From Design to Shirt: Apparel Screen Printing

Screen printing (also known as silk screening) is a traditional art form used to decorate fabric, most commonly t-shirts. Screen printing allows for a wide variety of colors and layouts to be printed on clothing. It’s used in many industries for branding, team logos, and even individual names or sayings.

Unlike digital print and dye sublimation, which use an ink to print directly onto the garment, screen printing requires the graphic to be “carved” out of a piece of woven material like a stencil. This screen is then transferred to a t-shirt, where inks are pressed into the fabric using a squeegee. The shirts then go through a dryer to cure the inks. This gives the shirts their final shape and feel, allowing them to be worn again and again.

The first step in the process of making a screen-printed t-shirt is creating a design. This can be done by hand or with a computer software program such as Adobe Illustrator. Some screen printing companies have in-house designers, but most people that order shirts will need to submit high-resolution artwork.

Once the design has been created, a screen is created for each color in the shirt. These screens are then registered to ensure that all of the colors will line up correctly when printing. Depending on the ink, a single screen may be used for the entire shirt or one screen can be used for each color. Ink is pushed through the screen and onto the garment by squeegee, with each color being applied to the shirt at different times.

There are a few types of inks that can be used in screen printing, including plastisol and waterbase. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but plastisol is the most popular in the industry due to its durability, color saturation, and fade resistance. Whether a shirt is going to be worn repeatedly or just once, the quality of the ink is a crucial factor that can make the difference between a high-quality t-shirt and an ordinary one.

While it takes a bit more work to create a screen-printed t-shirt than a digitally printed one, the result is a shirt that looks professional and can last for years. It’s also a great option for larger orders of t-shirts or other clothing items, as the initial setup costs are lower than digital prints. Regardless of your need, be sure to talk with a trusted and experienced print shop that can guide you through the process of designing and ordering custom-printed apparel.