T-Shirt Printing Step-by-Step

Are you new to Garment Printing? At first glance, it may seem complicated, and a little overwhelming, but once you understand the basics, it is actually very easy. This overview provides a basic under-standing of how our products fit into the screen printing process. With this same screen printing technique, you can produce thousands of different types of custom imprinted garments and promotional products.

STEP 1
CREATE FILM POSITIVE
Create designs using your personal computer and laser or ink-jet printer. Clip-Art and popular design programs let you create designs without an artistic background. Make a Film Positive by printing each color of the design onto a piece of translucent film or paper. Software breaks your full color images apart automatically.

STEP 2
EXPOSE SCREEN
To transfer your image from the film positive to the screen, the film must be put in contact with an emulsion-coated screen and exposed to UV light. It is important to have good film-to-screen contact and precise control of exposure time.

STEP 3
DEVELOP OR RECLAIM SCREEN
Develop the exposed screen with water. This removes the emulsion where the positive image was on your film, making a stencil that ink passes through when you print. Re-use screens by reclaiming (removing) the stencil after you have printed the job.

STEP 4
REGISTER SCREEN AND PRINT GARMENTS
Printing is the easy part! Register your screens by aligning the image on each screen to the film positive which has been taped to one of the pallets. Then clamp the screens in place, use the micro-registration adjustment for final alignment and print.

STEP 5
FLASH CURE
To get a bright, opaque image on dark colored garments, it is often necessary to flash cure or partially cure the ink and then print another layer on top. This print, flash-cure, print technique is also used for multi-color printing on dark garments.

STEP 6
CURE PRINTED GARMENT
The last step is to fully cure the ink with a conveyor dryer. Getting the proper ink-cure is the key to a long lasting image.