and Powerful Information… No Filler Allowed!

This isn’t information that you’re going to spend hours reading, this isn’t a dull eBook that will put you to sleep… My GIMP Video Tutorial set is a series of professionally created videos that showcase everything you need to know to start designing graphics that literally JUMP off the page.

With The GIMP Video Series you won’t be sitting in front of a computer for hours watching someone tell your boring facts and useless data. I make a point to make my professionally developed videos fun, informative and B.S. FREE!

Don’t Waste Hundreds of Dollars on Expensive Programs or Bad Freelancers… Download GIMP for FREE!

If you are truly serious about designing your own images and advancing your skills as a graphic designer, you really only have 2 choices…

• You can spend hundreds of dollars on a professional graphics program and waste countless hours taking their boring, computer-generated online tutorials…

OR

• You can download GIMP 100% free, RIGHT NOW, and utilize my GIMP Video Series to start designing professional and high-quality graphics in only 180 minutes…

The choice really is obvious.

You can uncover everything you need to know about becoming a GIMP graphics expert in 180 minutes. I will walk you through everything, step-by-step, from the installation to the shortcuts.

I even take the extra time to reveal how to create additional graphics… this is stuff that even regular GIMP users don’t know about… and I will show you how to make your images stand out above and beyond your competition.

That being said and done, all that remains is for you to put the video tutorials into action. The ball is now in your court, click on this link below inside the box to download your videos.

Yes ASPA! I want to be able to work with Graphics using Gimp. Please give me immediate online access to Graphic Design Simplified with Gimp!

One-Time Payment Of $37 Only $12

INSTANT ACCESS
Purchase Online with Paypal or Credit/Debit Card by Secure Server

Sincerely,
M.W. Berda, American Screen Printing Association

P.S: Just think! You’ll never again suffer through the pain and hassle of trying to figure out how to use GIMP. Now, you can get these tutorials all shown for you, practically handed to you on a silver platter. You simply watch the videos at the comfort of your home…and you’re practically done in a few hours!

P.P.S: Look at it this way — $12 is really a painless drop in the bucket compared to the time & money you're going to waste trying to figure it our all by yourself.

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In case you aren't familiar with it, Paint.net is a free image editing program with many of the features of Adobe Photoshop. It's an open source program and is free. The fact that it is free is amazing, considering that is an advanced, polished program with a robust feature set. Not only is it fast, it also allows for the use of “plug-ins”, one of which we will use to create our halftone image for this tutorial. Paint.net is an excellent alternative to GIMP (another great free image editor) as it is somewhat easier to learn and use.

The halftone conversion that we will do in this tutorial will produce a halftone image of approximately 35 lines per inch. 35 l.p.i. dots are fairly large. However, these “big dots” produce an image that is an easy to print film positive and an easy to expose screen. You could use a screen as coarse as 155 mesh to print a 35 lpi halftone dot. However, a 180 to 205 mesh count screen coated with one light coat per side of photopolymer emulsion would be ideal. If you need a finer halftone image (45 to 65 l.p.i), you will need to use Adobe Photoshop and and an application like Wilflex EasyArt Print Halftone (Automated Photoshop Actions).

To get started, go to: http://www.getpaint.net/ and download the program. Follow the instructions and install it on your computer. Next go to: http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au/Download/PluginsPack/ and download the Paint.NET Megalo Effects Plugin Pack. (download the ZIP file.) This 500+ effects plug-in set has many useful effects that you can use in Paint.net. We are going to use two of the effects for this tutorial. Once you have the Effects zip file downloaded on your computer, go to: http://boltbait.com/pdn/InstallingEffects.asp to see how to install the plug-ins. Follow the instructions carefully. If you do so, you will see that only takes a few clicks to easily install the plug-ins into Paint.net.

Now, let's do a image conversion of a color photograph to a halftone image. First, start the Paint.net program. Next, open a color photograph to do a test conversion. An image that we'll use for our tutorial can be downloaded here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=face&ex=2#ai:MP900426564|mt:2| An ideal file would be a high resolution .tiff or .psd file, but we're going to use this low resolution .jpeg file as it is easily available as a free download, courtesy of Microsoft Office.

Start the conversion:

Select File > Open and load the image into the program.

Next, select Adjustments > Black and White. This will convert the image into a grayscale photograph.

Next select: Effects > Stylize > Halftone.

Use the following settings:

Shape: Dot

Size: 4

Angle: 26

Contrast: 4

Brightness: 4

Quality: 5

The settings will produce a lighter image. A lighter shaded image is preferable for halftone screen printing as dot gain will continually darken the image during printing. Note that the settings indicated above are not absolute. You can make adjustments to the contrast and brightness. However, the “dot” shape is recommended as is the angle setting. The angle setting of 26 degrees is recommended as that angle setting should minimize moire when screen printing on cloth fabric like t-shirts.

