The Process of Screen Printing

Step 1 Artwork and separations

The customer provides T-Shirt Charity with artwork (the design to be printed) or T-Shirt Charity can create original custom artwork.  From here T-Shirt Charity will run the artwork through one of several computer graphics programs to separate the colors in the design.  Each color is then printed onto a clear film. 

Step 2  Making the screen

We then take a screen coated with a light sensitive photo emulsion and place the clear film underneath it. Then from below we expose the film and coated screen to a high powered UV Light. This light will cure the emulsion everywhere except the printed area of the clear film.  Then the exposed screen is washed out with water and the uncured areas will wash away allowing the ink to pass through.  After the screen is dried it is taped up and loaded onto the press.  This entire procedure is performed for every color in the design.

Step 3 Printing the shirts.

After all screens are dried, taped and loaded onto the press it is time to print.  For one color jobs we can just print away. For multicolor jobs all of the colors must be properly registered so that all the colors are in the right place.  Ink is then loaded onto the top of the screen and a squeegee is used to push the ink through the screen and onto the shirts.

Step 4 curing the printed shirt.

T-Shirts are generally printed with plastisol inks. Plastisol inks are made liquid plasticizer and PVC resins.  These inks need to be cured or heated in order to become solidand adhere to a shirt.  Once a shirt is printed it is ran through a conveyer dryer.  This dryer will allow the ink to reach 350 degrees. At This point the ink is cured and the shirt is finished. 

Step 5 packing and shipping

We fold and pack the shirts neatly into boxes and ship them to the customer.