Can you screen print fine detail?
Higher mesh screens, 200 mesh and above, are most often used for finer detail images and thinner inks. Graphic, discharge, and water-based inks should be printed through screens of this mesh size. The higher mesh count helps to keep the thinner inks from flooding onto your substrate.
How detailed can screen printing be?
preferably a vector image over a raster one?to be screen printed is 300 dpi. Again, a professional printer with experience beneath his or her belt can provide satisfying results from just about any start point.
What is an Underbase in screen printing?
An underbase is a layer of ink (generally white or other light color) that is printed as a “base” on a dark shirt for other colors to sit on. This gives the top colors more brilliance.
How do I print screen smoothly?
For smoother prints, use a blank screen with a hard squeegee (or a roller squeegee). Hit the underbase with the squeegee directly after the ink is flashed. This helps stop fibrillation and unpleasantly textured “stucco” prints.
How thin of a line can be screen printed?
We do not recommend fine detail for screen print. Line weight should be a minimum of 1pt and in general, all text should be made more bold.
How do you screen print on metal?
Be sure your metal surface is clean and dry. Scrub with the rough end of a sponge to remove any loose particles or discolorations. To remove any grease or adhesive material, rub it with rubbing alcohol. A light-colored, flat surface works best for silk screen printing on metal.
Do I need a white Underbase?
You can request underbase be printed on white garments, but it is not necessary. If your design is all black, you can get away without an underbase on lighter colored garments. Black tends to print decently on any color of garment, assuming that it is light or bright enough of a color for black to show up on.
Does plastisol ink require an Underbase?
An underbase is essentially just a primer coat for the subsequent inks to sit on. We print the underbase first and then the colors of the design on top. Bear in mind, an underbase is only necessary when printing plastisol on dark garments.
Why are my screen prints blurry?
Usually, Windows 10 tends to scale your program windows in that they are of equal size on different monitors. This means that all the windows are always scaled, and for this reason, it can be blurry. Again, your screenshots will always be different when you take them from different monitors or computers.
What mesh sizes are used for silk screen printing?
Since there are many variables involved in silk screen printing we cant tell you exactly what mesh sizes are used for what applications. However we can give you a general outline of what sizes to use for certain types of printing. Your basic and most standard mesh sizes are 110 and 156. 110 mesh lays a fairly thick layer of ink down.
What is the best mesh for printing half tone dots?
(Learn more about process printing here.) Fine half tone dots need high fine detail mesh in order to hold and expose on. Higher meshes such as 355, 380, and 400 are used mainly for graphic printing with UV inks. UV inks are extremely thin and many times are used for high detail printing on signs, banners, or CDs.
What are aluminum frames used for in screen printing?
If you’re looking to maximize performance in your shop, aluminum frames are a great item to add to your screen printing equipment. Different mesh sizes are used for different applications in the screen printing process. Mesh size is measured by how many threads of mesh there are crossing per square inch.
What type of ink should I use for my screen printing?
Also graphic and solvent based silk screening inks that are much thinner should be used with these mesh sizes. Also if you would like a softer feel to the ink on your shirts you can print through these higher mesh counts which will let less ink through the screen giving you a much softer feel on the shirt.