The last step in the conversion is to eliminate all grayscale and convert to a simple black and white image. Do this by selecting Effects > Artistic > Stencil, bias: 127 (which is the default). Increasing the bias will produce a darker image. That's it, you're done!

You're ready to print your film positive…

You now have a halftone image ready to printed out as a film positive for making a stencil. Inkjet film would be ideal but vellum paper can also be used as your “film.” Your goal is to have a film positive with the darkest dots possible so that exposing and washing out the screen will be easy.

A few final words…

Don't be afraid to experiment with the settings to see what effect they have on your image. Do a few sample print-outs and compare them–then choose the best results. You can always go back and start over if you don't like what you see. Also, don't be alarmed by the “grainy” image displayed on your computer screen. When you print out your film positive and hold it back at a distance of few feet, you will see that you have a decent halftone image that will be acceptable for many print projects.

If you want a complete bundled package of everything mentioned in this tutorial, order the ASPA Halftone Bundle pack. We gathered everything mentioned in this article and bundled it into one bundled zip file–available as one quick download. You'll get the latest version of Paint.net, Megalo 500+ Effects Plug-ins, a sample image to halftone, and these instructions explaining how to do the halftone conversion. It's available as download from the ASPA Store for only $5.

ASPA's T-Shirt Training Set has our two popular t-shirt screen printing training programs bundled together—at one low discounted price!

The set includes “The Secrets of Printing T-Shirts and How to Make Big Money!” Ebook training course. Over 47 chapters on every aspect of the t-shirt printing business. From start-up planning to marketing, setting prices and other important business procedures as well as fully detailed information on printing techniques and equipment is provided.

Our 2 hour training video “The 15 Essential Steps to Screen Printing T-Shirts” provides thorough “see how it’s done” video instruction on all facets of t-shirt screen printing. Creating “production ready” art for making a stencil, printing techniques, reclaiming screens–all of the vital topics of the screen printing process are covered.

Sold separately, these sell for $29.99 each. Buy the bundled set at a 16% discount for only $49.99!

If you really want to learn the t-shirt printing business, order ASPA's Training Set today!

Available as a download only. (Your download will be sent within 12 hours of purchase.)

ORDER NOW!

Date: April 22, 2013

Trade Association: American Screen Printing Association

To better protect its brand, United Way Worldwide has announced policy changes regarding trademark usage on promotional products.  Effective January 1, 2013, distributors and screen printers are required to be licensed in order to use the United Way trademarks on products. Trademarks include the iconic United Way Brand mark as well as the newer LIVE UNITED® logo.

Products inside the broad category of promotional products, including apparel, awards, cups, bags, signs, and the like, are all affected. The new licensing model will help ensure consistency in promoting the Brand’s visual identity, while strengthening United Way’s ability to effectively communicate its message.

Distributors and screen printers seeking to continue selling United Way branded products should email a request for further information to brandlicensing@uww.unitedway.org.  A response email will provide a brief summary of the new licensing requirements, a license application, and a draft license. The licensing process generally takes about two weeks.

United Way Worldwide is the leadership organization for the United Way network and the owner of the United Way Brand marks.

1. What type of emulsion or capillary film will you be using?
2. What type of artwork will you be working with?

TYPE OF EMULSION

Most people who want to build their own exposure unit mistakenly think that the light source is the most important consideration. It isn't. While the light source will determine what kind of art you can use to make a stencil, the type of emulsion or capillary film that you use is actually more important. If you think of emulsion (or capillary film) as the “photographic film” used to make your stencil, think in terms of speed and light sensitivity. Photopolymer emulsion is very sensitive to light. It exposes very quickly and has a wide exposure time range. Manufacturers developed photopolymer emulsion products because they know that many screen printers use an exposure light source that is less than ideal. Photopolymer liquid emulsions (and photopolymer capillary film) work well even with poor light sources. Using a photopolymer emulsion (compared to a diazo-based emulsion) when you have a low UV light source will make a huge difference toward success or failure when making a stencil.

ARTWORK

The next major factor is artwork. Are you going to be screen printing images that do not have tiny dots and/or small fine lines or type? If you answered yes, the type of light that you use will not be that important. Artwork with large blocky areas and have medium to large size type can be exposed easily with any type of light source. Again, this is assuming that you are using screens coated with photopolymer emulsion. If you want to print halftone images, very fine lines, and tiny text, a low UV light source is not recommended. In that case, you will need a commercial exposure unit that uses a UV rich light source (metal halide or mercury vapor bulb) and has a light integrator to control the light output accurately during the exposure process.

