Saturday, February 27, 2016

Screen Printing 101- The Tools


Small business help build a strong economy on any small town community. Most people are happy and willing to buy things that are locally made on their community. So if you are looking into starting a local owned business, you should consider on opening a small shirt design business in your community. You are probably wandering what kind of tools are needed for screen printing. There are a lot of tools and supplies that can be used in the screen printing process, but here I will provide you with a list of some of the basic equipment that is used. 


LIST OF COMMON TOOLS USED IN THE SCREEN PRINTING INDUSTRY:






This is where the design is placed. It determines the design and image output. It refers to the frame, the mesh and the photosensitive material on which the image is created.


It is made up of rubber held up by a rigid handle, either wood or plastic. It is used to help print the image that is on the screen onto the object that is being printed on. The rubber part is what touches the ink. For best results it is better to hold the squeegee at an angle. 

It’s the substance that is used to print the art work with. It is recommended that you use different screens for every color of ink so that every screen prints a certain color of the artwork. So if your design has the colors green, red, and blue you will need three separate screens for each color. 

Refers to the surface on which the design is to be printed on, it can be a t-shirt, bag, a koozie etc.



 Is a substance that is placed on the screen. This substance is what essentially carries the image and makes it visible. This substance once it’s exposed to light it will not let water or anything go through. Only the parts that were not exposed to light will be able to be removed with water. 


This machine holds the substrate as well as the screen. It also allows the screen to print on the substrate and is often the base of the entire screen printing unit. 

Having a dryer machine will help speed up the ink drying process. Most screen printing shops have some type of dryer in order to be more efficient. Drying the substrates after they are screen printed often gives better results. It also helps prevent ink from getting everywhere!


Are there any important screen printing tools that I missed? 

If you have any further questions or comments feel free to comment below!

Follow me on twitter: @Squeegee_Grafx 






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