Step By Step
Here is one area I wrote like those that carry on and ask me how you can screen print. It's a bit of any long read, however it is informative enough to provide a good idea of what exactly takes place. It's not completely detailed out (there are numerous small steps missing) yet it is the key elements in screen printing. 1. Artwork. The artwork you commence art with is VERY important.
If you've jagged or grainy artwork, you are going to reproduce this. There are many art services on the net that will supply you may screen printing artwork. If you fax them a logo, they're able to redraw it available for you and send a file in places you can use to the making of screens.
You could also create (or recreate) artwork yourself. It is fundamental to use a vector art program like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Macromedia FreeHand. Using these programs will assure that you are going to have top quality artwork eventually. Photoshop can be employed as well, but this really is more for full color printing, etc., which is not good to begin on with as there are special methods to master before stepping into this realm. 2. Film Positives. When you've got artwork that may be ready to print, you'll be able to print your artwork from a clear film as an alternative to paper.
There are not the same types of paper for inkjet and laserjet printers, so make sure you select the right type. For every color you could have, you might print it as a black plate over a separate film. For example, if you've got a logo that's Red & Black, you'd probably separate both the colors from themselves and print each out, changing the red to black and printing and after that printing the black. Each of these can be printed them selves film. This is simply often known as art separations, or "seps". If the colours are touching from the final version on the logo, you will want to have what is known trap or choke. Basically, it is an overlapping from the artwork with a small margin. This small margin is simply enough so you may register the colours so there isn't any space together. On the films, you'll also place registration marks.
These marks are typically a circle that has a verticle and horizontal line passing through it. These marks will likely be on the same correct each film. This will help you align the art later therefore, the images complement perfectly. 3. Screen Making. When screen printing began it absolutely was called silk screening. The reason for this can be, the screens had been made from silk.
Since this can be no longer true (description of how the are made out of polyester), the name changed. A screen is just a wooden or metal frame which has a fine mesh stretched over and mounted on it. This mesh has different counts. Some examples will be 83, 110, 125, 140, 330 additionally, on and various numbers involving. The lower the mesh count, the less detail it is possible to print as well as the thicker the ink lays down. So it is an artform to put it mildly in dealing with correct mesh. The actual strategy of screen making is pretty simple, just cumbersome.
Capillary film is stilled used though the most common method is using a light sensitive liquid emulsion. Emulsion works extremely well under a yellow light so you still could see what you are doing, even so the UV light is filtered out so as not to effect the emulsion. A scoop coater is necessary. You pour emulsion in to the scoop coater and put it using a vertical screen.
Pressing on the screen and pulling up, you might lay a thin layer of emulsion within the outside on the screen. Turn the screen around and carry out the same for that inside in the screen. Turn it back around and get it done once more on the outside of. Once the emulsion dries, it is possible to "expose" the screen.
You need to have a good source of light for this process. We have an exposure unit which could expose 20" x 24" screen. It has a halogen light in conjunction with 2 black lights to help you diffuse (or perhaps out) the lighting. The exposure unit is essentially a box which has a glass top plus a lid that features a black matte as well as a vacuum frame.
The light source will be contained on this box. Some practice it yourself printers that work well from home actually makes use of the sun because of this process. It's very time intensive, but it really works! To expose a screen, utilizing the film positive you created make it about the glass top with all the right reading being up. Then make dried screen and it for the glass top with all the film positive under it. The screen mesh are going to be touching the film positive.
If you've jagged or grainy artwork, you are going to reproduce this. There are many art services on the net that will supply you may screen printing artwork. If you fax them a logo, they're able to redraw it available for you and send a file in places you can use to the making of screens.You could also create (or recreate) artwork yourself. It is fundamental to use a vector art program like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Macromedia FreeHand. Using these programs will assure that you are going to have top quality artwork eventually. Photoshop can be employed as well, but this really is more for full color printing, etc., which is not good to begin on with as there are special methods to master before stepping into this realm. 2. Film Positives. When you've got artwork that may be ready to print, you'll be able to print your artwork from a clear film as an alternative to paper.
There are not the same types of paper for inkjet and laserjet printers, so make sure you select the right type. For every color you could have, you might print it as a black plate over a separate film. For example, if you've got a logo that's Red & Black, you'd probably separate both the colors from themselves and print each out, changing the red to black and printing and after that printing the black. Each of these can be printed them selves film. This is simply often known as art separations, or "seps". If the colours are touching from the final version on the logo, you will want to have what is known trap or choke. Basically, it is an overlapping from the artwork with a small margin. This small margin is simply enough so you may register the colours so there isn't any space together. On the films, you'll also place registration marks.
These marks are typically a circle that has a verticle and horizontal line passing through it. These marks will likely be on the same correct each film. This will help you align the art later therefore, the images complement perfectly. 3. Screen Making. When screen printing began it absolutely was called silk screening. The reason for this can be, the screens had been made from silk.
Since this can be no longer true (description of how the are made out of polyester), the name changed. A screen is just a wooden or metal frame which has a fine mesh stretched over and mounted on it. This mesh has different counts. Some examples will be 83, 110, 125, 140, 330 additionally, on and various numbers involving. The lower the mesh count, the less detail it is possible to print as well as the thicker the ink lays down. So it is an artform to put it mildly in dealing with correct mesh. The actual strategy of screen making is pretty simple, just cumbersome.
Capillary film is stilled used though the most common method is using a light sensitive liquid emulsion. Emulsion works extremely well under a yellow light so you still could see what you are doing, even so the UV light is filtered out so as not to effect the emulsion. A scoop coater is necessary. You pour emulsion in to the scoop coater and put it using a vertical screen.
Pressing on the screen and pulling up, you might lay a thin layer of emulsion within the outside on the screen. Turn the screen around and carry out the same for that inside in the screen. Turn it back around and get it done once more on the outside of. Once the emulsion dries, it is possible to "expose" the screen.
You need to have a good source of light for this process. We have an exposure unit which could expose 20" x 24" screen. It has a halogen light in conjunction with 2 black lights to help you diffuse (or perhaps out) the lighting. The exposure unit is essentially a box which has a glass top plus a lid that features a black matte as well as a vacuum frame.
