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SCREEN PRINTING (download PDF 1.0MB)
Introduction Preparing the Stencil & Emulsion Printing
Screen Print Materials Exposing the Stencil Stencil Removal / Screen Reclaiming
G&S Pigment System Paints Exposing Units / Methods Trouble Shooting
Creating Artwork Preparing for Printing Iron On Transfers
Mesh / Screen Preparation Printers Equipment Prices

CREATING ARTWORK

The first step in the creation of a screen printed object is the creation of artwork to be used for your design.

Because the stencil method you will use later to prepare your screen is photographic, you must first make a positive.

A POSITIVE is a design (words and/or images) on a transparent or translucent material. The positive will then be used to burn the image onto the stencil material.

FOR EACH COLOUR A SEPARATE POSITIVE IS REQUIRED.

A positive may be made by hand, by camera, by computer, or by copier machine.

  1. CREATING A POSITIVE BY COMPUTER: The latest technology in computer software allows creations of artwork with ease and precision unrivaled. Many choices of print type and the ability to arrange it however desired, saves hours of work. Pictures can be scanned into the computer and transformed to your specifications, or you may use "clip art" from the program. The different colour jobs can be printed a such right onto X200 positive paper, ready to be exposed.
  2. CREATING A POSITIVE BY CAMERA: Images can be photographically enlarged of the following procedures will allow you to create a film positive to meet your customer's specifications:
  3. CREATING A POSITIVE BY HAND: Images can be photographically enlarge or reduced on clear acetate.
METHOD 1 Rubbing dry transfer lettering (Tec-type, Letraset, Geotype, etc.) onto clear acetate (Transtay). You will need: a roll or box of clear acetate (Transtay), an assortment of Tec-type lettering, and a burnisher for rubbing down letters.

METHOD 2 Tracing the image onto matte acetate using black ink and a technical pen or brush. You will need a roll of matte acetate, at least one technical pen, preferably an assortment of point sit a bottle of black ink and a small touch up brush.

METHOD 3 Cutting the image out of masking film, using a knife. You will need a roll of Amber of Rub Automask film; at least one knife, with replacement blades; a roll of gloss blockout tape for corrections.

METHOD 4 Using a copier machine to copy/enlarge/reduce your image onto velum.

OTHER BASIC TOOLS AND SUPPLIES: In setting up a work area specifically for artwork, include at each station a drawing table and a chair or stool at the correct height. A light table is ideal because it will allow the students to see their work more clearly.

layout guide proportion wheel other possible needs circle templates
scissors masking tape T-squares / ruler half-tone screens
graph paper register marks triangles stock art files
lumocolour marker magic tape French curves compasses, etc.

CREATING A POSITIVE BY HAND

METHOD 1:

RUBBING DRY TRANSFER LETTERING ONTO CLEAR ACETATE (TRANSTAY)

FOR STRAIGHT TYPE:
  1. Tape a sheet of graph paper or the layout guide to the drawing using masking tape.
  2. Tape a clear piece of acetate over the graph paper or layout guide.
  3. Burnish (by rubbing the letters with a burnisher tool) the message directly onto the clear acetate, using one of the lines on the graph paper or layout guide as a guide. Space the letters closely together for a neat and professional look.

FOR ARCHED TYPE:

  1. Tape the layout guide to the drawing table using masking tape.
  2. Tape a clear piece of acetate over the layout guide.
  3. Burnish the message directly onto the clear acetate, using one of the curves as a guide to align letters. Be sure to angle letters towards the centre.

METHOD 2:

TRACING AN IMAGE ONTO MATTE ACETATE

  1. Matte acetate is an acetate that has a matte finish on one side and a glossy finish on the other. Tape the acetate with the matte side up (this is the side you will draw on) over the image to be traced - your drawing or other image. (It is useful for tracing an image off a cap or jersey, or in some cases, tracing bad reproduction artwork). Of course, this method can be used to trace over lettering as well .
  2. Using pen and ink trace over your image.
  3. If this is to be a multi-colour print you must make as many pen and ink tracings as there are colours in the job.
  4. Remember: When using matte acetate as a possitive, you must ensure that the image be perfectly opaque. This means that you have to repeatedly ink over the image to ensure that completely no light is projected through. A less than opaque positive will yield a stencil that will not wash out completely and therefore you will have an unsatisfactory imprint.

