[Charlesn]

Tom,

I made the ever so common mistake of not reading the entire thread before replying . Your process does look like a good method but I wonder how well it translates to an Auto when you have to do large runs. Most of the time when we actually do this it's for runs in excess of 1000 per size. I should have mentioned the multi-size layout on a single screen though, that is a great way to conserve screens.

As for printing black on white I wish I could help. We haven't been able to do a heavy black without bleed either. It's possible you could do it with two hits, a SHAPE underbase followed by the black but that sounds heavy to me even at 305 and small details might not be as clean.

 

[splathead]

Doubling the platen height might work too but I may have some issues with the screen angle as Il have to set the off contact a lot higher than usual.

Yeah, good point. I forgot about angles. Taping of the screen is certainly the most time-consuming part of this. Just trying to figure a way out of that.

 

[Unik Ink]

We use a similar method as Tom but we use this platen. We line the designs for the different sizes in a row on the film, and align them on the screen pointing toward the person printing, instead aligning them facing the press like normal prints. It makes easy access to the print area on the shirt. Instead of taping out the sizes that we aren't printing, we cut out small pieces of old film positives to cover the image area and tape around the edges of the film positive. This keeps tape adhesive from getting stuck in the image area. When we get to the next size, we tape out the size we just printed from the bottom, and slide the screen down to the new size. We are able to print 200+ neck tags an hour with this method.

 

[zenwhim]

Hope this doesn't take the thread off topic... I'm currently designing some shirts (organic white t's) and am very concerned about seeing the interior printing through the exterior of the shirt. So few questions:

1) Can anyone recommend a ink color and font style size that works best for this (low see-through). I heard light grey mentioned earlier?

2) Would it look bad if I tried to print something on the back exterior to try and cover it? With an image it might cover it pretty well, but if it's wording on the back exterior I'm afraid it will look sloppy if there's see-through from the interior.

3) If I did choose to go with wording on the exterior back, do you think it would look unprofessional if the wording was surrounded by white ink to try and cover up any interior text being seen?

Thanks!

 

[Rodney]

First is sizing, you will need a screen for each size you will be running

You can put multiple sizes on one screen like shown in this video:

1) Can anyone recommend a ink color and font style size that works best for this (low see-through). I heard light grey mentioned earlier?

Lighter color inks than the t-shirt usually work. I've used light gray and a beige.

2) Would it look bad if I tried to print something on the back exterior to try and cover it? With an image it might cover it pretty well, but if it's wording on the back exterior I'm afraid it will look sloppy if there's see-through from the interior.

If the intent of the back image is just to cover the interior neckline, yeah, that could look bad design-wise.

3) If I did choose to go with wording on the exterior back, do you think it would look unprofessional if the wording was surrounded by white ink to try and cover up any interior text being seen?

Seems a bit weird, but maybe I'm having a hard time picturing what you're talking about.

I don't think the ink showing through is that big of an issue if you work with your screen printer to pick the right color ink to go with the color garment that you're using.

 

[fishface]

Here's a shot of how we print the size tag in our line(s) of shirts. Once set up, we do not have to reposition the screen, just remove and tape over the next size needed. It's really sped things up at our shop.

The finished print....

 

[RobertG]

Very clever and nicely executed.
Thanks for this.

Regards, Robert

 

[kioas]

Here's a shot of how we print the size tag in our line(s) of shirts. Once set up, we do not have to reposition the screen, just remove and tape over the next size needed. It's really sped things up at our shop.

The finished print....

Very nice... I like how you made all the sizes go around like that.

 

[integritees]

i think screening transfers and heat pressing them is would be the easiest way to do this. You can gang a screen with a ton of tags, print them till your heart is content, and then just pull them out of storage when needed. no need to turn the shirt inside out, no need to setup after that. Plus the image will have a nice finish because its heat pressed on AND you don't really run the risk of wet ink pushing through the tshirt and being visible on the back of the shirt.

 

[Unik Ink]

i think screening transfers and heat pressing them is would be the easiest way to do this. You can gang a screen with a ton of tags, print them till your heart is content, and then just pull them out of storage when needed. no need to turn the shirt inside out, no need to setup after that. Plus the image will have a nice finish because its heat pressed on AND you don't really run the risk of wet ink pushing through the tshirt and being visible on the back of the shirt.

We tried transfers. It is much slower. You have to print the transfers, cut them out, line each one up on the heat press, press for 8 seconds, etc. You can direct print without flipping the shirt inside out at 200+ per hour on a manual press. Neutral color plastisol through a 156 mesh won't show through a 4 oz shirt. I described our method on the previous page if anyone is interested.

 

[VinylHanger]

I was at Wally World the other day and noticed a good part of the Ladies shirts had the entire tag printed on the inside. I was wondering how to go about this wihtout bleeding through. I can print with waterbased black and have very few show through if I am careful. I would just be worried about adding yet another thing for this newbie (me) to have go wrong.

Maybe thicken the ink up a bit before printing tags would help? Adding black to the Matsui White would give me a nice dark grey and still be thick enough to not bleed through? A 200-230 screen mesh to lower the amount of ink?

This sounds like fun, now I need to design a label. Among other things.

On a side note, do you put the label in all the shirts you print for other customers, or only for your designs?

 

[OTFINC]

I know alot of those tags look screen printed but after doing alot of research I think most of those tagless prints are done using a pad printer.
Printing Supplies for Tagless Apparel Care Labels | Inkcups Now

 

[VinylHanger]

I think you're right. That is most likely how they do it.

 

[deanh]

I recently setup pallets to do two at a time. I used 155 screens,canvas 3001 shirts . It took 2 people two hours including setup on a manual press to print 4 cases. I found pulling the ink towards the neck line worked best. None of the tags bleed through. Worked great!

 

[OTFINC]

Finally got around to playing with the heat transfer stuff I ordered last year. Here are some pictures.

 

[Fawneyes]

Transfer Express now does custom neck lables. I believe 30 to a page. There is a minimum of course.

 

[Relik Apparel]

Distinctive 21 is a great company for neck labels http://www.distinctivedesigns21.com

.

 

[gerryppg]

I just met a client that wants the neck labels removed. He showed me a shirt he had done and he said his last printer completely removed the label and burned the outer part to seal it back up. Anyone ever done this?

 

[jasonsmith]

If you're worried about black ink showing through on a white shirt with regards to the label. What about laying down a white layer first, then doing black on top of the white? It would be more steps, but I figure that should help prevent the black bleeding through?

 

[splathead]

I just met a client that wants the neck labels removed. He showed me a shirt he had done and he said his last printer completely removed the label and burned the outer part to seal it back up. Anyone ever done this?

This technique removes the label entirely in one step:

youtube.com/watch?v=ZUSYqrvdQa0&feature=related