that's really up to you. doing the printing yourself would be both more profitable and more rewarding, but would also require you to put up a larger up front investment and would slow down the process as you'd have to take the time to master the craft. most people start by having someone else print the shirts, see how well the line sells, and then decide to put up the money to buy all the equipment and start doing the printing themselves. thanks for watching, hope this helps!
@oneamongful thank you, glad you liked it! yes, that's exactly the case. the gradient was transferred into tiny little black dots (or halftones) by creating a bitmap of the grayscaled image. This can either be done in a graphics program like Photoshop, or done through a printer rip software.
Thank you! We typically use plastisol ink, but sometimes use water based, acrylic, and discharge inks as well. For printing film positives, I strongly suggest an Epson printer. If you're talking about the screen printing press, there are lots of good choices out there but our favorites are Workhorse and Riley Hopkins. A 500 watt halogen exposure light is good for a beginner, but a UV exposure unit will provide better and faster burns. Haven't heard of the Black Forge squeegee unfortunately.
separations are usually done in a graphics program like Photoshop. the magic wand tool works great for this, provided you're working from a fairly good quality and high resolution image to start off with.
Thankyou, very informative, and direct. Subscribed and will be keen to see more videos when you have the time. Glad to see you enjoying yourself in the vids too.
hey there, glad you liked the video! i'd recommend our wr-25 emulsion. it's fast drying and exposing, holds up well to all inks including plastisol, water based and even discharge, and is really forgiving as far as exposure times go, so you can usually under and overexpose your screen and still get good results!
@billythebrainsoftain Thanks for the suggestion, we'll get right to work on that! Until then though, yes it's mainly making sure you expose the color layers on the same position on each screen. This is usually done using a t-square to accurately measure the location on the screen. We'll get into more detail in the video :)
Hey there, texhnically you should coat both sides at least once, and make sure to always coat the ink side last. The reason for this is you want to push all the emulsion onto the substrate or flat side. You want emulsion coated on both sides of the mesh to make sure it is really grabbing onto the mesh, and not just sitting on top of it. Hope this helps!
Thanks, glad you likes it! It depends, do you mean let the screen dry as in let the emulsion dry, or do you mean let the screen dry after you've washed it out? If you're drying wet emulsion, the screen should be in a dark room. If you're drying just a wet screen, the sun will work great :) The design part is the hardest aspect of screen printing to explain, we will be sure to try to make some videos explaining artwork in the near future!
Thanks, glad you liked it! To burn a screen DIY style you can either get a cheap but powerful light like a 500 watt halogen bulb (around $20), or you can even use the sun if it's a clear day and the sun is pretty much directly over head.
Hi there, sorry for the late response! You can either look up free plans online to build your own, or even use the sun to expose your screen. You just want to make sure you have the sun directly overhead, and not hidden behind clouds. Also, make sure to have a piece of glass on top of your film sandwiching it between the glass and coated screen, to make sure you get a crisp burn. Exposure with the screen usually takes around 1 minute, but depends on a lot of factors so experimentation is key.
Thank you! :) It depends on the emulsion that was used, but most likely the emulsion on that screen has gone bad. Once it's dried on a screen, the shelf life of emulsion is typically only around 4 days. I would try to burn it just in case, but most likely everything will wash off and you will then have to re-coat it. Hope this helps!
Hey there, glad you liked our video! You can screen print those types of designs, but you would need to do either 4 Color Process (CMYK) or simulated process, which requires multiple screens (4-6) and very tight registration. You can buy blank shirts from blankshirts(dot)com if you don't have a resellers permit, and you can buy the inks from us! Just search "process ink" in the search bar on our website :)
i'm glad my intelligence is so evident to you ;) if you're planning on just doing single color designs (which i'd recommend if you don't want to buy a press), the $50 kits are exactly what you need. no exposure light, no press, just all the stuff to get you a nice diy look.
@PinoyBboy1992 Hey there and thanks for watching! Yes, our exposure unit uses 8 uv blacklight bulbs, but really any bulb that emits uv light will work. Also, any foam would work but you really don't even need foam, you just need weight forcing the screen mesh tight against the transparency film on the glass. A cheap method is to lay black fabric over the screen to stop any light from escaping, and then put lots of heavy objects on top of the fabric and screen mesh forcing it against the film.
