Screenprinting

 

Screen Printing

EmbroidMe Perth CBD offers a complete screen printing service on a large range of clothing and promotional products  including T-Shirts, Polo Shirts, Jumpers, Umbrellas, Bags and other materials. 


Screen Printing options include:

                - Spot colour print
                - PMS colour matching
                - Full process/CMYK colour print
                - Stretchable inks for lycra garments
                - Puff print
                - Fabric sublimation

Please call us to discuss your screen printing ideas.

Screen Printing - How does it work?
Promotional Products and corporate gifts come in many shapes, sizes and materials, all of which dictate the embellishment options available. Over the next few issues, "How do I?" will cover Pad Printing, Screen Printing, Laser Engraving and Dye Sublimation, to help you understand the processes involved.
Screen Printing
Screen printing is cost effective especially on large volumes, where block colours and large images are required. Ideal for printing blocks of colour on a wide range of substrates, screen printing can apply quite thick layers of ink. The surface does not have to be printed under pressure and inks can be used to work with a variety of materials, such as textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, glass, metal, and plastic. 
Screen print stencil
So how does it work?
Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas and onto the garment.  Multi colour images have the each colour printed one after the other onto the substrate, so a separate screen is required for each colour.  
Screen Print Methods
screen printingPlastisol the most common plastisol based print used in garment decoration. Good color opacity onto dark garments and clear graphic detail with, as the name suggests, a more plasticized texture. This print can be made softer with special additives or heavier by adding extra layers of ink. Most plastisol inks require heat (approx. 300 degrees fahrenheit for many inks) to cure the print. 
screen printingWater-Based inks these penetrate the fabric more than the plastisol inks and create a much softer feel. Ideal for printing darker inks onto lighter colored garments. Also useful for larger area prints where texture is important.
Four color process artwork is created using dots (CMYK) which combine to create the full spectrum of colours needed for photographic prints - this means a large number of colors can be printed using only 4 screens, making the set-up costs viable. The inks are required to blend and are more translucent, meaning a compromise with vibrancy of color.
Other Options include Puff, Glitter / Shimmer, Metallic and Gloss 
Typical Applicationsscreen print garments
Screen printing is cost effective especially on large volumes, where the costs of the screen can be amortised.  Items that are typically screen printed include: Apparel, bags, water bottles, compendiums, etc 

Logo / Image Artwork
The image file needs to be in a layered vector (.eps) file format. This means that the image can be resized for the best fit and also the colours separated out for the different print screens. The file must come from the original artwork and cannot be a file that is "Saved As" from a jpg. If the .eps file is not available a designer can recreate it.