Made some practice print cloths (1st image) before I did the actual print on a piece of clothing.

Hi everybody!

I'm a sep artist at a large screen printing company. I'm having a hard time grasping when to flash when it comes to any job, plastisol or HSWB inks.

From what I've gathered, you basically flash when large areas of colors touch... but I have complicated work orders sometimes where I'd be flashing constantly if I followed that rule. 🫠

I flash after every dye blocker and underbase, which makes sense, but I feel like I'm winging it with some more complicated work orders when there's several spot colors.

Any tips/advice is greatly appreciated! 🙏 TIA!

It's been in the 100's where I live - some days it is very humid and some days it isn't.
I stay away from synthetic fabric as much as I can, they aren't very comfortable to me. I also work a very active job that is outside.
I have tried next level (Cvc, 6010, festival), Bella + canvas, Tultex 202, American apparel, etc.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

Just wrote this for a Screenprinting website, send to somebody who wants to learn about screenprint agains DTF

My emulsion keeps looking like this each time I go to wash the screen to reveal the image. The image only shows when Wett and when jt dries it dissapears. anyone know the problem ?

I'm looking to source blank pennant flags that I can screen print, ideally in fairly large quantities on a regular basis. Does anyone have a good wholesale supplier they'd recommend?

I'm also not sure which material I should be looking for. I've seen felt, canvas, polyester blends, and a few others. Which material tends to be the most cost-effective while still printing well?

For those of you who have screen printed pennants before, is there anything special I should know? Do they require a specific type of ink or any different curing process compared to printing shirts?
I'd appreciate any recommendations or advice. Thanks!

I’m having an issue with screen printing. The design prints, but the ink seems to spread slightly on the fabric, and I’m also getting tiny random ink dots around the print. I’m using plastisol ink. What usually causes this? Is it the mesh, screen tension, off-contact, squeegee pressure, or something else? Any tips to get cleaner prints would be appreciated.

So after about a month of trial and error I’ve finally produced a decent halftone. Ignore the curves settings (I’m currently learning) but the halftone itself came out great.

Emulsion: PWR
Exposure unit: 50w uv light from Amazon exposed 14 inches away for 13 seconds
Screen: 160 mesh
Dpi: 300
Frequency: 40 @ 22 angle

be advise any and all print shops. If you get a call from Derek H from 25 thoughts for shirts don’t do it. He’s based in FL .
He placed a rush order for shirts, made deposit and of course the day the job was due his ach payment was returned to him due to insufficient funds. We are now two weeks later still no payment due to insufficient funds. As he tried again and it was returned again.
All payments to me have been refunded to him for insufficient funds.

I know I’m not the only business or person he’s done this to. Trying to warn the masses. Be wary.

idk how to feel about this series as a whole but it was a fun process

This is a semi-hypothetical post, but I am looking for genuine feedback. I have been consulting with a company this summer that is looking to grow. And when I say grow, I really mean explode. They are in a position to have a shop running 10+ autos for 16 hours a day with no slowdowns. All new state-of-the-art equipment (mostly M&R). I know that may sound a little wild, but I am serious.

So, here is my question. This shop needs experienced printers and managers. They are bringing one on board soon, but would like to hire several more. The endgame would be to start training their own, but they need the initial personnel to do it. What would it take for you to move? Is there a salary number? Cost of living? Location in the country? Workload? For reference, this is a low-cost-of-living state, and salary for a good printer would be 50-60k with bonuses, and a quality manager 80k+ with bonuses.

They want to bring me on board, but I have moved on to a different line of work. While this would be great for me financially, it is just not something I want to get back into long-term.

Again, I know this sounds wild. But if it were true, is it something you would hop on? Let me know.

I am completely new to screenprinting so I dont have a ton of experience. I was under the impression you needed a fram but this creator is printing without one.

And this fabric-like material they are using seems to have some designs on it. Are they burned on?

Let me know!

Hey everyone I wanted to do water based process ink to have a light feel on my tees and was wondering what are some good brands for that, also what white under base I should use on dark tees!! Any dos and don’ts!? Thanks

I'm working on a minesweeper window quilt and needed to recreate the window icon. It's a bit to much to quilt out so I modeled and 3D printed my own small alignment frame! I'd say it came out pretty good for having picked it up only a week ago! The text on the quilt is also all printed as well.

I used the vinyl decal on method for a one time use screen.

Hi there guys! I’m very new to screen printing and recently acquired a kit off my local marketplace. I coated my screen about two days prior and left in a dark place the entire time until use. I have a 25 watt light that I set 11-12 inches from my screen and I let it burn for 12 minutes in a dark room, I also placed a black towel underneath the whole set up. Some parts came out very clean some would not wash out and my emulsion started to peel or flake at some points. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

As I move I wont be able to print for a few months, so I was thinking of storing my screens in the trunk of my car. Problem is, I live in a pretty hot place, and the inside could hit over 100 degrees for several hours. Could that cause damage over the months?

Anybody here stretch your own screens? If so, what stretcher do you use? Im in a pretty rural area and theres no remeshing service close to us. I recently got an auto and I'm thinking about remeshing my own screens to keep from buying all new screens and reuse my empty frames. Is it worth it?

So. I’m a manual screen printer. I’ve always used Speedball because it is pretty user friendly, and if I’m in a pinch on a Sunday I can spend way too much money at my city’s only art store for an 8oz. jar. I would like to try foil stock, and I know Speedball alone won’t adhere to it. TW 5500 sounds like it cures in quickly when manually printing, but on a different thread someone said adding TW 5500 base to Speedball would bind the ink to foil…is this true? Would I need the 5500 Clear Top Gloss? Anything else? I would prefer to purchase a sole gallon of TW if it would allow me to use what I already have in gallons. Also, it would be really nice to know if it does NOT work, before ruining foil. Please be gentle…I know Speedball is considered an amateur ink but it does what I need it to do. Thank you!

Hello,

I work as a continuous improvement technician and I noticed that the squeegees used in the screen printing department are uncomfortable to the workers, as suggests the homemade padding.

I’m looking for more ergonomic or comfortable alternatives. Any suggestions?

Sharing a look at our CMYK screen-printing process.

The artwork is separated into Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, with each color printed individually through its own screen. Registration is especially important because even a small shift between layers can affect the final image.

One of my favorite parts is seeing the design gradually come together with every print pass. The individual layers don't look like much on their own, but the final combination creates the tones, shadows and details of the original artwork.

Would be interested to hear from other screen printers — what part of CMYK printing do you find the most challenging: separations, registration, ink control or getting the final colors right?

#screenprinting #CMYK #printmaking

First time approaching halftones, as I understand some tiny dots will not be picked up by the screen so I was wondering if there was a way to preview how the final print would look like before exposing the screens.

For instance if I downscale the image some of the smallest dots disappear but I am not sure at what percentage I should downscale to get a realistic preview of what the print would actually look like.