@schmidtstick yes, we walk our screens across our shop from the dark room where they dry to the room where are exposure unit is. a little light is ok, you just want to make sure it's not intense uv light hitting the screen for an extended period of time. so to sum up, walking the screen to your light table is perfectly fine :)
@PinoyBboy1992 That is a conveyor dryer used for doing the final cure of your inks. Flash dryers can also be used but slow down the process as you have to keep the shirt on the press while it dries. Flash dryers are much less expensive though so most beginners usually start with one of those instead ($400 vs $3,000)
Can you recommend a good way to remove the emulsion off the screen after you are done printing? The emulsion remover I used didn't take it all off. Good vid for sure!
I was so busy staring at your face, I forgot to look at your site! Nice prices! So many colors! Wish I'd found you sooner, could've saved some money and a drive across town!!! BOOKMARKED for future notice!!! :.)
If you mean the printer that prints the film positive... Epsons are said to work best (you want an inkjet for sure, laser printers can shrink and throw your separations off register). If you mean the t-shirt press, it's really hard to say because there are so many great choices out there. You can't beat Workhorse quality, they're built like tanks, but Riley Hopkins are great too and a little more affordable.
Hello. Great video. I noticed you only coated one side of the screen. I always coat both sides. What is the difference, other than saving emulsion, from only coating one side? Just curious.
@x3mhook Hey there, as said in the video the tape we were using isn't the tape we usually use, so it actually does leave a bit of a residue after removal. You should use tape especially made for screen printing, which is usually quite thick compared to normal packing tape and doesn't leave any residue on the screen after removal.
About the emulsion, it is a blue one and I mix it with a sensitizer. The light bulbs we use are 3 20-watts bulb and 4 10-watts bulb (all flourescent bulbs). The original plan was to buy 5 20-watts bulb but we didn't to save money. I experiment on the exposure time. Sometimes I expose it for 4 minutes, sometimes 10 but I think 10 minutes is too long and based on experience 10 minutes of exposure resulted in emulsion getting so hard to wash off. So 4 minutes of exposure looks fine. What you thnk?
@Rotarrius The main benefit is that when this (plastisol) ink is properly cured, it actually bonds with the fabric fibers creating a print that will pretty much last forever. With heat transfers, the print starts to peel and chip away fairly quickly.
So they're like the fluorescent black light bulbs? 4 minutes sounds about right, but if you're having problems with the emulsion coming off after printing only a couple of shirts you might want to try 6 minutes. 10 minutes definitely seems like too long. You can also try burning the screen again after you've washed the image out and let it dry, to "post expose" this screen. This will make the emulsion harder and more durable. Hope this helps!
@fallgirl07 Hey there, yes there are different kinds of screen printing inks for printing on different kinds of materials. For printing on a satin or silky fabric, you'd probably want to use a fabric water based screen printing ink. Plastisol ink also works well on fabric but needs to be heat cured at 320 degrees, which many of the more delicate fabrics such as satin and silk don't stand up to well.
I've been messin round with printing for the past 3 years and have been steppin up the professional of products from craft store supplies-now up to professional products from One Stop. I have made 2 $12 attempts/mistakes to printing onto the front flaps of messenger bags. Any tips on how to get a good contact when the flap is tough to get to lay flat!?!?!?!
@mytubenick93 and @KashClothing, You can get transparencies made at Kinkos for about $1 a piece, but the quality isn't great since they use laser printers. To get good results you usually have to order 2 of the same transparency and then tape them together. Also, most local screen print shops should be willing to print you out a transparency for a small price. We charge $5 for 8.5"x14" films and $15 for 13"x19".
Hey! These videos are so helpful, thankyou! I do have a question, though. I've just started doing screen printing for local bands in my basement, as well as doing prints for my own band. I'm having difficulty finding a print shop (like fedex office or another chain) that will make a transparency big enough for an oversized print (like 16x24). All the places I call or go to only make them 8x11.5, and I'm getting frustrated! What do the pros do? Thanks again!
