Silk-screening is the process used to produce most t-shirts. It is much easier to explain the process using pictures. Take a look at the pictures below; Package #1 is used to produce the t-shirts in these pictures. After you are done looking at the pictures and learning a little more about silk-screening, take a look at the rest of the site.
setting up the printer
adjusting the screen so the image is where you want it
registration brackets and me smiling :)
placing the ink in the screen and removing the screen
spraying textile adhesive on the t-shirt platton and placing a test pellon on the t-shirt platon
spreading the ink over the screen to print an image
It is hard to see that there is a test pellon down on the board. I placed the pellon under the flash dryer to cure it ( Flash dryer is the red box with a wood handle it heats up to 350 degrees to completely dry and cure the ink so it won't wash off _ it take about 1 minute to cure the ink )
Placing a t-shirt on the platton, taking the test pellon off because it is done
placing the screen on the t-shirt to print it
the registartion brackets keep the screen in place while you are printing also if you print more than one color they keep all the colors locked in the position you set them at
after printing I placed the t-shirt on the second board ( drying board ) to cure it under the flash dryer
While the first t-shirt is drying I can print another one. You can print a one color print every minute
Here the first t-shirt is dry and I'm removing it and placing the second one under the flash dryer
and here the second shirt goes under the dryer so I can print the third
and so on and so on :)
Step by step how to silkscreen
To begin you print out a film positive (clear or velum) on your desktop printer (laser is best but inkjet will work) on the right photo I'm pointing at a target ,this is needed in order to register your print if you have more than one color to put on a t-shirt. note ; the photo on the right is transparent velum this is important to understand ,light must be able to pass through the paper in order to make a silkscreen. Also art work should be left up to the professional when it comes to a multi color print we have artists available for you to use at a nominal fee, they will give you the film positives that are needed so you can do a professional job for your customers .
In order to print this three color logo I had an artist make three film positives one positive for each color ( see below )
Each positive has targets (registration marks) on each corner. Over time you can learn how to do color separation yourself (most screen printers use a program called Corel Draw) but as I said before it is better to have someone familiar do this until you get the hang of it.
