Get advice to help you create your t-shirt graphics. Discuss t-shirt design software, special effect techniques, or other topics related to creating a t-shirt design on your computer. If you'd rather hire a graphic designer to do the work for you, please post in our Referrals and Recommendations section here.
Hello,
I am new to screen printing but have a burning desire to get a press and make tshirts and various apparel; for fun, creativity and profit.
How important is it to get RIP software and a large format printer? Is there free software available for a mac? How effective would it be to print from a cheap walmart combo inkjet? Do you even want to mess with halftones as a beginner or is it something you want to be able to do right away?
I have a small letter size printer that seems to print ok. Would this suffice to make a decent screen or is it fruitless to go without the big printer with RIP software? Inkjet or Laser?
As long as we're talking about printing, what's the bare minimum to get as a beginner screener. I intend to get good enough at screening that I can hopefully build a little clientele locally being a good source of custom screened stuff. So I would expect a small operation in a corner of my garage would be sufficient to make some extra dough. I'd blow alot of money on some first rate equipment but I just don't have alot upfront. I also have enough sense to admit that I might just suck at screening and hate the actual process and mess so the last thing I want to do is spend a ****load more than I need just to get started.
So I have to get the least costly, yet functional stuff that will do professional, quality work.
Is a 4 color, 1 station press with micro a good enough press to make some good seed money on or is it a waste of time trying to crank shirts out with only one platen? Also, will a flash dryer suffice if you're not doing too large of orders? I'm thinking, at the least I'll get a press of some sort with micro reg., a flash dryer and an exposure unit. Then I'll get the supplies and screens to go with it. Then hope to god that I'm going to love putting whatever I want on a tshirt and wearing it in public or private.
Anyone have any input on any of this?
Anyone know of anyone selling equipment close to Colorado?
Thanks everyone,
Steve
Hello,
I am new to screen printing but have a burning desire to get a press and make tshirts and various apparel; for fun, creativity and profit.
You have a lot of good questions, but let's focus on the most important one.
Profit = Sales that are greater than expenses.
You are thinking about a lot of hardware/software, but your focus needs to be on sales. Producing something that people can't live without. (read the book called "Purple Cow")
Why not start small with a basic system, say a computer and printer. Take your designs and show them around to your target customers. When you create one that they love, take it to a contract screen printer and let them produce a short run for you to sell. You will learn a lot about business without filling a large space with expensive equipment.
The next step could be a heat press and special inks for your printer to put your designs on T-shirts and totes. This forum has a lot of people doing just that.
Build a strong sales system first, then as the sales start rolling in, you will be able to choose how to fulfill the orders, by buying a lot of equipment or letting a contractor produce what you are selling.
If you don't want to sell, find a local screen printer and apply for a job, you will get paid to use their equipment and learn the trade.
Thanks for the reply, John.
I forgot to mention that I also wanted to be just a simple screen printer for my area since there's only one. I know most of my small town and am confident that I could get lots of small run jobs from many friends with small businesses in town. In a nutshell, I live in a ski area and want to work from home more and be able to do it after the ski area closes for the day, kind of like tuning skis from the garage. If I can do quality work, I see no reason why I couldn't do a few jobs a week to start and hopefully let it grow from there.
I appreciate your advice but I'm not too worried about wether my own personal designs sell or not, that's more for the fun of it. I'll sell that stuff on my website when I devote more time to developing it.
Given all this, I'm at the point of buying equipment to learn the trade because the one printer in my area is still 45 minutes and a mountain pass away. If he were closer, I'd for sure try to get a job with him to learn.
Ahhhh, mountain living, sometimes it's kinda isolated, thank god for the internet!
Thanks again for the input.
Thanks for the reply, John.
I forgot to mention that I also wanted to be just a simple screen printer for my area since there's only one. I know most of my small town and am confident that I could get lots of small run jobs from many friends with small businesses in town. In a nutshell, I live in a ski area and want to work from home more and be able to do it after the ski area closes for the day, kind of like tuning skis from the garage. If I can do quality work, I see no reason why I couldn't do a few jobs a week to start and hopefully let it grow from there.
I appreciate your advice but I'm not too worried about wether my own personal designs sell or not, that's more for the fun of it. I'll sell that stuff on my website when I devote more time to developing it.
Given all this, I'm at the point of buying equipment to learn the trade because the one printer in my area is still 45 minutes and a mountain pass away. If he were closer, I'd for sure try to get a job with him to learn.
Ahhhh, mountain living, sometimes it's kinda isolated, thank god for the internet!
Thanks again for the input.
Hey Steve,
On the more technical side, I would recommend the following if you are seeking to do professional design and work. However, John's information on starting off is great, though I would recommend taking a mental note of the following to help you greatly later on in your career assuming you choose to expand into a firm/studio:
First off, you'll need a basic inventory of software, but before you can run the software, you'll need an adequate printer with a respectable DPI. The better the DPI, the better your prints on photo-paper will look like, though you may not need this, depending on what type of work you will be doing. I use a Canon laser printer, but I also recommend Brother and HP as they are low cost but are efficient, come with reasonably priced 2 - 3 year warranties, and have respectable DPI rates.
If you are designing your own logos/prints, I would recommend using either Corel Draw or Photoshop because of their Vector abilities in design (if you don't understand this yet, don't worry, you'll catch on with more experience ). Yes, they do cost a bit, but consider software as in vestment.
Finally, I recommend a decent computer with an adequate graphics card and processor. Moreover, the more RAM you have the better. I would recommend an Apple - based computer as many screen - printers I know like them for their versability and speed.
You probably won't be needing any of the above at the moment, but please keep it in mind if you choose to move up to professional - grade design and production.
What works for mac users? 
). Yes, they do cost a bit, but consider software as in vestment.