Hey, awesome videos =] I have quick question I have a screen that has been coated with water based Emulsion, and its been sitting in the garage covered so no light exposed yet. What is the shelf life? Its been a month now. Would i need to recoat it? Thanks =]
@carlosantagony Haha, that 64 old screen printer sounds like quite the character. Pushing vs. pulling has not only been proven to use less energy and reduce the risk of carpal tunnel when printing, but it also produces a crisper print with more detail! Thanks for watching :)
Yeah the bag has a viynl edging(piping) around it, also a zipper under the flap. I just had a hard time getting my screen to make contact. You guys sell supplies also?
haha, i'm not an actor by any means but i'll take that as a compliment :) the foam is actually for pushing down the screen mesh to make tight contact with the film and glass. you want the film to be as tight on the screen mesh as possible to protect against light undercutting.
I have a question about the conveyor belt/screen in your tunnel dryer. What is that made out of? I'm building my own tunnel dryer and wondering what screen material will hold up to the heat. Thx.
Hi Nibras, thank you for watching and sorry you didn't enjoy the music. We know now to use less rocking music and definitely making it much quieter, if there at all. As for how long it should be exposed under the lights, there's no real straight answer for that. It totally depends on the type of emulsion being used, the screen mesh, the power of the light, distance from light, and a bunch of other factors.
@eloid777 Our exposure unit uses 8 uv blacklight bulbs and exposes in about a minute, but you can really use just about any kind of light. Exposure time depends on the type of emulsion and the type of light being used. A cheap but fairly good exposure system can be made with just a 500W halogen light (around $20) and a piece of glass to hold the transparency tight with the screen. This can expose most emulsions in around 7 minutes. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!
ha, i didn't say our equipment cost $50... i said "there are starter kits that come with everything you need for as little as $50". which is not a lie at all, we sell them on our website. the only thing the kit doesn't come with is an exposure light, but the sun acts as a great exposure unit when it's clear and overhead. thanks for watching, and glad you like the print!
Thank you for your reply rba57. We used hardener before but we discontinued it because we found out that screens with hardener are very hard to reclaim. And since we always like to reclaim to save money from building another screen.
it really depends on the type of ink and type of emulsion you are using. as long as you're using a proper emulsion for the type of ink being used, and have exposed it correctly, it would easily be able to produce over 500 prints. plastisol ink is probably the least aggressive ink on emulsion. we have often done print runs over 5,000 pieces using the same screen without it ever breaking down. water based inks break down emulsion faster, so be sure to post harden the emulsion with a hardener :)
Hey there, it shouldn't be THAT dark? Can you really not see ANYTHING? It was edited on a super bright Apple screen so that may be the problem. Thanks for the tip, will be sure to do future emulsion related videos in a less dark room :)
great video mate, I've been an offset printer for the last 22 years.... but i,am very interested in screen printing. you answered a lot of questions i had, thanks,,, keep up the good work...
i've never printed on velvet before, but i think printing with plastisol ink on velvet would work. as long as the velvet can withstand the heat from the dryer
@eloid777 For screen printing on metal you would need to use a solvent or uv ink. Solvent inks are very hazardous though so you would want to use a respirator and be in a very well ventilated work area, and uv inks require expensive machinery to cure them properly.
How long do you expose the screen in the light box? Also do you rince the screen off in a dark aria to expose the stencil? Last after the emousonj is on the screen how long can you waite till you do the print in the light box? Thanks
hey there, don't worry there's no such thing as a stupid question! to answer your question, it really depends on what you're trying to do. once you're done printing with your screen, you can either use an on press cleaner to just clean off the ink and save the same image for later, or you can use a regular ink cleaner, and then use emulsion remover to strip off the stencil. this will leave you with a clean screen that's ready for a new image. hope this helps! :)
Hey there, we didn't show us coating both sides of the screen to save time, but yes, generally speaking you should always coat each side of the screen at least once with emulsion.
Hi Michael, it is true water based inks can eat away emulsion, but there are certain emulsions especially made for use with water based inks that are much stronger. Check out our WR-25 emulsion on the website. You could still use a hardener, but shouldn't have to for runs under 1,000 pieces. When you use a hardener, you usually need a hardener remover or else reclaiming can be extremely difficult. Check out our HDX emulsion hardener remover also available through the website :)
what do you do with the screens once you're done.. do you replace the screen or how do you clean the screen for a new image to be put on it? sorry if this question sounds stupid.
