Screen printing is one of the most cost-effective ways to print clothes in bulk. It is used around the world by a lot of people to print on t-shirts, banners, etc. I will give you an overview of what screen printing is all about and how to go about it.
I have this friend who has a small screen printing business, and she has built a whole life around this business, building it from scratch to making it a small success in the local area. I admire her for her grit and hard work, as well as for her knowledge of something as complicated as screen printing. Well, so I thought.
Screen printing sounded pretty complicated, till I talked to her.
What is Screen Printing?
This fabric printing technique is a lot like the stencil painting we do at home. It involves using specially-made screens to apply ink to the fabric.
The screen is made by stretching a mesh on a wooden or aluminum frame. This screen will have the ink-blocking stencil with the pattern or the design. The ink is applied with a squeegee and the stencil will ensure the ink passes through the mesh and make the correct image in the fabric.
What is special about screen printing?
The advantages of screen printing are many. You get very sharp-edged high quality long lasting printed images; The cost of printing is so much less than any other large-scale printing.
This is the best printing technique when you want a single design to be printed on lots of clothes – think of those racy slogans you read and enjoy on t-shirts on the streets. They are most probably mass printed this way. So, even though the initial setup for screen printing (creating the screen) can be time-consuming and require some investment, it becomes more cost-effective for larger quantities.
You can print on garment fronts, backs, sleeves, pockets, hoodies, hats. Even vinyl, wood etc are printed with the screen printing technique.
Materials used for screen printing
The screen printing technique primarily uses a woven mesh screen to print the desired design onto fabric. The screen used is a porous mesh fabric made of synthetic fibers like nylon or stainless steel stretched on a frame (I have seen wooden frames, but aluminum frames are also used). Areas of the screen are then blocked off to create a design printing template.
For each color in a design, a separate screen has to be made. These screens are used one screen per location per color.
An ink-blocking stencil, which will define your design. The screen is a piece of fine mesh stretched over a frame. Areas of the screen are blocked off to create a stencil for the design.This stencil forms open areas on the mesh through which ink seeps into the fabric. This stencil is made on the screen either manually or photochemically.
Squeegee or roller to ensure the ink is spread
Ink – you need a special pigmented screen printing ink that is durable and long-lasting and gives out clear graphic details, and has a good texture. The most important thing, other than selecting the best ink, is to choose the correct color.
How is screen printing done?
Step 1. Creating the design for screenprinting
The initial stages of design development for screen printing is as important as the process of printing.
You can draw your designs on high quality paper, emphasizing it with bold strokes of black ink.
What kind of designs are best for screen printing ?
Best Screen printing designs are ones with solid colors on them. Any color can be used, including black and white. Any design can be used if it fits the area of the garment you want the print on.
If the area is small choose a broad design, not a fine design with details.
And complex designs may not translate well onto coarser fabrics.
Step 2. Creating the stencil
A stencil is made of the design first – it could be anything even letters, logos, silhouettes, or solid pictures – on a woven mesh of synthetic fibers stretched tightly on a frame. This stencil will block ink, forming open areas in it – blank areas coated with an impermeable material.
Precision in cutting the stencil will ensure that your design will have good clarity.
Step 3. Mounting the fabric
Mounting fabric onto the screen frame is another very important step – you have to be precise here to get impeccable prints. Attention to detail is a skill needed if you are thinking of perfecting this craft.
Step 3. Printing your design
This step involves the actual application of ink through the stencil onto the fabric. Ink is applied directly to the surface of the fabric through this screen. Consistency in ink application is key to achieving a vivid and uniform print.
Fabric is stretched on a flat surface. The screen is lowered onto fabric.
The ink is then allowed to come through the mesh to print the image clearly and sharply on the fabric.
A squeegee or similar tool is used to press the screen stencil against the mesh, making the impression clear and sharp-edged. The squeegee moves across the screen, pushing the ink through the open areas of the screen.
The process is repeated for other colors with other screens. If you want multiple colors, you will have to create different mesh screens for it.
Step 4. Post-printing
Post-printing processes like heat setting or washing can affect the look and durability of your print. Different fabrics may require different finishing techniques. Check out this post for more details : How to keep printing permanent on fabric .
The disadvantage of screen printing
Screen printing is the easiest and most inexpensive way to print on fabric for making a lot of prints of a single design. But this cost-effectiveness is relative. The expense increases with the use of multiple colors.