TYPES OF EXPOSURE LAMPS

As previously explained, the ideal light for screen exposures is one that is rich in ultra-violet (UV) light. Fluorescent and halogen lights are low in UV light. But they are low cost to purchase and readily available. This is why most low cost exposure units have them as a light source. On the other hand, a light source high in UV, e.g. metal halide or mercury vapor bulbs are more costly, not as easy to source, and more difficult to implement into a typical home-made exposure unit. As a result, you don't see them used as often.

SUMMARY

To summarize, if you are building your own exposure unit, the type of exposure lamp that you use is not that critical if you are going to be printing “easy to expose” art and your screens are coated with photopolymer emulsion. Yes, fluorescent and halogen bulbs will work. But if you want make stencils with tiny dots, fine lines, and tiny printed type, you will have go the route of a professional grade exposure unit.

BUILDING YOUR OWN EXPOSURE UNIT and COMMERCIAL UNITS

If you want to build your own expose unit, read the ASPA article: “How to Build an Exposure Unit.” If you want more information on commercial exposure units, visit the ASPA Screen Printing Equipment and Supplies Directory>Exposure Units.

If you start from scratch, you will have the burden of making numerous critical decisions, all of which will have a bearing on the success or failure of your business. When starting from scratch, you will have to decide on a business location, equipment purchases, marketing strategies, building a customer base and numerous other mundane issues that will have to be resolved to get your business up and running. On the positive side, starting from scratch gives you the flexibility to do things exactly as you see fit. If you believe you have a better business model than your competitors, starting from scratch will you enable to prove your beliefs.

If you buy an established printing business, you are essentially buying a proven operation. Most, if not all of the major business details will have already been worked out for you. Your primary task will be to keep the business running smoothly and profitably. The drawback of buying an existing business is the purchase cost and the financial risks involved if the business should start to falter or fail. Moreover, if the business has unhappy employees, outdated equipment, etc., you will inherit these problems as well.

Which way you decide to go depends on many things, most likely the most important factor being financial considerations (how much money or credit that you have available). If you decide to start from scratch, write a well researched business plan and go from there. In preparation of your business plan, you will need to compile a list of equipment and supply purchases that will be necessary to get your printing shop into operation. A good place to start is the ASPA Screen Printing Equipment and Supplies Directory. The ASPA Directory will help you source and determine the costs for all of the equipment and supplies you will need. An excellent informational resource when planning your new screen printing business start-up is The Secret of Printing T-Shirts and How to Make Big Money training course by American Screen Printing Association, Inc. This E-book training course is one of the most comprehensive of its kind–over 47 chapters on every aspect of the t-shirt printing business from start-up planning to marketing, business procedures and fully detailed information on printing techniques and equipment.

If you have decided to purchase an existing printing operation, a good place to start is BizBuySell.com and related “businesses for sale” websites. Your local commercial real estate broker is also a good place to inquire about local businesses for sale.

Starting up or purchasing a business can be a life fulfilling venture. Do your homework thoroughly and decide what's best for your particular circumstances. Good luck!

ASPA Art Division has created a series of easy to customize Art Templates that can be used by T-shirt printers, sign makers, ad specialty firms, and more.

If you have ever used custom art templates, you know that there are only a certain number of starting design layouts and themes. We created our templates with that idea in mind.

ASPA has created a series of (10) categories of design layouts that utilize all of the essential layout designs possible including: Arched, Circular, Horizontal, Square, Triangles, Vertical/Horizontal, Paw Prints, Tails, Property of…, and “Lotsa Text.”

Unlike competitive products, ASPA Art Template Package include everything you need:  the templates, fonts, AND the vector drawing software program that you need to create and modify art templates. There are no expensive 3rd party software programs or "plug-ins" that you must buy. ASPA templates have been created with the leading open source vector drawing program — Inkscape.  

Inkscape is easy to learn and use and has the features you need to create great vector artwork. Using open source software (like Inkscape) has several important benefits including: No need for you to buy or ever pay for an upgrade of the software– it's FREE. A support network from the open source community that works–and is FREE.

Most importantly, with artwork that you create with ASPA Art Templates, you can display your art online or anywhere else without  restrictive copyright issues (assuming that you use public domain or other non-restrictive use clip art in your designs).

The designs that you create with ASPA Art Templates are your own–we do not restrict the use or display of artwork that you create with our templates.   Most competitive art template products do not offer that important feature as they legally restrict the use and display of any artwork that you create with their templates and software.

Available as a download only. (Your download will be sent within 12 hours of purchase.)

ORDER NOW! 

While we are not going to play favorites, we would like to know what computer system you use, Mac or PC? We are conducting a poll on the ASPA website to see what computer system our website users prefer. Cast your vote. The poll is located at the bottom of the page.

UPDATE: May 17, 2013. The results of our poll are in!  After receiving nearly 100 votes from users throughout the world, the PC wins out in our survey. Over 65% of respondents use a PC over slightly under 35% for the Mac.