@boscobear33 Hey there, exposure time varies by the power of your lights, the thickness of your emulsion coating and the emulsion itself, and the mesh count of your screen. You want to get your screen wet to stop the exposure process, but once it's rinsed you can turn on the lights and blast it out. Once the emulsion is dry to the touch on both sides, the screen is ready to be exposed in the light box.
hey so i have a few more questions...how thick is the ink once printed on the shirt? will it affect mobility of the shirt if i print too much? Can i print all over the shirt with no problem?
@serwaaakos Thank you, glad you liked it! Usually to make a distressed looking shirt you would make the art file itself look distressed by adding a grunge texture. Other techniques can be used but are harder to achieve the desired look. For example, you could burn your screen and not wash it out completely, but it's usually best to just add the distressed texture to your art work prior to burning your screen.
Informative and entertaining! Very good job. Suggestions, if I may: 1. If giving instructions in the dark, you may want to provide the text, and 2. Lower (or 86) the music so your voice won't have to compete. (The music was distracting.) Thanks.
@deavilchuan Sure, what kind of ink are you using? Water based ink is pretty easy to clean up... just need water to rinse it off! Cleaning off plastisol ink is a different story and we should have a video for that by late next week.
Couple of Questions But You Guys are AWESOME... What kind of Ink do you Use? What kind of printer does that matter?? use the 500watt exsposure unit or the or the UV screen one shown in this video?... hae you heard of the Black forge squeege does that work well?? Thanks!!! - A59
hello Anthem, I think you are the person who can answer me. What could be the reason why the emulsion slowly comes off after printing few shirts? Isn't it dry enough? or was there something wrong with the mixture of our photoemulsion. When the image is burned into the screen, we wash it and dry it up under the heat of the sun, to make sure it's dried up completely. But after printing few shirts about 30 pieces, the emulsion slowly goes away. Why?
hey there, in this video we're using plastisol ink but we work with plastisol, water based as well as some discharge. you could probably get away with using a hair dryer to cure water based ink, but an iron or heat gun would work better. hope this helps, and sorry for the late response! :)
you could find it under speedball started kits.. at your nearest art supplies but call them firts to see if they have a screen printing department..or ebay..
QUESTION!!! WHY WAS THIS IS THIS IN A SORORITY NOISE ALBUM PLAYLIST? SORRY HAD TO ASK ENJOY YOUR PRINTING
thats what i was wondering too lmao
lol i was thinking the same thing im pretty sure it was added on accident
I have been printing for 7 years ad I have never seen anyone feel so important doing it like you :P
I googled "screen printing for dummies", thankfully this was in the results. Very helpful in answering some beginner questions that I had. Thank you
that's really up to you. doing the printing yourself would be both more profitable and more rewarding, but would also require you to put up a larger up front investment and would slow down the process as you'd have to take the time to master the craft. most people start by having someone else print the shirts, see how well the line sells, and then decide to put up the money to buy all the equipment and start doing the printing themselves. thanks for watching, hope this helps!
@oneamongful thank you, glad you liked it! yes, that's exactly the case. the gradient was transferred into tiny little black dots (or halftones) by creating a bitmap of the grayscaled image. This can either be done in a graphics program like Photoshop, or done through a printer rip software.
Thank you! We typically use plastisol ink, but sometimes use water based, acrylic, and discharge inks as well. For printing film positives, I strongly suggest an Epson printer. If you're talking about the screen printing press, there are lots of good choices out there but our favorites are Workhorse and Riley Hopkins. A 500 watt halogen exposure light is good for a beginner, but a UV exposure unit will provide better and faster burns. Haven't heard of the Black Forge squeegee unfortunately.
separations are usually done in a graphics program like Photoshop. the magic wand tool works great for this, provided you're working from a fairly good quality and high resolution image to start off with.
You really know your craft! Great video. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thankyou, very informative, and direct. Subscribed and will be keen to see more videos when you have the time. Glad to see you enjoying yourself in the vids too.
hey there, glad you liked the video! i'd recommend our wr-25 emulsion. it's fast drying and exposing, holds up well to all inks including plastisol, water based and even discharge, and is really forgiving as far as exposure times go, so you can usually under and overexpose your screen and still get good results!