Small orders with many ink colors and print locations will make your screen printing costly, as screens have to be made for individual designs, separate colors, and different locations..
Most screen printing concerns will have a minimum order quantity – some say 10 , some 50 depending on their capability. Most often 50 and 10 will cost the same in printing, which is why it is advisable to print large orders.
One limitation of screen printing is that you cannot print continuous designs that go all the way around clothes or parts of the garment. for eg a design that goes around the sleeve.
You are also limited to the width of the screen you can make with regard to the design. If you have a large budget, you can make screens to make large prints on even bedsheets.
Another limitation is that with screen printing, you cannot get sample prints. This is again because of the overhead cost of making screens.
How to ensure that screen printing is cost effective?
There are workarounds to make screen printing cost effective
1. Use of fewer colors ; Best if it is monochrome or one or two.
2. Limiting printing location to one place.
3. Using the color of the fabric as part of the design so that You only have to print the rest of the colors.
4. Printing as many as you want in one go.
5. Not changing /resizing designs midway.
Screen printing methods in the textile industry
Screen printing in the textile industry is done through two methods depending on the machinery used – Flatbed screen printing and Rotary screen printing.
Flatbed screen printing is the automated version of hand-operated silk screen printing. It has all the tools of the trade incorporated in it – the flatbed print table, a squeegee, an infeed device feeding the fabric. But it is not the fastest process; you cannot print continuous patterns with it, just like hand screen printing. Another disadvantage is that design size is dependent on the flat-screen size.
The next method is called rotary garment screen printing. It uses a specialized machine that rotates in a fixed position.
Some questions on screenprinting
What can go wrong when screen printing for others?
Color selection can be a problem. If you have a screen printing business you will have to totally get which colour your customer has in mind – if you print 1000 t-shirts and the customer meant chilli red instead of the tomato red you printed, you are in big trouble. Color matching with a colour chart and getting the consent letter signed by the customer are important before undertaking any printing orders.
What are the different variations in Screen printing?
Halftone printing is an option to make a gradation of colors with screen printing. Here the solid colour printing is reduced in percentage so that there is a dot effect to the printing – this will look different from the original 100% colour printing – giving it a lighter shade which makes it different and appealing.
Another method is 4 colour process screen printing. This uses the four colours CMYK (cyan magenta yellow and black ) on the printing. This method is used when you have a photo or painting to be printed and you have to do it as inexpensively as possible. This is a slightly more complicated and less reliable technique than the usual solid colour screen printing (spot colour printing). Digital printing and inkjet printing are more effective for printing photographs than this method.
How to print photographs with screen printing ?
Normal screen printing cannot produce exact photographic prints. This is because the photographs usually have many colors and shades on them. Screen printing prints in solid colours.
A type of screen printing known as four colour printing is used to print photographs. But this process also known as CMYK printing is not the most reliable. Inkjet printing will produce a better printing result when printing photographs and paintings.
Fabric selection for screen printing
Dimensional stability in fabric is an important element in choosing the fabric for screen printing. Dimensional stability refers to a fabric’s ability to maintain its original dimensions and not distort (i.e., stretch or shrink) during and after the printing process.
The fabric shouldn’t shift or change shape when you stretch it on the screen for repeated color application. If this is not there, you will get a skewed design with uneven ink applied; Do you want this after all your efforts?
| Fabrics | Process details |
|---|---|
| Cotton & Cotton blends | Cotton is very absorbent so takes the screen printing ink very well. It is stable, smooth and durable fabric with good heat tolerance. So Cotton is an all time favourite fabric for all type of screen printing. As it may shrink, prewashing is necessary. |
| Silk | Silk can be screenprinted with beautiful high quality designs but it is a difficult fabric to screen print. Ink spreading outside of the borders of the design is a problem when printing or painting on silk. So ink pressure and ink viscosity should be correct when screen printing on silk – ie, you should be an expert. Waterbased inks are used. |
| Wool | Wool is not as easy to screenprint as cotton, as its surface is not quite as smooth, nor will its absorbency match cotton. |
| Rayon | The type of rayon you choose will influence how well it takes the ink and the clarity of the printed design. Rayon can be a little challenging to print as the fabric is usually thin and not as stable as cotton – it may distort when you stretch it. |
Related posts : Different printing methods used on textiles ; Best way to do t-shirt printing.
Nice content… please help with choosing right colour material for screen printing t shirt.