Are you a decorator of custom printed apparel?  Do you offer heat applied custom printed transfers to apparel? Do you offer heat press transfer printing, screen printing, embroidery, or direct to garment printing? If so, get recognition of your student's and/or employees' skill and knowledge as custom apparel decorators and enhance your business or employment prospects.

Introducing the ASPA Custom Apparel Decorating Specialist program. Submit our easy-to-complete online program application. Upon successful evaluation, you and/or your print shop or training facility will be listed in the ASPA roster of Custom Apparel Decorating Specialists. You will receive the ASPA Certificate of Recognition and the Custom Apparel Decorating Specialist (CADS) link will be added to your ASPA member listing on the ASPA Member website.

Print shops, CTE schools, rehabilitation, and correctional facilities as well as individuals can all participate in the program. If you are training students and employees on the techniques of heat applied transfers or DTG printing, we can certify your program and issue ASPA recognition certificates to those who complete your training program.
 
Let your customers and employers know that you are an expert in the field of custom apparel decorating.  Sign up for our exciting new program today!

ASPA has a new certificate granting program for graphic artists--The ASPA Graphic Artists of Merit program. It replaces our successful ASPA Certified Graphic Artist program that was in operation for over ten years and was used by artists in print shops, student artists in schools and freelance artists throughout the world.

Our new program has been completely revised and expanded. It recognizes student artists, graphic artists, cartoonists, digital artists, and illustrators for their creative efforts. It's purpose is to motivate students and artists by giving third party recognition of their talent and ability. 

The ASPA Graphic Artists of Merit program is easy for artists to participate. Artists submit a design to us online. Your artwork submission can be a simple, one color line art or text design, a multi-color design, realistic or cartoon style artwork. You only need to submit one design.

We'll review your artwork and issue a Graphic Artist of Merit certificate upon a satisfactory evaluation. Our evaluation system takes into account several factors that enables most artists to pass without difficulty. All artists who receive a satisfactory evaluation receive a printed certificate and will be listed on the roster of ASPA Graphic Artists of Merit and become ASPA Associate Members at no charge (a $30 value). The ASPA Graphic Artist of Merit badge is available for placement on your website or blog.

The participation fee is $39.  Which includes artwork evaluation, preparation of certificates and mailing.

Visit here to learn more and to participate in our new program for artists.

Because of the obstacles created by the COVID virus, the way screen printing is being taught has changed in many schools. Teachers must find a program that fits their specific needs and works within the requirements and restrictions of their school. Maybe it is teaching remotely. Maybe it's an assessment test for the end of the semester. Or maybe it's using lesson plans that cover all the basics of screen printing in a logical, sequential manner. ​

American Screen Printing Association can help you put together a custom teaching plan that will work for you, your school, or organization. We have helped many schools across the country, providing them with the tools and training materials they need. Some of the largest school districts in America use our certification program for their screen printing and graphic arts students. Many times we have to customize a program to fit special needs of a school. If you have special circumstances and need to provide custom screen printing training or testing, we can help you.  

ASPA screen printing training options include:

• Online individual training. Our Diploma in Screen Printing training course provides remote online training using our training website. All your students need is a computer with internet access – no screen printing equipment is necessary. They can study in their home or other remote location.
• ASPA Lesson plans. Our lesson plans provide a method for teaching what students need to learn, how it will be taught and how learning results will be measured.
• Final exam. Our Certified Screen Printer (CSP) online exam can be used as a final review of the screen printing topics covered and valuation of each student's knowledge of the subject. Some schools don't allow students to get online for training or testing. For those students, our exam is available in written and PDF form.​

Use all our training components or just some...
If you have a program in place and have been teaching screen printing, you may only want to use the ASPA CSP exam. We allow for an open book test and there is no time limit for taking the exam. But as the test administrator, you control the parameters within your classroom.

Whether you already have a program in place or are just starting out, our 21 Lesson Plans are a useful training tool. They were created with a standard lesson plan format and teach the fundamentals of screen printing in a step by step manner. You are also given access to our training website which not only covers the basics of screen printing but presents many useful advanced and business topics as well.

Screen printing is a trade that can be learned by just about any student and can provide a marketable skill for gaining employment. Screen printing has been around for a very long time and there will always be a need for individuals who know how to screen print or perform other duties in a print shop. Employment opportunities for screen printers will continue to exist. And there will be those who become entrepreneurs and start their own printing businesses. Real world job skills that have proven to provide jobs is not a thing of the past.