@billythebrainsoftain Thanks for the suggestion, we'll get right to work on that! Until then though, yes it's mainly making sure you expose the color layers on the same position on each screen. This is usually done using a t-square to accurately measure the location on the screen. We'll get into more detail in the video :)
Hey there, texhnically you should coat both sides at least once, and make sure to always coat the ink side last. The reason for this is you want to push all the emulsion onto the substrate or flat side. You want emulsion coated on both sides of the mesh to make sure it is really grabbing onto the mesh, and not just sitting on top of it. Hope this helps!
Love it guys! Great overview of the screen printing process. Well done!
Great video, thanks! One thing that I don't think was mentioned was exactly how long to expose the screen - but otherwise very clear instructions.
Thanks, glad you likes it! It depends, do you mean let the screen dry as in let the emulsion dry, or do you mean let the screen dry after you've washed it out? If you're drying wet emulsion, the screen should be in a dark room. If you're drying just a wet screen, the sun will work great :) The design part is the hardest aspect of screen printing to explain, we will be sure to try to make some videos explaining artwork in the near future!
Thanks, glad you liked it! To burn a screen DIY style you can either get a cheap but powerful light like a 500 watt halogen bulb (around $20), or you can even use the sun if it's a clear day and the sun is pretty much directly over head.
Great vid! Anyway you can make a vid about how to accurately line up and print more than one color? Do you layer the screens up when exposing or what?
Made my morning. Cheers to you Anthem
i'm not sure what you're asking? if you get a screen pre-coated through our website you can choose to use either water based or plastisol ink.
Nice tutorial bro ..I understood..the process....and were can I buy shirts like the one you have on at a wholesale price or regular price
Hi there, sorry for the late response! You can either look up free plans online to build your own, or even use the sun to expose your screen. You just want to make sure you have the sun directly overhead, and not hidden behind clouds. Also, make sure to have a piece of glass on top of your film sandwiching it between the glass and coated screen, to make sure you get a crisp burn. Exposure with the screen usually takes around 1 minute, but depends on a lot of factors so experimentation is key.
Thank you! :) It depends on the emulsion that was used, but most likely the emulsion on that screen has gone bad. Once it's dried on a screen, the shelf life of emulsion is typically only around 4 days. I would try to burn it just in case, but most likely everything will wash off and you will then have to re-coat it. Hope this helps!
Hey there, glad you liked our video! You can screen print those types of designs, but you would need to do either 4 Color Process (CMYK) or simulated process, which requires multiple screens (4-6) and very tight registration. You can buy blank shirts from blankshirts(dot)com if you don't have a resellers permit, and you can buy the inks from us! Just search "process ink" in the search bar on our website :)
i'm glad my intelligence is so evident to you ;) if you're planning on just doing single color designs (which i'd recommend if you don't want to buy a press), the $50 kits are exactly what you need. no exposure light, no press, just all the stuff to get you a nice diy look.
@PinoyBboy1992 Hey there and thanks for watching! Yes, our exposure unit uses 8 uv blacklight bulbs, but really any bulb that emits uv light will work. Also, any foam would work but you really don't even need foam, you just need weight forcing the screen mesh tight against the transparency film on the glass. A cheap method is to lay black fabric over the screen to stop any light from escaping, and then put lots of heavy objects on top of the fabric and screen mesh forcing it against the film.
@schmidtstick yes, we walk our screens across our shop from the dark room where they dry to the room where are exposure unit is. a little light is ok, you just want to make sure it's not intense uv light hitting the screen for an extended period of time. so to sum up, walking the screen to your light table is perfectly fine :)
@PinoyBboy1992 That is a conveyor dryer used for doing the final cure of your inks. Flash dryers can also be used but slow down the process as you have to keep the shirt on the press while it dries. Flash dryers are much less expensive though so most beginners usually start with one of those instead ($400 vs $3,000)
Can you recommend a good way to remove the emulsion off the screen after you are done printing? The emulsion remover I used didn't take it all off.
Good vid for sure!
