Doing Your Own Screen Printing? Follow These Tips
Screen printing can be a great way to make customized t-shirts and other types of clothing. However, the actual process of screen printing can be a bit tough for beginners. Follow these tips to help ensure that your screen printing designs come out great.
Know The Right Screen For Your Ink
You may not have thought about how the type of ink that you use will alter the screen type that you use. Screens have different mesh counts, which is the amount of threads that are used to make up the screen. A higher mesh count means more threads, which means it is harder for a thicker ink to get through the screen. Meanwhile, a lower mesh count will make it easier for a thicker ink to get through.
However, there are also times to use a high and low mesh count screen based on the type of image you are printing. If you are making simple text on a t-shirt and want the text to be clear and legible, a low mesh count screen can work great with a thicker ink. If you are trying to screen print a very detailed image, you will need to use a thinner ink with a screen that has a higher mesh count so that the details will come through.
Know How To Get Ink To Flow Easily
There are some tips and tricks to getting the ink to flow easily when screen printing. For example, if you are using metallic ink, it can be very heavy and have a hard time flowing across the screen. Try heating up the shirt by putting it in a dryer, then immediately start the screen printing process and working the ink across the surface. You'll also want to mix the ink around a bit on the screen so that it becomes a bit softer and easier to move.
Create Guides On Your Pallet
The pallet is the board that your shirts or other clothing is placed on before you bring the screen down for the printing process. It is a good idea to create some guides on this pallet so that you can align the shirt in the right position every single time. This could be something like a curved line so that you know where the collar lines up or even a straight line that matches up with a natural fold in the shirt. This helps ensure that every shirt is similar with the position where the printed image is.
For more information about screen printing, reach out to a professional.
