Screen Printing Process
We get a lot of questions from our customers and prospective customers about the Screen Printing Process. Today I’m taking the time to write a brief article about the process that we use to create your custom garments. The Screen Printing Process is fairly simple, yet there are so many factors that need to be just right in order to get a high quality print. A lot of garment decorators plunk down a chunk of cash to get their first manual screen printing press and within hours are running off their first prints. Most of the time, manual screen printing presses that are printing one or two color jobs look pretty good! But when you want to get into 4 color process printing or simulated process with unique and complex art work, that is where experience, special equipment and know how come into play.
Screen Printing Process
The traditional Screen Printing Process involves the use of specially manufactured silk screens in metal frames, a coating called emulsion, a screen printing press and specialized screen printing inks. The first step in the Screen Printing Process is to coat and dry a silk screen. Once ready, the artwork for the job is output onto a special film and then “burned” into the processed silk screen.
After the screens are ready, the press operator loads the screens onto the screen printing press, performs a registration to ensure that the artwork colors line up, and then a test strike is completed. Once inspected, the production begins. The Screen Printing Process is not complex, but it does require attention to detail and patience to ensure quality on every strike.
There are many fine details to a successful screen print that I didn’t cover in this small article, things like screen mesh count, newtons for tension setting, ink blending and mixing and a wide array of other technical Screen Printing Process terms and these nuances separate the professional printers from the novice, and they are also why when you are seeking to design and print a line of t-shirts or other garments, consulting with a professional is a good idea.
If you are in the process of trying to identify a high quality and fair priced Screen Printing Process partner, please consider giving us a call (908) 806-8337 or email us.
Screen Printing Process