I was so busy staring at your face, I forgot to look at your site! Nice prices! So many colors! Wish I'd found you sooner, could've saved some money and a drive across town!!! BOOKMARKED for future notice!!! :.)
Hi Maxwell, the songs are listed in the video description :)
The first song is "Strobe Life" by The Bronx, the second is "Pickpocket" by At The Drive-In.
If you mean the printer that prints the film positive... Epsons are said to work best (you want an inkjet for sure, laser printers can shrink and throw your separations off register). If you mean the t-shirt press, it's really hard to say because there are so many great choices out there. You can't beat Workhorse quality, they're built like tanks, but Riley Hopkins are great too and a little more affordable.
Hello. Great video. I noticed you only coated one side of the screen. I always coat both sides. What is the difference, other than saving emulsion, from only coating one side? Just curious.
@x3mhook Hey there, as said in the video the tape we were using isn't the tape we usually use, so it actually does leave a bit of a residue after removal. You should use tape especially made for screen printing, which is usually quite thick compared to normal packing tape and doesn't leave any residue on the screen after removal.
Thanks for the video! Do you use a different ink for printing onto different fabric? I wanted to print onto a satin or silky fabric. Thanks again!
Excellent song choice. I love The Bronx.
About the emulsion, it is a blue one and I mix it with a sensitizer. The light bulbs we use are 3 20-watts bulb and 4 10-watts bulb (all flourescent bulbs). The original plan was to buy 5 20-watts bulb but we didn't to save money. I experiment on the exposure time. Sometimes I expose it for 4 minutes, sometimes 10 but I think 10 minutes is too long and based on experience 10 minutes of exposure resulted in emulsion getting so hard to wash off. So 4 minutes of exposure looks fine. What you thnk?
@Rotarrius The main benefit is that when this (plastisol) ink is properly cured, it actually bonds with the fabric fibers creating a print that will pretty much last forever. With heat transfers, the print starts to peel and chip away fairly quickly.
So they're like the fluorescent black light bulbs? 4 minutes sounds about right, but if you're having problems with the emulsion coming off after printing only a couple of shirts you might want to try 6 minutes. 10 minutes definitely seems like too long. You can also try burning the screen again after you've washed the image out and let it dry, to "post expose" this screen. This will make the emulsion harder and more durable. Hope this helps!
@fallgirl07 Hey there, yes there are different kinds of screen printing inks for printing on different kinds of materials. For printing on a satin or silky fabric, you'd probably want to use a fabric water based screen printing ink. Plastisol ink also works well on fabric but needs to be heat cured at 320 degrees, which many of the more delicate fabrics such as satin and silk don't stand up to well.
we use an epson inkjet printer for printing our films and a riley hopkins 6/4 press for printing our shirts
I've been messin round with printing for the past 3 years and have been steppin up the professional of products from craft store supplies-now up to professional products from One Stop. I have made 2 $12 attempts/mistakes to printing onto the front flaps of messenger bags. Any tips on how to get a good contact when the flap is tough to get to lay flat!?!?!?!
@mytubenick93 and @KashClothing, You can get transparencies made at Kinkos for about $1 a piece, but the quality isn't great since they use laser printers. To get good results you usually have to order 2 of the same transparency and then tape them together. Also, most local screen print shops should be willing to print you out a transparency for a small price. We charge $5 for 8.5"x14" films and $15 for 13"x19".
Hey! These videos are so helpful, thankyou! I do have a question, though. I've just started doing screen printing for local bands in my basement, as well as doing prints for my own band. I'm having difficulty finding a print shop (like fedex office or another chain) that will make a transparency big enough for an oversized print (like 16x24). All the places I call or go to only make them 8x11.5, and I'm getting frustrated! What do the pros do? Thanks again!
Thank You. Do you happen to know anything about printing on velvet. Like for making Christmas stuff?
@cheekygeek Hey there, conveyor belts are made of teflon and fiberglass. Thanks for watching, good luck with your homemade conveyor!
Hey, awesome videos =] I have quick question I have a screen that has been coated with water based Emulsion, and its been sitting in the garage covered so no light exposed yet. What is the shelf life? Its been a month now. Would i need to recoat it?
