"How-to" Articles on Screen Printing Techniques

All Over T-Shirt Printing

12/19/2013

All over t-shirt screen printing, commonly known as "all over printing" has become a popular method of shirt decorating.

The name "all over printing" pretty much sizes up what the print technique is all about–applying a screen print to most or all of entire print surface of the garment.

This is accomplished by having large size artwork, using large screens and printing the shirt on top of large platens.

The shirt is coated with a solution to stiffen it to make it print ready and is held to the platen with adhesive.

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How to Screen Print Caps, Hats, and Visors

12/19/2013

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Cap and hat screen printing can be tricky without the right equipment. There are numerous methods available for screen printing caps, hats and visors. Some are better than others.

One of the best solutions that we've seen (and have used) is The Hat Champ offered by Livingston Systems of Northglenn, CO. Livingston's Hat Champ is an attachment that will fit on your existing screen printing press. Special screens are not required–you can use your regular screens. These two features are very worthwhile. If you have ever used "cap screens" you know that they can be a real pain to work with. Being able to use your existing screen printing press is ideal and cost effective.

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What's the Best Type of Light for an Exposure Unit?

12/10/2013

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This one of the most popular questions that we receive at American Screen Printing Association. Many people want to build their own exposure unit for screen printing and the key component of any exposure unit is the light source.

So the question always comes up, what kind of light should I use in my exposure unit?

Before we discuss what is the best type of light for burning screens, two important questions must be asked first.

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

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How to Coat a Screen for Screen Printing

12/10/2013

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Much of your time in the screen printing process will be devoted to screen making. This includes cleaning, washing out (after exposure), reclaiming and coating screens.

You’ll need a dedicated area in your shop devoted to this process.

In this article, we cover the important details you will need to know for preparing screens for the application of emulsion.

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What do you use for Making Film Positives?

12/10/2013

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One of the most important steps in screen printing pre-production involves creating artwork for making a stencil.

After you have created your design, what do you output your artwork onto for making your film positives?

The most popular media for making film positives are vellum paper using a laser printer and inkjet film printed with a inkjet printer.

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How to Use a Squeegee Properly when Screen Printing

12/10/2013

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WRIST SUPPORTS If you are like most t-shirt screen printers, you will most likely start off in the business using a manual printing press. Using a manual press, means literally “doing the printing by hand.”

One drawback of manual printing is that using a squeegee is a repetitive task. With what is known today about carpal tunnel syndrome with regard to repetitive tasks, we highly recommends the use of wrist supports. Wrist supports (when worn properly) help protect against carpal tunnel syndrome without affecting the range of motion that is used when pulling a squeegee. Wrist supports should be worn on both wrists. They are inexpensive to purchase and are well worth the money. They are available from HarborFreight.com.

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Halftone Screen Printing

12/10/2013

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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!

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 tutorial.

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Why Do Some People Call it 'Silk Screen' Printing?

12/10/2013

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I'm sure you have had a customer walk into your screen printing shop and tell you they need to have some t-shirts “silk screened”.

If you are new to the business, you may be wondering where this expression came from.

Years ago, the fabric used in making the screens for screen printing was usually made out of silk. Silk fabric works well for the screen printing process, however it has been replaced in large part with the use of synthetic fabrics, mostly polyester.

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Curing a Screen Print

12/10/2013

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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!

This tutorial is limited to curing plastisol ink only.

IS IT “DRIED” 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 “dried,” 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.

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Emulsion vs. Capillary Film--A User Survey

12/10/2013

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As a screen printer, you make screens on a regular basis.

For your stencil making, we'd like to know if you coat your screens with emulsion, capillary film, or use both on a regular basis.

Find out the results of our worldwide survey...

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<<Previous

All Over T-Shirt Printing

How to Screen Print Caps, Hats, and Visors

What's the Best Type of Light for an Exposure Unit?

How to Coat a Screen for Screen Printing

What do you use for Making Film Positives?

How to Use a Squeegee Properly when Screen Printing

Halftone Screen Printing

Why Do Some People Call it 'Silk Screen' Printing?

Curing a Screen Print

Emulsion vs. Capillary Film--A User Survey

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