Screen Printing from Human Hair to today…

Screen Printing has been around a long time apparently starting 200 years ago in China where they used human hair and leaves for their stencils (http://www.whatisscreenprinting.com/).

I see screen printing as an art form and no two printers or designers are the same. But in regards to printers they all use the same basic process to lay down logos and images onto garments and products.

Today the process starts from the artwork being supplied in vector art files (check out “Vector artwork what does it mean?’ blog for more info) which are then transferred onto a stencil, a stencil being a wooden frame with a mesh type of material stretched over it. Once the garment or products are secured that stencil is laid onto top and the ink in forced through the mesh holes. This forms the image onto the garment or product.

Once it is dried either through a warmer or air then it is ready to be used. The print should last the life of the garment if proper care is taken. Some helpful hints are to always wash in a warm cycle and hang out to dry, if you love those prints this is the best way to keep them.

Screen printing is one of the most cost effective branding processes and due to ever changing method this process can cover most designs but there are some restrictions. Below are some of the various different process available and also links to some more information on the processes.

Spot Colours onto Light Coloured Garments
This is the most common of screen prints. Art is separated into the different colours and a screen (stencil) is made for each. Each colour is printed directly onto the white tee so the print is only 1 layer thick.

Spot Colours onto Dark Coloured Garments
It is the same process as Light clothing above but with dark garments a white base print is put down and the colours go on top of this. It is a little more expensive than on a light coloured garment and takes a little longer as each colour needs to be dried before the next is placed on top.

No Base Vintage Look
Same process as Dark coloured garment print but without the white base which gives an old authentic feel to the print.

Large Format
Locally you are able to print up to 800mm x 800mm but currently it can only be a 1 colour image.

Metallic
Only different from the Spot coloured printing is that flecks of silver are added to the ink which gives a metallic finish.

Discharge Base Printing
This is a special kind of ink that reacts with the pigments of the garment to strip the dye out taking it back to its natural colour. This then allows the use of water base inks to give a very soft then hand.

High Density
Layer upon layer of inks are placed on top of each other to raise the image off the garments. Great for large runs and some logos, but expensive below 100 units.

Foils
Foiling is where you place a metal flakes e.g. silver, onto a garment or product. This gives a mirrored finish and a great contemporary look.

Index Print
Using spot (solid) colours the image is printed similar to process printing.

4 Colour Process Print
For more information on what 4 colour process means click here. In regards to screen printing this processes is laid down without a white base giving it an authentic look. It’s great with photographic high res images.

4 Colour Process Print
Same processes as above but without an ink base which is great for white garments.

Print onto Products
As long as it has a flat solid surface you can print onto it. But it is restricted on some products for number of colours and if the colours can touch. This is great processes to help bring colour to a product and make a logo stand out.

Non Woven Tote Bags – Direct Print
This process is where you print directly onto the bags up to 3 colours providing they don’t touch. Cost effective on large runs in 1 colour.

Vector Artwork What Does It Mean?

Well this is a common question asked and it is very hard to explain but it is file that has been drawn in a programme such as Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw, Flash, etc, which is then created into outlines. This means you can resize it and the quality stays the same. This is different to images made using Raster files such as JPEGS, GIFS etc as they are made up of dots or pixels which when scaled have to be processed by the computer which usually results in a jagged line which when printed looks terrible.

Good explanation comes from Wikipedia;

“Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon(s), which are all based on mathematical equations, to represent images in computer graphics.
Vector graphics formats are complementary to raster graphics, which is the representation of images as an array of pixels, as it is typically used for the representation of photographic images. There are instances when working with vector tools and formats is the best practice and instances when working with raster tools and formats is the best practice. There are times when both formats come together. An understanding of the advantages and limitations of each technology and the relationship between them is most likely to result in efficient and effective use of tools.

Another good explanation is at http://news.deviantart.com/article/12990/.