Thanks =]
@carlosantagony Haha, that 64 old screen printer sounds like quite the character. Pushing vs. pulling has not only been proven to use less energy and reduce the risk of carpal tunnel when printing, but it also produces a crisper print with more detail! Thanks for watching :)
Yeah the bag has a viynl edging(piping) around it, also a zipper under the flap. I just had a hard time getting my screen to make contact.
You guys sell supplies also?
The Bronx is definitely the most frequently played band in our shop :)
haha, i'm not an actor by any means but i'll take that as a compliment :) the foam is actually for pushing down the screen mesh to make tight contact with the film and glass. you want the film to be as tight on the screen mesh as possible to protect against light undercutting.
I have a question about the conveyor belt/screen in your tunnel dryer. What is that made out of? I'm building my own tunnel dryer and wondering what screen material will hold up to the heat. Thx.
The press is a Riley Hopkins, and the inkjet printer is an Epson 1400. Thanks for watching!
Hi Nibras, thank you for watching and sorry you didn't enjoy the music. We know now to use less rocking music and definitely making it much quieter, if there at all. As for how long it should be exposed under the lights, there's no real straight answer for that. It totally depends on the type of emulsion being used, the screen mesh, the power of the light, distance from light, and a bunch of other factors.
@eloid777 Our exposure unit uses 8 uv blacklight bulbs and exposes in about a minute, but you can really use just about any kind of light. Exposure time depends on the type of emulsion and the type of light being used. A cheap but fairly good exposure system can be made with just a 500W halogen light (around $20) and a piece of glass to hold the transparency tight with the screen. This can expose most emulsions in around 7 minutes. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!
Solid intro to printing video, should totally do more. How long have you been printing ?
ha, i didn't say our equipment cost $50... i said "there are starter kits that come with everything you need for as little as $50". which is not a lie at all, we sell them on our website. the only thing the kit doesn't come with is an exposure light, but the sun acts as a great exposure unit when it's clear and overhead. thanks for watching, and glad you like the print!
you guys make it look so easy.
Thank you for your reply rba57. We used hardener before but we discontinued it because we found out that screens with hardener are very hard to reclaim. And since we always like to reclaim to save money from building another screen.
it really depends on the type of ink and type of emulsion you are using. as long as you're using a proper emulsion for the type of ink being used, and have exposed it correctly, it would easily be able to produce over 500 prints. plastisol ink is probably the least aggressive ink on emulsion. we have often done print runs over 5,000 pieces using the same screen without it ever breaking down. water based inks break down emulsion faster, so be sure to post harden the emulsion with a hardener :)
@billythebrainsoftain Just finished filming the multi color video... will have it edited and uploaded soon!
What mesh count would be best for printing on the bottom of a longboard? And where's the best place to get my screens?
Hey there, it shouldn't be THAT dark? Can you really not see ANYTHING? It was edited on a super bright Apple screen so that may be the problem. Thanks for the tip, will be sure to do future emulsion related videos in a less dark room :)
great video mate, I've been an offset printer for the last 22 years.... but i,am very interested in screen printing. you answered a lot of questions i had, thanks,,, keep up the good work...
Do you need to use the elumision on both sides or one? What's the benefit of doing both sides compared to one?
i've never printed on velvet before, but i think printing with plastisol ink on velvet would work. as long as the velvet can withstand the heat from the dryer
@eloid777 For screen printing on metal you would need to use a solvent or uv ink. Solvent inks are very hazardous though so you would want to use a respirator and be in a very well ventilated work area, and uv inks require expensive machinery to cure them properly.
hi..thanks for the video..did you put emulsion on both side of the mesh???
Where did you get the light booth in the aluminum suitcase enclosure?
How long do you expose the screen in the light box? Also do you rince the screen off in a dark aria to expose the stencil? Last after the emousonj is on the screen how long can you waite till you do the print in the light box? Thanks
men nice set up of all kinds of supplies all i need now is the conveyer dryer..
hey there, don't worry there's no such thing as a stupid question! to answer your question, it really depends on what you're trying to do. once you're done printing with your screen, you can either use an on press cleaner to just clean off the ink and save the same image for later, or you can use a regular ink cleaner, and then use emulsion remover to strip off the stencil. this will leave you with a clean screen that's ready for a new image. hope this helps! :)
Hey there, we didn't show us coating both sides of the screen to save time, but yes, generally speaking you should always coat each side of the screen at least once with emulsion.
