A Simple Corporate Gift Idea – Tshirts

Printing is a process of creating pictures and text, commonly using ink, paper and a printing press. Over time, printing technology has improved significantly. Various techniques are available, but screen-printing is used most of the time.

Screen printing, also called silk screening, is ideal for printing on flat and even materials. A thin screen is stretched taut around a wooden or metal frame, and ink is pressed through the uncovered areas of the screen to create an image. To create a print, the silk screen is placed on top of your material and the image is covered with a thick ink. The ink is then pressed with a heavy piece of rubber through the image and the screen. The print is created where the ink is pressed through the unmasked areas. A heated tunnel is then used to dry the wet print; the prints can then be stacked and packaged.

For more than one color, this procedure is repeated with additional screens. For example, a print of four colors will be created with four different screens; this is either done on a rotary press or by hand to ensure that the screens are aligned correctly on the image.

There are many different methods for masking a screen. For simple projects, a masking fluid may be applied directly on the screen. Two-color graphics work best with this method; more complex multi-colored jobs will look better with a photosensitive emulsion process.

If you are unsure what to request when ordering, remember that a screen printer\’s t-shirt printed with ink with plastics will be hot and tacky afterwards. It might be wise to request water-based inks if you prefer a softer, vintage-look screen printed shirt. But if you are wanting a heavily laid print, you should request ink containing plastics to be applied with a hot press.

Many printers prefer the plastic-containing inks for several reasons: they are easier on the printing equipment, their colors are brighter, they are heavier and more visible, and they are more durable than thinner inks. Plastic inks may begin to show cracking after only a brief period of time. Natural inks look better and last longer than synthetic ones.

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