Printing

SCREEN PRINTING REQUIREMENTS

DIGITAL PRINTING

Standard Imprint Areas:

For clients providing their own artwork,

here are some specifications that must

be met before we can process your orders.

If you need artwork created for your order

we do have in house designers so please

contact our Art Department with any

questions or concerns...

Adult full Front/Back 12" X 12"

Youth full Front/Back 8" X 8"

Adult Left/Right Chest 4" X 4"

Youth Left/Right Chest 3" X 3"

Visor 1" X 4"

Five Panel Caps 4" X 2 1/2"

Pocket Print 3" X 3"

Long Sleeve Print 14"

Pant Length Print 16"

E-Mail Screen Print Art:

[email protected]

Please provide PMS numbers or your

order could be put on hold.

We require vector art (no scans or uneditable eps files).

Accpectable formats: Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4, Corel Draw X4, PDF, EPS or 300 dpi or higher resolution JPG

Font files must be included or convert the fonts to paths/outlines/curves.

PC Format only.

Unacceptable Files: Microsoft Word, Power Point, Quark Express, GIFF, colored TIFF or JPEG under 300 dpi, MAC

Digital printing is printing using digital techniques developed for computer printers such as inkjet and laser printers. The process differs from lithography, flexography, gravure, and letterpress printing in several ways. Every print can be a little different because printing plates are not required, as in traditional methods. There is less waste chemical and paper, because there is no need to bring the image "up to color" and check for registration and position. The ink does not permeate the substrate as does conventional ink, but forms a layer on the surface and may in some systems be additionally adhered to the substrate by using a fuser fluid with a heat process or UV curing process. The exception is our direct garment printer which uses water base dye which is absorbed by the substrate. Because there is very little initial set up, it is useful for rapid prototyping and cost effective for small print runs. Digital printing can be done on photographic paper, vinyl, canvas, lightweight cardboard, film, and rolls of other substrates.

SCREEN PRINTING - THE PROCESS

Screen-printing, silk-screening, or serigraphy is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged image using a stencil. A screen-print or serigraph is an image created using this technique. It began as an industrial technology, and was adopted by American graphic artists in the early 1900s. It is currently popular both in fine arts and in commercial printing, where it is commonly used to print images on T-shirts, hats, CDs, DVDs, ceramics, glass, polyethylene, polypropylene, paper, metals, and wood. Graphic screen-printing is widely used today to create many mass or large batch produced graphics, such as posters or display stands. Full color prints can be created by printing in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Screen-printing is often preferred over other processes such as dye sublimation or inkjet printing because of its low cost and ability to print on many media. Screen-printing has its origins in simple stenciling, most notably of the Japanese form (katazome), used on textiles, mostly or clothing. This was taken up in France. The modern screen-printing process originated from patents taken out by Samuel Simon in the early 1900s in England. This idea was then adopted in San Francisco, California, by John Pilsworth in 1914 who used screen-printing to form multicolor prints in much the same manner as screen-printing is done today. Screen-printing took off during the First World War as an industrial process for printing flags and banners. The use of photographic stencils at this time made the process more versatile and encouraged widespread use. (The section above was taken for informational purposes only. For more information you can visit the original material at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen-printing.) Screen printing is arguably the most versatile of all printing processes. It can be used to print on a wide variety of substrates, including paper, paperboard, plastics, glass, metals, fabrics, and many other materials, including paper, plastics, glass, metals, nylon and cotton. Some common products from the screen printing industry include posters, labels, decals, signage, and all types of textiles and electronic circuit boards. The advantage of screen-printing over other print processes is that the press can print on substrates of any shape, thickness and size. A significant characteristic of screen printing is that a greater thickness of the ink can be applied to the substrate than is possible with other printing techniques. This allows for some very interesting effects that are not possible using other printing methods. Because of the simplicity of the application process, a wider range of inks and dyes are available for use in screen printing than for use in any other printing process. Utilization of screen-printing presses has begun to increase because production rates have improved. This has been a result of the development of the automated and rotary screen-printing press, improved dryers, and U.V. curable ink. The major chemicals used include screen emulsions, inks, and solvents, surfactants, caustics and oxidizers used in screen reclamation. The inks used vary dramatically in their formulations (GATF 1992b). Many factors such as composition, size and form, angle, pressure, and speed of the blade (squeegee) determine the quality of the impression made by the squeegee. At one time most blades were made from rubber which, however, is prone to wear and edge nicks and has a tendency to warp and distort. While blades continue to be made from rubbers such as neoprene, most are now made from polyurethane which can produce as many as 25,000 impressions without significant degradation of the image. If the item was printed on a manual or automatic screen press the printed product will be placed on a conveyor belt which carries the item into the drying oven or through the UV curing system. Rotary screen presses feed the material through the drying or curing system automatically. Air drying of certain inks, though rare in the industry, is still sometimes utilized. The rate of screen printing production was once dictated by the drying rate of the screen print inks. Due to improvements and innovations the production rate has greatly increased. Some specific innovations which affected the production rate and has also increased screen press popularity include: Development of automatic presses versus hand operated presses which have comparatively slow production times. Improved drying systems which significantly improves production rate. Development and improvement of U.V. curable ink technologies Development of the rotary screen press which allows continuous operation of the press. This is one of the more recent technology developments. (The section above was taken for informational purposes only. For more information you can visit the original material at http://www.pneac.org/printprocesses/screen/.