Creativity is a skill that is extremely important and a skill that should be practiced more often. A fun and unique way of expressing one’s creativity is the art of screen printing and this text will provide a step by step guide on how to screen print for beginners! There’s a lot of different things that go into screen printing but the purpose of this guide is to make the process as simple and easy as possible
Essential Materials For Screen Printing
- Screens
- Squeegees
- Special Ink
- Emulsion
- Light source for exposing screens
- Screen Cleaner
- Flash dryer/Heat gun
- Emulsion Scoop
- Screen printing press station
- Screen cleaning spray
Simple Step-by-Step Process For Screen Printing
Step 1: Design
The first thing you need when beginning to screen print is a design.
There are a lot of ways to get your desired design including using popular design softwares such as Kittl, Customink, and Capterra just to name a few.
You can also choose to create your own design from scratch using Adobe Photoshop/ Illustrator. Once you’ve made your design you will need to print it one a transparent sheet of paper using an inkjet printer or going to a local arts and craft center
Step 2: Coating The Screen
Once you’ve got your design it’s time to coat your screen, but before you do that you need to make sure the screen is clean.
Simply spray the screen with either water or a screen printing spray and let it dry in a clean area. Once you’re positive that your screen is clean and there’s no debris you can begin to coat your screen.
Coating the screen is very simple and takes only three simple steps
Caution: Make sure this entire process is done in a DARK ROOM
– Add your emulsion to your emulsion scoop and place the scoop on the screen.
– Angle the scoop at a 45 degree angle and bring the scoop up the screen in one smooth motion.
– let the emulsion air dry overnight and your screen is ready to burn!
Step 3: Burning Your Screen
Despite the name, burning screens doesn’t involve heat.
Instead it involves light! For this process you’re going to need a light source (UV lamp or Exposure Unit). Once you have your printed design, screen, and light source you’re ready to burn. Like the last step, you’re going to want to do this in a dark area so the natural light does not affect the exposure on your screen.
Once you’ve made sure you’re in a dark environment, place your design on top of your screen. Set it under your light source and turn on the light from above (Exposure units do it this automatically). Conditions in the area affect the time it takes to expose your screen but it generally takes anywhere from 10-25 seconds.
Step 4: Washing Out Your Design
After you’ve finished burning your screen, lift your design off the screen and spray the section of the screen that was covered by the design.
Using a pressure washer for this process is ideal but using a regular garden hose works too.
Step 5: Setting Up for Printing
Once you’ve washed out your design, secure your screen to a flat surface or a specialized printing press. Place your clothing or object underneath the screen, making sure it’s smooth and properly aligned.
Step 6: Printing
Add ink to the top of the screen making sure there is enough ink to coat your design but not too much to where it floods your screen. Use your squeegee to pull the ink across the screen with firm, even pressure coating each hole on the design. This ensures that your design looks how you want and the ink doesn’t look faded.
Step 7: Curing
For fabric prints like clothes, you’ll need to cure the ink. This usually involves heat-setting with a heat gun or running the printed item through a flash dryer or conveyor dryer.
(Make sure you know the specific curing temperature for the brand of ink as well as the type of ink you chose to print with, let cure for around 45 seconds to a minute)
Step 8: Clean up
After you’ve printed you’re going to need to clean your screens again. Make sure to remove ink from any surface that didn’t have ink before. This includes your squeegee and work area. It is important to clean up after each use to maintain your equipment and ensure quality in future prints.
All done
This is the typical process for screen printing. Everyone does it a different way and there isn’t a single way to screen print.
A lot of variables play into screen printing but once you’ve done the process, it’s just a matter of muscle memory. The best resource for learning more about this process is experienced printers and asking them what they do and how they go about doing this process.
Looking for guides like these are also very helpful and can give you a great place to start when beginning research on how to screen print.
FAQ’S:
Why do I have blurry prints?: This might be due to underexposure of your screen or using a mesh count that’s too low for your design’s detail (ask your local arts and craft center which screen is ideal for your design).
Why is my ink not transferring?: Make sure you’re using enough pressure with your squeegee when applying the ink and make sure your ink isn’t too thick. you want to get the ink through every hole and onto your substrate.
I have pinholes in my print: These tiny dots are often caused by dust on your screen during exposure, double check to make sure your screen is clean and has no debris when exposed. Keep your work area clean and consider using a tack cloth on your screen before exposure.
Click this link if you have more questions that need answering!