SCHOOL SPIRIT
screen printing
screen printing
screen printing
Silk-screening (or screen printing) is a great way to promote your message. It’s a very basic process that has unlimited outcomes. Screen printing is a method of creating an image by pressing ink through a screen with areas blocked off by a stencil. There are two basic types of screen printing. Spot color printing and four color process printing. Spot colors are used for for regular prints where specific colors are called out. e.g. red, teal, athletic gold, black. Process colors are used for full color images, photographic images, etc but is limited to white colored garments for the most part. Printing light colors on dark garments will likely require an additional screen. This is for a white base. This is necessary to make the print colors vibrant. Although the white underbase can be left out which achieves the popular "vintage" look. We use a combination of the highest quality garments and ink products to deliver the best possible finished product. Our advanced application techniques allow us to decorate a variety of materials including cotton, performance wear, and team uniforms. Whether you are looking for vibrant colors or a textured finish our custom printing process can achieve your goals. Scroll down to check out some of the techniques we specialize in and find the right one for your project!
Plastisol Printing
Plastisol inks are the most commonly used inks when it comes to screen printing on t-shirts. Plastisol has a couple different characteristics about it that makes it so good for screen printing. It comes in a very wide array of colors and it needs to be cured by a very high temperature for it to dry. The main benefits of this is that once the ink has been cured and bonded to the fabric of a t-shirt, it isn't coming off. It takes a really long time of hard washing and wear for the ink to weaken and crack. Once the ink is on the t-shirt it is placed on the dryer for curing the temperature of the heat to to cure the ink is somewhere in the neighborhood of 300°F. Plastisol ink can easily be mixed to match the desired ink color for the print.This is how we do ink matching with the Pantone Matching System. You can also mix different specialty inks with plastisol ink to create special effects such as glitter, metallic and glow-in-the-dark to name a few.
Waterbased Printing
Water-based ink utilizes either dyes or pigments in a suspension with water as the solvent. The evaporation of the water is necessary to set or cure the ink. Water-based inks are a good choice when a “soft hand” is desirable. A soft hand is the condition where the ink film cannot easily be felt with the hand when passed across the surface of the fabric. Water-based ink also is a good choice where ink penetration is desirable, such as in towel printing. Water-based inks are not as opaque as plastisol and unless printed on white or light colored garments they will not appear as vivid as a plastisol ink. We are currently not working with waterbased inks any longer but may work with it if a particular set of conditions are met.
Silicone Printing
Silicone Inks have a high degree of stretch and durability in the wash process. They have a low cure temperature, making it the ideal ink choice for 100% polyester performance fabrics, websuits, swimsuits, and sublimated polyester fabrics. Silicone Inks possess superb adhesion and extreme elasticity. This is a flat printing ink not a 3D effect and is mostly used for athletic apparel when the white needs to be white.
Foil
Foil screen printing is the shiny material {looks like foil in kitchen} that can add some extra bling to garments. It can be done in several different colors and effects. The foil is applied with a heat press. It is laid on to the shirt after printing with a foil adhesive in clear or of like color with the design and then transferred to the shirt with the heat press. Before this is done and while being screen printed, other colors of ink can be applied to the shirt in the printing process to achieve the desired results of the artwork created with areas of foil or simply can be just a 1 color foil logo/design.
Metallic Ink Printing
Metallic inks are another option for you to achieve a metallic surface in your design. The inks themselves are metallic, versus being an overlay treatment or transfer, and are available in a variety of colors (although silver and gold are standard). Metallic inks work best when there are no small details to fill as the ink is a bit thicker than normal.
Glitter Ink Printing
Glitter Ink is the best way to bring sparkle into your design. A clear, hyper-glittered top coat called crystalina is printed on top of the colors in your design, making glitter both an exciting and versatile choice. Gold and Silver flaked glitter is also available. Glitter inks work best when there are no small details as the glitter flakes are thicker than normal ink and must pass through a lower mesh screen.
PUFF Ink Printing
Puff ink gives a little extra pop to your design. Puff Inks are a great economic alternative to High Density or Super Gel Inks, but have a much softer marshmallow-like quality. This effect is created by adding a puff additive to standard Plastisol Inks, which provide a raised print effect. Puff Inks are available in any color in the Pantone Matching System solid color guides. If you do not have a Pantone color guide, we can match your files to the closest available swatch. Combine this with Standard Plastisol Inks of the same color in a different screen to create texture within one solid fill area.
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gLOSSY Ink Printing
Get the wet look with our Super Gel Inks. This ink is best used to simulate shiny or glossy effect or it can be used to accent an area of your design. While generally printed clear as a top coat, Super Gels can also be tinted in a variety of colors.
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Blister Base Ink Printing
Blister Base is designed to provide a puffed blister or bubbly surface. Combined with higher temperatures and longer dwell times in the dryer, a variety of looks can be achieved. It is also used as the under base in producing the Faux Leather print technique. It can be combined with any standard plastisol ink to achieve a wide variety or color options.
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GLOW IN THE DARK Ink Printing
Blister Base is designed to provide a puffed blister or bubbly surface. Combined with higher temperatures and longer dwell times in the dryer, a variety of looks can be achieved. It is also used as the under base in producing the Faux Leather print technique. It can be combined with any standard plastisol ink to achieve a wide variety or color options.
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