Screen Printing Process

What is Screen Printing?

The screen printing process is a versatile printmaking technique that allows you to quickly stencil the same design on multiple items such as clothing e.g. DIY T-shirt printing at home or screen printing a poster.

Ink is transferred using a synthetic mesh stretched across a frame and a stencil is created by blocking off a negative image of the desired design (ink goes where the open spaces are). This screen printing process guide will walk you through how to screen print at home, even if you are a complete beginner!

Read the list below to see the basics of the screen printing process and what is contained in this guide.

Help Improve This Screen Printing Guide!

You can checkout the Reddit Printmaking Forum for more ideas and information. Feel free to message me on Reddit or through the contact form to contribute & improve this guide. You can also check the comments at the bottom of the guide.

Paper VS Textile Screen Printing

There are pros and cons for printing on paper and textiles, each of them have their own uses which are case dependent on what you want to create/produce. For the purpose of this guide we will be covering textile printing on t-shirts, however, this process can also easily be used for paper printing. Throughout the screen printing guide I’ll recommend alternative materials where there are any changes in the technique for paper/textiles.

Screen Printing Paper

Paper screen printing can be used to create posters and large format artworks. It enables you to produce multiple copies of the same artwork, with the potential to make each with their own character so no print is the same! This can be achieved by trying different coloured inks or papers.

Screen printing on paper is often used to create: fine artworks, business stationery, packaging and a variety of marketing materials. You’ll be surprised to know that a lot of products and things around you are in fact screenprinted!

Screen Printing Textiles

Textile screenprint is great for creating t-shirts which this guide covers, but you can also screenprint other materials and garments such as bed sheets, tea towels, tote bags, and socks to give your least favorite family member at Christmas.

Dependent on what you want your finish to be you can use a variety of inks and methods to create your final garment which will be worn by millions of people around the world MIC DROP.

Types Of Mesh For Screen Printing

When you screen print on paper/textiles you have to use a different mesh to restrict the amount of ink that is pushed through the mesh/screen onto the substrate. With textiles printing you need to allow more ink to come through the mesh, as the garment has to absorb the ink.

Whereas on paper you don’t need as much ink to absorb into the substrate, so you use a tighter mesh. Mesh counts can be found on the table below and go up in units of “T” which stands for “threads per inch”.

Textile Screen Printing Mesh

If you’re screen printing on textiles you will probably be printing t-shirts. So ask yourself, will you wear this t-shirt? Or is it just for fun? Because if it’s just for fun, leave, leave now … this isn’t for you.

When screen printing on textiles you need to use a lower mesh count, as this is to allow more ink to print onto the garment. I would advise using a 43T mesh if you are screen printing on T-shirts, this mesh count is a standard with most T-shirt screen printers.

You may also find that you need a higher or lower mesh count dependent on the material that your printing onto or the inks you print with. For this guide, we don’t have to worry, be happy, we’re a little bit more chilled-out around here and WE will be using 43T mesh.

Paper Screen Printing Mesh

On the other hand, when screen printing on paper you’ll have to use a higher mesh count. A safe bet is to use a minimum of 90T screen but I would advise a 120T mesh from personal experience, as it allows you to get higher detailed artwork or image.

Please refer to the table below for an idea of what materials are best suited for the screens, paper and card.

Table Of Mesh Counts & Uses

The information in the table below was taken from Wicked Printing Stuff Mesh Guides, this has been a great guide for me over the years.

Types Of Inks For Screen Printing

You can use a variety of inks when screen printing. The main two you’ll come across are water-based and plastisol inks. This guide will cover the use of water-based inks. However, with some more research, you can use this guide with plastisol inks as the process is the same.

Water-based Screen Printing Inks

Water based screen printing ink is more environmentally friendly and is advised for beginners and home use. It is available to purchase from your local Hobby Craft. I’d advise using system 3 screen printing inks to start with. You’ll find that with most water-based screen printing inks you’ll have to mix them with printing medium and some water. This is to stop the inks drying in the screen mesh and also control how dense the ink is.

With some water-based inks you will find they are pre-mixed, this is case dependent on who you purchase from. With water-based inks, they can be air-dried on the garment and on paper. You may need to heat the ink on the textile/garment with an iron or heat gun to help cure the ink and seal it into the garment, making it machine-washable.

