T-Shirt Screen Printing Step-by-Step
Are you new to Garment Printing? At first glance, it may seem complicated, and a little overwhelming, but once you understand the basics, it is actually very easy. This overview provides a basic understanding of how our products fit into the screen printing process. With this same screen printing technique, you can produce thousands of different types of custom imprinted garments and promotional products.
STEP 1 CREATE FILM POSITIVE Create designs using your personal computer and laser or ink-jet printer. We have a Clip-Art collection website full of millions of vectors. Make a Film Positive by printing each color of the design onto a piece of transparency film. Common software breaks your images apart easily with these fantastic clipart.
STEP 2 STRETCHING Cover a piece of mesh on frame, then stretch it tightly and use some adhesive to attach mesh on frame tightly for transferring film positive to this screen. In fact, the printing precision depends on the density of mesh. You maybe buy some finished stretched frames with mesh or do it by yourself.
STEP 3 EXPOSE SCREEN To transfer your image from the film positive to the screen, the film must be put in contact with an emulsion-coated screen and exposed to UV light. It is important to have good film-to-screen contact and precise control of exposure time.
STEP 4 DEVELOP OR RECLAIM SCREEN Washout the exposed screen with water. This removes the emulsion where the positive image was on your film, making a stencil that ink passes through when you print. Re-use screens by reclaiming (removing) the stencil after you have finished the printing.
STEP 5 REGISTER SCREEN AND PRINT GARMENTS Printing is the easy part! Register your screens by aligning the image on each screen to the film positive that has been taped to one of the pallets. Then clamp the screens in place, use the micro-registration adjustment for final alignment and print.
STEP 6 FLASH CURE Between printing colors it is often necessary to flash cure or partially cure the ink and then print another layer on top to improve printing speed.
STEP 7 CURE PRINTED GARMENT The last step is to fully cure the ink with a rotary dryer or conveyor dryer. Getting the proper ink-cure is the key to a long lasting image.