Deluxe Design | The Screen Printing Process <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <base href="http://www.deluxedesign.com" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon_deluxe.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/stylesheet.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/scripts/jquery.fancybox.css" media="screen" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery-1.3.2.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery.fancybox-1.2.1.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery.pngFix.pack.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery.cycle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery.easing.1.3.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="/scripts/calendar/calendar-win2k-cold-1.css" title="win2k-cold-1" />  <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/calendar/calendar.js"></script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/calendar/lang/calendar-en.js"></script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/calendar/calendar-setup.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery.field.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/scripts/jquery.calculation.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function() { //Activate FancyBox $("a.fancyBox").fancybox({ 'zoomSpeedIn': 300, 'zoomSpeedOut': 200, 'overlayShow': true, 'overlayOpacity': .75 }); }); $(document).ready(function() { $(".banner").cycle({ fx: 'scrollDown', timeout: 5000, speed: 1000, delay: -1000, pause: 1 }); $(".frontImages").cycle({ fx: 'fade', easing: 'easeInBack', timeout: 2000, speed: 5000, delay: -1000, pause: 2 }); $("#clickToAdvanceRaster").cycle({ fx: 'fade', speed: 300, next: '#clickToAdvanceRaster', timeout: 0 }); $('#mainContent .expandInfo').click(function () { $(this).next("#mainContent .expand").slideToggle(250); return false; }); }); </script> </head> <body onload="MM_CheckFlashVersion('7,0,0,0','Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player. Do you want to download it now?');"> <div id="container"> <div id="header"> <h1><span><a href="/" title="Deluxe Design Home Page">Deluxe_Design</a></span></h1> </div> <div id="sidebar"> <ul> <li><a href="/index.php">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/corporate/cybersignstation.php" title="Order signs specific to your company">Cyber Signstation</a></li> <li><a href="/signs/signs.php" title="About our sign products">Signs</a></li> <li><a href="/awards/awards.php" title="About our plaques and custom awards">Awards</a></li> <li><a href="/shirts/tshirts.php" title="About our t-shirts and other screen printed products">T-Shirts</a></li> <li><a href="/design/viewgallery.php" title="Design Gallery">Design Gallery</a></li> <li><a href="/artwork/art_guidelines.php" title="Artwork Guidelines">Artwork</a></li> <li><a href="/contact_deluxe.php" title="Our contact info and a map to us">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="/employment/" title="Employment">Employment</a></li> <li><a href="/about.php" title="A little about the history of Deluxe Design">About</a></li> </ul> <div id="videoButton"> <a href="/videos/videotest.php"><img src="/images/promovideo.jpg" alt="Watch the deluxe promo video" /></a> </div> </div> <div id="mainContent"> <h2 class="yellowheaderbar"><span>The Screen Printing Process</span></h2> <h2 class="blueHeader">Step 1</h2> <p>Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The stencil forms open areas of mesh that allow ink to transfer as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. The screen stencil is placed on top of the substrate and a squeegee is moved across the screen stencil forcing ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas onto the substrate (garment) below. Each ink color that is to be printed requires a separate screen stencil.The original art is scanned if necessary and then separated into up to seven colors. This process is handled in-house by our graphic arts department.</p> <img src="/images/screenprint_seps.jpg" /> <h2 class="blueHeader">Step 2</h2> <p>Each ink color that is to be printed requires a separate screen stencil. A film positive is printed from the separated computer image files from step one and, through a photographic contact printing process, a stencil is created on the screen mesh.</p> <img src="/images/screenprint_screens.jpg" /> <h2 class="blueHeader">Step 3</h2> <p>Each screen stencil needed (one for each color) for a print job is carefully mounted into an automatic press as shown below. A series of tests are performed to ensure that each color lines up with the next when printed on the shirt. An operator positions a shirt onto the palette and the press takes over, moving the shirt into position beneath each screen stencil and printing each color in turn until the shirt comes all the way around and back to the start.</p> <img src="/images/screenprint_press_detail.jpg" width="695" height="1573" /> <h2 class="blueHeader">Step 4</h2> <p>Finally, the freshly printed shirt is removed from the press and placed in a large, conveyor belt dryer to fix the ink to the shirt.</p> <img src="/images/screenprint_dryer.jpg" /> <h2 class="blueHeader">Advantages and Limitations</h2> <h3 class="blueHeader">Advantages</h3> <p>The primary advantage of screen printing as a method for imaging shirts is that screen printing is a known, developed technology that works. Additionally, the image created can be durable and sharp with a relatively high level of detail. Finally, screen printing can print "special effects" such as puff ink, metallic ink and glow-in-the-dark ink.</p> <h3 class="blueHeader">Limitations</h3> <p>Screen printing shirts is a somewhat complicated process, requiring skilled workers and big, specialized machines. Because of this, screen printing only makes sense for larger quanitities of shirts. Deluxe Design has 50 shirt minimum order.</p> </div>  <br class="clearfloat" /> <div><div id="menufooter"> | <a href="/index.php">Home</a> | <a href="/corporate/cybersignstation.php" title="Order signs specific to your company">Cyber Signstation</a> | <a href="/signs/signs.php" title="About our sign products">Signs</a> | <a href="/awards/awards.php" title="About our plaques and custom awards">Awards</a> | <a href="/shirts/tshirts.php" title="About our t-shirts and other screen printed products">T-Shirts</a> | <a href="/artwork/art_guidelines.php" title="Art submission guidelines">Artwork</a> | <a href="/contact_deluxe.php" title="Our contact info and a map to us">Contact</a> | <a href="/employment/employment.php" title="Employment">Employment</a> | <a href="/about.php" title="A little about the history of Deluxe Design">About</a> | </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <p>© Copyright Deluxe Design 2010</p>  </div>  </div> </body> </html>