Chapter 13
Going To Press With Screens For Printing
Now you are ready to go to press. We will assume that you are versed in the printing of a one color design; inking up the screen and flooding and stroking ink through the stencil onto the shirt with a squeegee. We will compare printing techniques later. For this part you will also need an understanding of how your press works. Get familiar with your press. Become friends with it. Name it, give it love for this machine you will be married to in a commercial business. The press can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Make sure your press is in good working order. Skimping on press maintenance and buying used equipment that is no longer in good shape is unwise. The better your press is, the easier it will be to print high quality prints quickly.
VIDEO: RANAR Elite Series II 6/6 Rotary Floor Press
VIDEO: Multiple Pallet Rotary Vs Fixed Single Pallet Presses
VIDEO: Rear Clamp Vs Side Clamp Manual Rotary Presses
In order to mount the screen in the print head with ease you can draw cross hairs on your pallet. If your pallet is somewhat clean and the cross-hair lines are dark, you will be able to see them through most emulsions before they are inked up. After the screen has been inked up and used a bit, it may be difficult to see your cross hairs on the pallet. Take the time to line up your screen properly before you ink it up.
VIDEO: Choosing The Correct Pallet Size On Press
VIDEO: Drawing Your Pallet Lines
VIDEO: Spray Tack As Insurance?
For multi color prints go from the most amount of information and the darkest color first to the lightest color with the least amount of design on the screen. I draw a cross hair on my master pallet and line up my black printer to that first. I always line up my black printer first, the one with the most information, then line all other colors up to that. Take some time to do this before inking up so you can get it as close as possible.
VIDEO: 3 Color Print Demo With Flash
VIDEO: Setting Up On The Press
VIDEO: Bella Canvas Freebie Test Printing Comparisons
When you make a cross hair use a medium tip black Sharpie and make the lines bold so you can see them through the emulsion on a new screen. Your pallet will have to be somewhat clean so you may see the black lines easily. You should not let too much shirt felt and spray tack build up on the pallet anyway. A clean, smooth pallet will give better results especially with halftones. Square the lines off with the edges using a right-angle drafting tool. It is nice when it hangs off the pallet on one side of the square so you can do it quickly by putting it flush to one edge and make sure the ruler guide is long enough to cross the pallet at least from shoulder to shoulder.
VIDEO: 2 Color Press Set Up & Test Shirt
VIDEO: How To Screen Print Tee Shirts
VIDEO: 1 Color T Shirt Print Run Demo
I make a center line and several cross hairs at different levels so I can line them up with different parts of the design on the screen. To make your center line go all the way from end to end, measure the center with a ruler and make marks down the length. Then use a long straight edge you can "connect the dots" sort to speak.
You can also make a "center line" to the left of the actual center line to get your crest prints, (over the heart), set up too. The position of that line may depend on where your shop likes to position that print. This is most useful when setting up the first screen. It makes it easy to get the design centered and lined up. Print a test print on a rag shirt on the pallet and then setting up the other screens after that you will use the registration marks on the test print on the pallet. I think the most important thing is to get to know the press. Sometimes presses can have certain characteristics and knowing them is your best tool to speed up your set up time. When I say that, it can mean simply from press to press of the same make or even presses of different brands. So, ultimately, experience will get you moving faster.
VIDEO: How To Prevent Problems By Mocking Up Your Print Jobs
Take the time to make sure you have all your screens registered as close as you can get before inking them up. When you are happy with the "dry" registration set up, ink up all your screens and do a test print and adjust using the micro registration on your press. You will also need to make sure the off contact settings on the press are sufficient. There are literally thousands of textile rotary press configurations and it is important to figure out what you will need in this area. This is probably the single most critical decision in buying screen printing equipment. Make sure you buy something that you can grow your business with for some time. It would be silly to spend a lot of money but not quite enough on a press that only meets your needs now. This will limit your ability to take jobs and earn more money as you grow. Not being able to do certain jobs because of your equipment can be frustrating.
VIDEO: 1 Color Production Run Tips
VIDEO: Basic Test Print Set Up Production Run Tips
VIDEO: Screen & Shirt Press Tips
VIDEO: Changing Ink Colors On Press Tips
VIDEO: 2 Colors With Art & Press Set Up
VIDEO: 3 Colors On A White Under Base
VIDEO: Dark Garments: 3 Colors No Under Base
VIDEO: How To Register Multi Color Jobs NO Micro Reg
VIDEO: Increasing Print Resolution And Clarity On Press
VIDEO: Viewer Created Artwork Submission Test Print
VIDEO: Unloading Shirts From A Spray Tacked Pallet
VIDEO: Loading The Pallet With Shirts
VIDEO: How To Keep Spray Tack Adhesives On Your Pallets
VIDEO: Job Break Down & Cleaning Production Tips
VIDEO: Multi Color Registration Tips & Troubleshooting