Screen Printing (AKA Silkscreen Printing) is the best method of printing when you need bulk quantities of apparel with your company logo or other artwork. Screen Printing is mostly used to print solid colors on garments. We have the ability to print up to 8 colors on a job.
With screen printing, layers of individual colors of ink are applied to the material and cured using a high temperature dryer. This process allows for vibrant colors to pop out on their own and in some cases to accent others. Colors can be chosen from a Pantone list giving us the best idea of which colors you desire. Of course there is always a small margin of error, but using the Pantone (PMS) system it helps us get as close as possible.
Every screen printed job will incur setup fees (unless noted) which include a film positive and the service of “burning” a screen. The screen is used to push ink through only the areas where the design needs to be printed. Different mesh counts are used based on the complexity of the design and how much ink is needed. The screens remain property of us or our printers but the artwork is, of course, still yours. You may purchase new ones through us for an additional charge if you would like to take them with you. You are also welcome to bring your own screens.
We do have specialty printing services such as 4 color process (blending CMYK ink) and Index printing (using 6+ colors blended) to create a full color image. These can look very nice but for smaller runs can be costly. Each color will incur their own setup plus art time (hourly) to separate the image in preparation for this process.
We also have neon inks, foils, discharge (removing pigment from the shirt and replacing with a color) and other specialty inks that can make your design stand out.
Screen printing is a printing technique whereby a mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh apertures with ink, and a reverse stroke then causes the screen to touch the substrate momentarily along a line of contact. This causes the ink to wet the substrate and be pulled out of the mesh apertures as the screen springs back after the blade has passed. – Wikipedia