A GUIDE TO SCREEN PRINTING

Screen printing is a popular method of printing garments. Screen printing or screen process printing as it is correctly known as is an excellent economical way to print medium to large quantities of garments.

The process involves pushing inks though a detailed stretched mesh screen. The inks penetrate and bonds with the top fibres of the fabric and sit slightly proud of the fabric surface. The inks on the garment are then ' cured ' using high temperature to firmly set the ink into the fabric.

Each colour within a design has its own screen. Colours are then printed one at a time in layers that can overlap or be totally separate.

THE PRINTS OF WALES can print up to 4 different colour blocks. The majority of our customers actually use only one colour.

The designs are long lasting and vibrant colours can be achieved with quite fine detail that is not achievable by any other method. Garments printed using this process will often look good many years later and usually last as long as the garment itself.

The process is ideal for advertising T shirts as the longevity of the print and garment means it is in circulation for a long time, advertising for you for longer.

The process of ordering screen printed garments

1 - Supply us with artwork, preferably in a vector format (see below for an explanation of vector formats)

2 - We will supply a quote based on how many screens are needed and quantities required. There is an initial charge of £20+ vat  per screen needed.

3 - We may suggest ways of reducing the need for some screens by suggesting slight modifications to your original artwork.

4 - Screens are prepared for each colour to be printed.

How do I send my artwork?

For screen printing we prefer artwork to be sent in a vector format. This ensures that we are easily able to separate the colours to make screens for your design, as well as ensuring that all the lines in your design are sharp and will look crisp when printed.

We would prefer text to be converted to outlines. Failing this we would require the name of any fonts used, as it can be very time consuming searching through the thousands of fonts currently available. Should we not have a particular font we would require the actual font file to be e-mailed to us. If this is not possible we reserve the right by agreement to substitute a font.

What is a vector image?

In short, a vector image is based upon mathematical equations to work out the lines, curves and shapes. This means the design does not distort or pixelate when resized. Many of today’s common drawing software packages have the option of saving files in a vector format in the " SAVE AS "  drop down menu.

EPS, Adobe PDF and Illustrator Ai files are examples of popular vector file formats

If you are unable to provide artwork in a vector format, please do not worry; we have previously produced designs from scribbled artwork on the back of an envelope. We can work with freehand drawing and formats such as jpeg. This will however need to be converted to a vector format.

If we have to undertake the work of creating a design from scratch, we will quote separately for time needed to produce artwork of the required standard and agree this before commencing any work on your behalf.

STILL CONFUSED ? PLEASE PHONE US AND WE WILL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU : 01874 711 911