Screen Printing Screen Printing Prepare Your Screens and

Screen Printing Screen Printing

Prepare Your Screens and Run a Step Wedge Test

Step 1 - Clean the Screen n Degrease your screen on both sides (use degrease brush) n n n Rinse with pressure washer Apply micro grit on screen Don’t Touch After Cleaning!! (use grit brush) to roughen up fibers - DO THIS ONLY 1 TIME TO A SCREEN then RINSE Dry screen in Drip Drain - No dust! Wet - Degrease - Micro Grit - Rinse - Dry

Step 2 - Coat Your Screen (Your Instructor will do this - you get it set up) n n Get Emulsion from refrig and stir with wooden stick only!! Pour Emulsion into scoop coater Do This in Subdue Light Only! (After taking off plastic protective piece) Tilt Screen and coat flat side of screen first starting at bottom and spreading to top n Coat other side of screen n Must be coated evenly and smooth - no bubbles n Dry flat side up in light tight cabinet in storage room overnight

Step 3 - Step Wedge Test n n n Must run test for each type of mesh to determine proper exposure time Tape test strip to flat side of emulsified blank screen Place screen flat side down onto glass on exposure unit Use rubylith to cover sections of test strip that you do not want to expose Cover corner with rope so the blanket won’t seal air inside the frame Do This in Subdue Light Only!

Step 4 - Step Wedge Test (cont’d) n Hold down top of exposure unit / turn on vacuum / expose for 1 min. (turn dial past 2 min. Do This in Subdue Light Only! and then back to 1 min. to set timer) n n n Move rubylith down 1 more section and expose 1 min Repeat until test strip complete Mark down your test times Hint: Clean glass on exposure unit and if one bulb burns out replace all of them!

Step 5 - Step Wedge Test (cont’d) n n n n Your screen stays light sensitive until you wet the emulsion with water Take off test strip Wet both sides of screen with sprayer With flat side of screen facing you stand back and with soft spray wash @ top of screen and work your way down Turn screen around and lightly wash inside of screen Blot out image area with special towels on both sides Put in sunshine to dry or in front of a fan Write down your test results and post

Now You’re Ready to Create Your Own Piece of Art Work!

Step 1 - Design your one color art work n n n Document size is maximum 8. 25” x 10. 75” Design art work using one color (black area will be where the ink goes through the screen) Make sure you put registration marks outside artwork so you can line up on screen with Tsquare Print out a proof on plain paper first to check your art work Print out your final art work on a special paper called vellum on the Xante postscript printer

Step 2 - Coat your screen n n n Open pink Emulsion and stir with wooden stick only!! Pour Emulsion into metal tray Do This in Subdued Light Only! (take off plastic protective piece) Tilt Screen and coat flat side of screen first starting at bottom and spreading to top Coat other side of screen Must be coated evenly and smooth - no bubbles Dry flat side up in light tight cabinet in storage room overnight

Step 3 - Attach positive n Attach the positive (your art work printed on the vellum) to the flat side n of the coated screen backwards with scotch tape Use a T-square to make sure it’s straight and centered within the frame Hint: Put a mark with a permanent marker on each section of the frame to indicate the center point Do This in Subdued Light Only!

Step 4 - Expose n n Place screen flat side down onto glass on exposure unit Cover corner with rope so the blanket won’t seal air inside the frame (can expose 2 screens at a time -drape rope over both) n Hold down top of exposure unit / turn on vacuum / set exposure time (turn dial past 2 min. and then back to 1 min. to set timer) Do This in Subdued Light Only!

Step 5 - Wash your screen n n n Your screen stays light sensitive until you wet the emulsion with Do This in Subdued water Light Only! Wet both sides of screen with soft spray With flat side of screen facing you stand back and with soft spray wash @ top of screen and work your way down Turn screen around and lightly wash inside of screen Blot out image area with special towels on both sides Put in sunshine to dry or in front of a fan

Step 6 - Tape screen n Use plastic tape to tape up short sides of screen frame first (pinch & tear) n Tape long sides n Use scotch tape on the underside (flat side) of screen to tape out registration marks n Block out any pinholes (use small brush and Screen Filler/Block out) Note: Wait 15 min. to let dry

Step 7 - Place on press Put your vellum art work on the platen, line up and tape (use a pencil to indicate the center of the platen) n Mount screen in the press where you want the image to print on the shirt YOUR ART WORK n

Step 8 – Add Ink n Add ink n Put your vellum art work on the platen, line up and tape (use a pencil to indicate the center of the platen) n Mount screen in the press where you want the image to print on the shirt

Step 9 – Load shirt on printing platen

Step 10 – Print with the squeegee

Step 11 – Remove the shirt

Step 12 - Put in dryer

YOUR DONE! n Put the shirt on.