Discuss the different types of equipment needed for screen printing. Topics include manual screen printing presses, automatic presses, dryers, folding machines, starter kits and high end machines.
Ok... So I was dumb enough to invest 2,400.00 in a 6 color/4 station manual press when I had no previous experience with silkscreening.
The reason I did this was because I had been designing for a friend's MMA t-shirt brand plus I have always wanted to design and sell my own designs. So I invested the 2,400.00 for the press, flash dryer and halogen exposure light... not to mention the $500.00 for a starter kit (4 screens, qt of emulsion, 4 qts of ink, squeegees, ink remover and etc)
So needless to say I started watching a heck of a lot of youtube and started researching all aspects of screen printing.
Bottom Line... I am hooked... I love screen printing and running my own designs... but my question is this... I have dropped all my money on the press and start up kit... I know that I really need to invest a chunk of change in a good printer, but I don't have the funds right now for it. I have been going to my local Office Depot and having them print out my layers on transparencies and I double them up so that they are dark enough. This has been working so far because it's cheap (.30 a sheet) and easy, but there are the obvious size restrictions (8.5 x 11) and the lack of total control.
So I was just wondering what printers you guys would recommend on a budget, at least to use in the meanwhile, until I can save up the funds for a good printer.
Also, what printers would you recommend for printing my films? Is a laser jet better? Roll film better? Epson? I know that in the end I am looking to spend 1,200 - 3,000 on a printer... so I need a temp fix until I can get that kind of "coin" together. Any help and/or advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks guys... you are the best teachers a neewbie like me can have.
__________________ BOYS MAKE EXCUSES - MEN MAKE CHANGES!!!
But for now you can use any inexpensive INK JET Printer. You can buy ink jet transparencies from your local screen supply or Office Supply Store. The transparencies at the office supply store cost more at about .75 or 1$ per sheet.
Laser Printers are less expensive in the long run. Transparencies for LASER are less expensive but I have found problems with Toner being dark enough. Doubling up IS an option but I prefer to minimize the variables that could create any problem.
That being said - stick to an Ink Jet printer ANY one will work - just see who has the highest DPI for the price you are willing to spend.
To save money and get you closer to your end goal you can buy INK JET cartridge Refill kits.
Finally - you can tile your images in Adobe Illustrator so that you can do larger images. (2 or more sheets to compose the image)
ADVISE: always pre-print on regular paper to make sure that your image is the right size, tiling style etc. This also will save your transparency supply
(I print these as low quality or fast output)
Print the transparencies at the highest quality your printer will allow. You should have the option to choose transparency as the paper type. You can also tell the printer that they are Premium Photograph Paper that will also yield the highest quality results.
For now you limited to faking half tones so vector art will be your best friend - but in the end experiment and have fun - you are only as creative as the solutions to your problems. Limitations exist to be oversome with ingenuity. You will learn a great deal from experimentation, the frustration is optional.
I would really like to thank both of you for your helpful advice.
I must admit it has been a little frustrating trying to get my set up off the ground. In the end I would love to have all top notch gear, but it does take some time to get there. Thanks again guys and I will most def look into those options. I am thinking about the Epson 1400 - because of the large format printing and because my last excercise with tiling 8.5 x 11 didn't turn out so hot.
Again, thanks and hope you guys have a good weekend.
__________________ BOYS MAKE EXCUSES - MEN MAKE CHANGES!!!
You can get an Epson 1400 for under $300.00. I use waterproof film from Dynamic Supply in Rancho Cucamonga. You can use the regular Epson ink with this kind of film. The key for me is the RIP software. I use Accurip and the ink deposit is perfect. Some others may know how to tweak the Epson settings to get similar results, but there may be a lot of trial and error involved. I would steer clear of the lazer printer, as most times the film stretches as it goes through the printer. This isn't a huge problem on simple prints - if you set up your artwork to accomodate for the stretching (a bit of extra trapping) - but on detailed half-tone jobs, the stretching can lead to much frustration.
Accurip will set you back about $400 to $500, but it is well worth it. Again, the film output is perfect with their set-up.
Likewise, you can download Ghostscript and Ghostview to get postscript capability from a non-postscript printer, such as halftones and overprinting strokes to trap. Or, if you have photoshop, you can output halftones by converting to bitmap and selecting halftone in the dialog box and subsequently entering your linescreen data. Wilflex has a couple of free plugins for photoshop that will do halftones as well.
I currently use an HP9800, which is no longer made, but works very well, along with Ghostscript. I get my waterproof film from Victory Factory. Works as good as any other, and costs almost half as much.
Neewbie Needing Printer Advise 
Re: Neewbie Needing Printer Advice 