ASSEMBLING BASE ART

Putting together all parts of your artwork - images and message

After the different elements of the artwork have been completed (the burnished message and the line drawing), you must assemble or put together the artwork all together onto one acetate in order to have the positive for the stencil that you will be preparing in the next stage of the screen printing process. Remember: These directions are for a one colour job (eg.black) and therefore you would require only one stencil. If your job has more than one colour, you need one stencil for each colour. In this case you would follow the directions for all multi-colour artwork to create more than one stencil.

  1. Tape a layout guide to the table, then tape a clear piece of acetate to it.
  2. Cut out all the type and illustrations using a knife, so that there is about 1/4" of space left around them. In order not to scratch the ink and letter surfaces, it is advisable to position all lettering and drawings face down on the acetate.
  3. Now position the type message using the grid or layout guide to help you align, and secure in place with magic tape.
  4. Position the drawing in the centre or off to the side, according to customer specifications, and secure in place with masking tape.
  5. NEVER ALLOW ANY TAPE OR ACETATE TO OVERLAP A MESSAGE OR GRAPHIC. These overlapping lines will expose and show up in the final print.
  6. You now have a completely ready to expose positive. You may want to apply registration marks and to cut subsequent colours.

METHOD 3:

CUTTING THE IMAGE OUT OF MASKING FILM

Masking film can be used for cutting out an image, such as a scripted team name, or for creating second and subsequent colour overlays on an existing positive.

When cutting an original image:

  1. You are tracing the image's outline using a knife blade. Cutting masking film requires practice. You will want to cut the top film (orange or red), but not the bottom carrier sheet (clear).
  2. After the image has been cut, the outside image must be stripped away, leaving you a complete, ready-to-expose positive.

When cutting a second or subsequent colour overlay:

  1. You will need to tape down the original artwork (ie. a line drawing).
  2. Cut the individual colours out of the masking film, cutting just into the outline of the design to allow easy overlapping of colours.

METHOD 4:

INSTANT POSITIVES WITH VELUM (DRAFTING PAPER)

Ideal for simple jobs! Fast and very economical! No expensive darkroom and processing chemicals!

  1. Create your artwork in pen and paper, or use the computer to prepare the images and message, or copy a picture.
  2. Now simply copy your artwork by running the velum through a laser printer* or photocopier* and create an instant positive.
  3. Again, you must make one positive per colour used in your artwork.
  4. The image created should be as opaque (black) as possible to block light during exposure. Use an opaquing pen or black marker to darken any areas, if necessary.
  5. Place the positive image face up on the print side of the screen and expose using stencil method chosen. Screens will take slightly longer to expose (add about 20% to exposure time).

FOR ALL MULTI-COLOUR ARTWORK

As mentioned in the previous instructions for creating a positive, you must have one positive for each colour in the print job, regardless of how you have created the positives. Three colours require 3 positives.

  1. You must register the artwork overlays to one another so that the different colours will appear where they should. This is done using registration marks or targets.
  2. With the base art (usually the darkest colour) taped onto the table surface, position one registration mark in the upper righthand corner and one in the lower lefthand corner.
  3. Tape the next overlay, completely registered (in line) over the base art, and position new registration marks in the position over the first ones.
  4. Continue with subsequent colours. You will end up having properly registered artwork that is easy to re-register should the positives become mixed up. The marks will also help the printer to register the screens more easily when printing.

LABELING ARTWORK

Remember to label the right bottom area of the positive(s) using lumocolor pen. Include the artist's name, number, and colour to be printed. The lumocolor pen is permanent but light enough not to expose onto the screen.