News
Calculate Screen Printing Profits for a DIY Printer in 4 Steps
One of the scariest parts of screen printing is turning a profit. Printers want to make a profit and stay competitive, but not price too high or too low. How do you make a profit in DIY screen printing? Let’s follow the blog “A Guide to Pricing Screen Printed Garments and Turning a Profit” and take a look at four steps to turning DIY screen printing into a profit.
What Is Water Based Ink in Screen Printing?
What is water-based ink? What makes it a desirable ink for screen printers? The basic answer is that water-based ink uses water as a base. Seems pretty self-explanatory, right? There’s a lot more to know about water-based ink than just the base itself. Let’s dive in and talk about what water-based ink is and how printers can get the most out of it.
Why Should I Start Screen Printing?
Screen printing is a challenging, creative process. Many screen printers start out as a hobby, or get into the trade through other means of garment decorating, like vinyl or embroidery. Stepping into screen printing doesn’t have to be a big investment, but it can have big effects on your business. Let’s talk about what it takes to start screen printing, and how it can be combined with other aspects of garment decoration.
How to Print White Plastisol Ink on a Black Shirt with a Smoothing Screen
Printing white ink on black shirts is a popular design combination. For this design choice to be most effective, the ink needs to be clean and bright. For the best results, printers should use a smoothing screen. Want to learn how to do it? Print expert Colin Huggins has the answers.
The Screen Printing Equipment Every Water-Based Printer Needs
Water-based printing takes a few different pieces of equipment and a bit of know-how. When printing with water-based ink, the water in the ink needs to evaporate in order for the ink to cure. This may seem challenging, but it’s a cinch with the proper tools. Let’s talk about the tools needed to print with water-based ink.
Switch to Water-Based Pallet Adhesive for These 4 Benefits
Keeping a shop clean is essential. A clean shop not only keeps the space looking nice but keeps your equipment running at max capacity. If you’ve used aerosol adhesive, you’ll notice it gets everywhere. The adhesive might work, but also will stick to anything in its path. One way to keep a shop cleaner is to use water-based adhesive. Let’s talk about how to use the adhesive and the benefits of keeping it stocked in your shop.
3 Ways to Create Soft Prints with Plastisol Ink
Soft hand prints are best achieved with water-based ink but can be done with plastisol ink as well. Between the inks you choose to use, the garments you're printing on, to the available ink additives, achieving soft plastisol prints is possible. Let's take a look at three ways to create soft hand prints with plastisol ink.
A Walkthrough of Screen Printing on Zipper Hoodies
Screen printing on zipper hoodies is a great way to diversify your printing options. Zipper hoodies can be a bit difficult to print on. A normal platen won’t cut it, and print placement is key. Don’t worry though: we’ve got you covered. In this video, Josh Wells walks through the basics of printing over zipper hoodies.
Which Flash Unit Benefits My Shop?
Every shop needs a flash unit. They’re a useful tool — flashing or gelling ink, curing ink and warming up that grilled cheese you’ve been looking forward to eating for lunch. A flash dryer isn’t a one-size-fits-all piece of equipment, though. Depending on the size and needs of your shop and plug type, you’ll look for different features in a flash dryer. Do you print large prints? Do you want to print water-based ink? These questions are important when considering which flash unit to purchase. Let’s talk about the differences between the four flash units, and how each serves a different shop.
Want to Screen Print? Here’s How to Choose the Best Start Up Press for You
The day has come: you're ready to jump into the screen printing world. A key factor needed to get started in this adventure is a screen printing press. With tons of press options, it may be difficult to choose the best press to get started with. Luckily, there’s a guide to choosing the best startup press for your shop. Keep reading.
Best Practices to Ensure Proper Ink Curing with 4 Curing Methods
Curing your prints is one of the last steps of the screen printing process, but it is one of the most important steps. Ink needs to be cured properly so it sets into the garment. If the ink does not cure fully, it will crack, fall apart, and not last for long. Printers use either heat guns, heat presses, flash dryers, or conveyor dryers to cure inks. Let's take a look at how each curing device works.
YouTube Q+A with Ryan Moor and Brandon Schmunk
ScreenPrinting.com’s YouTube channel hit 100k subscribers recently. To celebrate that achievement and thank the community, we looked back on the years of YouTube videos with CEO Ryan Moor and President Brandon Schmunk. You may recognize Ryan’s face from early videos, like the “How to Screen Print” series. We asked them a few questions about the beginnings of YouTube and the role that the screen printing community has played in the making and success of the platform. Here’s what Ryan had to say.