This is a very important step or you’ll have a lot of angry customers with a one-coloured wardrobe. Water-based inks can be washed away with water and a cloth, with no chemicals needed.

Water-based inks are also thinner than plastisol inks, it may be required to print an underbase of white on dark garments. On light garments printing should be fine.

Plastisol Inks

Plastisol inks on the other hand require a lot more work because they have to be cured under a heat lamp/flash dryer to cure the inks otherwise the ink does not dry. They also require solvents to clean up the inks after printing, which are not environmentally friendly. The inks contain plastic particles which is the reason they have to be heated up and melted with a flash dryer to cure them.

However, some key benefits are having longer-lasting inks and inks that are a lot more vibrant and colourful on all garments, regardless of the colour. It is advised to only use plastisol on textiles and garments.

For the purpose of this tutorial we shall be working with water based screen printing inks as they are more accessible for beginners to use.

Squeegees For Screen Printing

There are a variety of squeegee blades that you can use for screen printing, some are demonstrated in the image above or below (I haven’t decided yet). This guide covers 90 degree squared blade, which is best for both textile and paper printing. You can check out this squeegee blade guide from Anatol for further information.

Lights For Screen Printing Exposure

Exposure lights are one of the key tools for screen printing, without them you cannot expose your screens and all your efforts would be in vein. However, with the right lights, you can expose your screens, as an alternative you can expose your screens under natural sunlight.

You can either purchase a UV exposure kit/unit which can be quite expensive or you can buy a cheap 1000wat halogen light on eBay and build your own which I have pictures of below. You must be very careful with self-built exposure lights as there is always a fire risk when using these, please don’t leave them unattended.

The units I have built with 1000wat halogen flood lights have been made with the light at about 15 inches away from the screen. A safe bet for exposure time of your screens is around about 4 minutes, this can vary dependent on your setup so you will need to experiment. Please refer to the table below which has a rough idea of different heights and lights.

Two other key points when exposing your screens before printing:

1. Place a blacked-out material that sits under the screen and fits the inner edges of the screen frame and pushed very tightly on the underside of the screen mesh.
2. Place a sheet of glass on top of the screen roughly the same size as the outer edge of the screen frame where you put your film positive to create a seal.

An example of this is a sheet of wood with black foam stuck to it, bare in mind the heat produced from the light may warp the foam. This is to make sure the artwork does not move when you expose your screen, otherwise, this may cause ghosting. This will be covered in more detail in the steps below.

Films & Positives For Screen Printing Exposure

There are multiple ways you can create your positive for you screen printing which basically allows the design to be exposed on the screen. When setting up your artwork any lines of blocks of colour will make up the film positives.

You can print these onto transparency paper, however, when printing onto transparencies you need to make sure the ink/toner of the positive is very dense so no light can get through. It’s advisable to use a toner printer to achieve this or seek out a printing firm who may be able to advise you on this.

Remember to align your film positives before printing if using multiple colours and ensure that the black/key layer overlaps all other colour layers with a slight bleed. Also, remember to mirror or reverse the film positive when laying it onto the screen. Use registration marks in the corners as well to align when printing. The following article on Preparing Artwork for Screen Printing in Adobe Illustrator by Smashing Magazine.

Area/Setup For Screen Printing

There are a number of options depending on your budget and requirements. You can either buy your own screen printing carousel for t-shirt printing or buy a vacuum bed for paper printing, however, these can cost a lot of money unless you find a good deal online.

Alternatively, you could build your own screen printing bench or carousel or buy speedball screen printing clamps. Check out the plans on building a 4 colour screen printing press.

Personally I have tried both, building my own setup from self-sourced materials and later purchasing equipment. When starting out I would advise building a simple setup to see if you enjoy it as much as I do! Then later down the line, if you decide you do want to explore screen printing and want to commit to preparing a more permanent advanced setup on a regular-use basis you can purchase a setup online, or potentially find a good deal on eBay, as I did.

As an example, I spent £500 on a second-hand Wicked Printing Stuff 8-colour screen printing carousel. Then I spent £100 on the therapy for spending that much. Then another £100 on a 10 foot by 8-foot screen printing vacuum bed.