Do you know what screen printing really is?
Let’s go to school and take a class called Screen Printing 101. Did you know that screen printing is called that because it’s literally printing ink through a mesh screen? That’s how it got its name. Here’s the short version what we do when we screen print your shirts.
The process begins when you send us your order and art. George sets up your art for printing, and he sends it to you to approve. After you approve your art, we put a special liquid emulsion on a high mesh-count screen, let it dry, and then “burn” the art onto the screen. (It’s a lot like back in the day when people took pictures. They were burned onto negatives and then turned into photographs.) If you have a multi-color imprint, we create one screen for each color.
When the screens are ready, we set them up on the printing press with the correct registration so that designs are printed in their proper locations. Printed shirts go on a conveyor belt through a big dryer to properly cure the imprints so it lasts and lasts on the shirt. Then the shirts go to you.
After printing a job, screen printers re-use their screens again and again with different designs by using a special clean-up process we call reclaiming. We are always mindful of our resources and conserve them as much as we can.
Cleaning Screens OUTSIDE
In this picture, employee Paul is cleaning screens off OUTSIDE in the cold weather, behind the shop. At least we put the blue tarp on the one side of the makeshift “sludge area” to ward off the cold wind! The year is 1991, and this young fellow is now married with two teenage children! We look forward to our annual Christmas card from Paul and his family to this day!
Need help getting your shirts ordered?
Contact Margie at 1-800-442-7435 She’s happy to help!
Gariel Screen Printing • Screen Printing 101
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