I just wanna make me a couple of personalized shirts for myself what is the best inexpensive all in one kit that I can buy to do this?
Hi Michael, it is true water based inks can eat away emulsion, but there are certain emulsions especially made for use with water based inks that are much stronger. Check out our WR-25 emulsion on the website. You could still use a hardener, but shouldn't have to for runs under 1,000 pieces. When you use a hardener, you usually need a hardener remover or else reclaiming can be extremely difficult. Check out our HDX emulsion hardener remover also available through the website :)
Anthem has printed posters for me before, they do great work. Support your local vendors.
hmm....fascinating, i might need some more info on where to get these convayer belts, lighting areas and so forth.
what do you do with the screens once you're done.. do you replace the screen or how do you clean the screen for a new image to be put on it? sorry if this question sounds stupid.
Hey quick question, how did you get that gradient? halftones? thanks, keep up the cool work.
The exposure unit in this video is an 8 uv fluorescent bulb unit
Got a question...I want my design to cover 3/4 of my shirts. What size screen should I use?
@jsharp1686 no problem, glad you enjoyed it! :)
@boscobear33 Hey there, exposure time varies by the power of your lights, the thickness of your emulsion coating and the emulsion itself, and the mesh count of your screen. You want to get your screen wet to stop the exposure process, but once it's rinsed you can turn on the lights and blast it out. Once the emulsion is dry to the touch on both sides, the screen is ready to be exposed in the light box.
hey so i have a few more questions...how thick is the ink once printed on the shirt? will it affect mobility of the shirt if i print too much? Can i print all over the shirt with no problem?
I am wondering if I can get away with coating only the substrate side of the screen with emulsion. Is this possible?
@serwaaakos Thank you, glad you liked it! Usually to make a distressed looking shirt you would make the art file itself look distressed by adding a grunge texture. Other techniques can be used but are harder to achieve the desired look. For example, you could burn your screen and not wash it out completely, but it's usually best to just add the distressed texture to your art work prior to burning your screen.
Informative and entertaining! Very good job. Suggestions, if I may:
1. If giving instructions in the dark, you may want to provide the text, and
2. Lower (or 86) the music so your voice won't have to compete. (The music was distracting.)
Thanks.
@deavilchuan Sure, what kind of ink are you using? Water based ink is pretty easy to clean up... just need water to rinse it off! Cleaning off plastisol ink is a different story and we should have a video for that by late next week.
@anthemscreenprinting i was also wondering where i can get the transparency's made,
Couple of Questions But You Guys are AWESOME... What kind of Ink do you Use? What kind of printer does that matter?? use the 500watt exsposure unit or the or the UV screen one shown in this video?... hae you heard of the Black forge squeege does that work well??
Thanks!!! - A59
could you film a vid about cleaning up after printing if you use normal screenprinting ink???
This is cool but which nhome screen printing kit would you use? I don't have the facilities you have, how can I do the whole pprocess @home?
if someone asked your shop to make them a screen that was like 30"x60" how much would it cost ;) I mean to keep the frame so that i can make more
I have bought some shirts from a local shop where the ink is super thick. How do they achieve that effect? Multiple coats? Thanks.
Great music! Dandy video. Love your site!
hello Anthem, I think you are the person who can answer me. What could be the reason why the emulsion slowly comes off after printing few shirts? Isn't it dry enough? or was there something wrong with the mixture of our photoemulsion. When the image is burned into the screen, we wash it and dry it up under the heat of the sun, to make sure it's dried up completely. But after printing few shirts about 30 pieces, the emulsion slowly goes away. Why?
hey there, in this video we're using plastisol ink but we work with plastisol, water based as well as some discharge. you could probably get away with using a hair dryer to cure water based ink, but an iron or heat gun would work better. hope this helps, and sorry for the late response! :)
it depends on your screen room settings. in an ideal environment it could take about 4 hours, in a non ideal environment it could take up to 24 hours.
Great intuitive video. Thank you
you could find it under speedball started kits.. at your nearest art supplies but call them firts to see if they have a screen printing department..or ebay..