[stonefly83]

I've done a lot of reading on screen printing and heat press, and have come to the conclusion that I would like to begin a screen printing business. I like the look and feel and versatility of screen printing versus the heat press.
Anyway, my question is, especially to someone who has been in business for a long time...I'm in the process of writing my business plan, and I need projections! I do my own art work (even though I'm a novice with photoshop) which is what I would be using for my shirts. How much does it all cost? I'm totally lost and I really need help! I'm itching to start my business, but I wanna do it right! If anyone has any advice, please, it would be so appreciated!

 

[Super7]

I read the "How To Print T-Shirts For Fun And Profit" book

and it seemed to answer all kind of initial questions, and was an all around great resource, I'm even guilty of bringing it with me when I went to purchase from a supplier just to cut through the "where are you coming from questions" and have my hand held a bit.

 

[promo]

I run a screen printing business. If you are planning on printing from home, you won't have to worry about rental/lease expense. If you are planning on opening up a retail shop you have to find a location and factor in the lease, supplies, etc. The equipment is what will cost you. Our 6 head was like $9 or 10K I believe an automatic is like $20K as far as I know. You need to purchase all the inks you will need, conveyor(drying inks), screens, cleaning and prepping equipment, emulsion, exposure unit, flash cure for multi color prints, different pallets for left sleeve prints, hat prints, etc. I koow I'm missing a lot of other things too.

Also you need to build a clientele which is not easy. A lot of people already have an established printer so you have to make sure your sales pitch is right.

You need a graphic design setup, printer to print your acetates, clip art cds, light table, art equipment, scanner, etc.

Basically you need

-Someone to do the printing.
-Someone to handle customer calls, pricing, sales, invoicing, ordering.
-Someone to fold, pack, clean screens.
-An Artist to create your art, print the seperations, etc.

For screen-printing I recommend using Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator, photoshop is good for paper prints but not ideal for screen-printing.

Any artist can create art, but you have to understand how to create art specifically for screen-printing it's different. Your artist has to understand how to print seperations, halftoning, etc.

Hope this helps, feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Marc

 

[Rodney]

Wow Marc, nice first post! :welcome:

 

[MinusBlindfold]

For screen-printing I recommend using Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator, photoshop is good for paper prints but not ideal for screen-printing.

would you (or anyone) also recommend Jasc Paint shop Pro (8 i believe) for screen printing?

 

[Rodney]

would you (or anyone) also recommend Jasc Paint shop Pro (8 i believe) for screen printing?

If you were going to "start a screenprinting business" like this thread is about, I wouldn't suggest Paint Shop Pro as a main staple for your art department. The software he mentioned or other vector software like illustrator, freehand, or a raster program like photoshop would be a better choice.

If you are just desiging a t-shirt to send to a screen printer, Paint Shop Pro 8 will work just fine as long as you can create and save it as a high resolution file.

I've use PSP8 to design t-shirts to send to a screen printer, but the actual printer uses much more advanced software to process the files to get them ready for films.