Screen Printing

What is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is the most traditional, most recognised and widely accepted printing technique. It’s a process that applies ink directly onto garments or fabric materials using mesh screens. The latest screen-printing techniques use highly practical automatic and manual presses to quickly print as many clothing and bags as they can on an assembly-line. Screen printed items are long lasting and feel great to wear or use. They are great for events, companies, charities, branded items, clubs, school trips and the list goes on. Screen printing is ideal for large production orders. 

What can we print on?  
We can print on a wide variety of items such as t-shirt, hoodies, sweatshirts, tote bags and much more. Our catalogue has a wide variety of items that you can choose from.  

Screen printing process: -

1. Design print- First, we take the design file, which needs to be an Adobe Illustrator Artwork file or an PDF, and make sure the sizing and resolution is correct, so the design is printed well. 

2. We then separate the design on a computer software and print onto transparency films using black printer ink only. For example, if your design has 3 colours, we will need to make 3 transparency films and 3 screens, one transparency film for each screen. 

3. The 3 transparency films are then printed and checked to make sure they align with each other perfectly.  

4. Now it is time to make the screen, we place a light sensitive liquid film over the screen called ‘photo emulsion’.  

5. We place the first transparency film on the screen and expose it to an ultraviolet light to "expose” the image onto the photo emulsion screen.  

6. Once the exposing has finished, we go to the washout area and wash the photo emulsion with water to bring out the design. 

7. We then prepare each screen colour. We setup the screen-printing press with the screens, aligning them and getting the ink ready.  

8. Finally, it is time to print away. We place the garment on the printing pallet, pull the squeegee and the ink is pushed through the exposed design area. 

9. The printed garments are then heat pressed or go through an oven, which 'cures' the ink so that it does not fade or be washed out and giving it a smooth finish.   

For darker colour garments a flash layer of ink is applied first and then the coloured inks are applied on top of this to ensure a more accurate colour match. And a screen would be made for this.  

What types of prints do we offer? 
We offer a few different types of inks that can be used to screen print garments, such as puff ink, discharge ink, neon and fluorescent colour ink, water-based ink, metallic ink and glow in the dark ink.  

Turnaround time? 
Our customary turnaround time for screen printing is 7-10 business days from the day you place the order. We can accommodate shorter turnaround times if needed, but this needs to be mentioned when placing the order.  

When it comes to screen printing, we make sure we provide fast turnaround time, high standards of work and superior attention to detail, every time. So, hit us up for a quote.  

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We also offer other options such as embroidery, digital print, and vinyl print.