T-Shirt Forums banner

Is screen printing as hard as it sounds?

5K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  knifemaker3 
#1 ·
hey guys
im in the process of setting up a personilised gifts and novelty t-shirts business so i will have the sublimation set up. iv been looking a little at screen printing which would be good for putting funny lines on t-shirts. im just wondering is it as complicated and hard as it sounds? im not even sure of all of what i would need to set it up equipment wise.or should i just stick with sublimation and inkjet transfers? any help is greatly appreciated
 
#10 ·
I agree with Art..if you want to do funny sayings..use thermal vinyl. That is what we use for them unless we get a larger order.

We are still in the learning curve (probably always will be..LOL :D) with screenprinting but the hardest part seems to be all the setup and prep work to get to the point of pulling the squeegee..which seems to be the easist part! :)
 
#12 ·
I'm going to be honest, screen printing is just about one of the most challenging things I have ever tried to master- EVER. Corel Draw- child's play, Photoshop- just play with it, vinyl- the machine does all the work, large format inkjet printing-make sure the colors are right, then print.

Screenprinting is a whole nother animal. A thousand things can go wrong or be done wrong before you actually print one shirt. Then a thousand more can go wrong when you print, then a hundred more AFTER you print them, i.e. ink not cured properly, design not centered, colors out of register, holes in the screen, on and on and on.

I wonder why we love to do it?
 
#13 ·
I also have to agree that using a vinyl cutter is the way to go. Screenprinting i don't know much about , but im going to start building my own 1 and 4 color press next week to try out..Look's like is going to be a challenge but worth a try. Goodluck on whatever you decide on doing. Ambitious
 
#14 ·
Heat pressed vinyl is certainly the best way to go for small orders of say less than a dozen shirts. But for more than that screenprint is going to be much cheaper as well as less time consuming. I myself am in the process of learning to screen print. Have yet to make my first print just due to the fact of not having enough hours in the day to get everything else accomplished. But I got into it to learn and expand my business.

Transfers and vinyl are a great way to decorate. Just realize that it's only great for small runs. Unless you use plastisol transfers from tranferexpress,ace, or someone else. But, screenprinting in house will always be the cheapest route.

At least that's my thinking. I hope I find out that I'm right and that I've not made a big mistake in investing in screen print equipment.

Good luck!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top