Screen Printing Methods

When comparing the screen press to the heat press there are many variations you need to look at to decide the best way to make what is needed. The heat press is ideal for a custom design because the design is printed in sublimating ink on sublimated paper which is then heated and allows for the pattern transfer. Using this technique also allows for a lot more of a color selection and allows colors to overlap better. While the heat press allows more colors and unique designs it is very time consuming due to the heating time and the extensive cooling time. This makes the heat press a very useless way if a very large order is placed The heat press can also be used to print onto mugs, posters, plates, and a very large selection of products. The first thing that is needed to do when using the heat press is get your design and place it onto sublimating paper. To get the design on the paper, first design the image on a computer, then you must use sublimating ink and replace the regular paper with sublimating paper and print. Then set the heat press to the temperature that is necessary and allow it to reach that heat. Next adjust the pressure to what is needed. Then open the press and and lay your garment over the press and the the design on the sublimated paper face down over the garment. Then clamp the press down and allow it to heat for the amount of time selected, after time has elapsed open the clamp, peel of paper and allow garment to cool for several hours. When comparing the screen press to the much newer Direct to Garment printing (DTG) the same advantages of order size, and disadvantages of color selection reappear. The DTG style is a much newer technique and because of this it is extremely expensive, the actual printer itself can cost from about ten-thousand to a few hundred-thousand dollars, not including addition ink and other supplies. While DTG printing is similar to the heat press it allows for even more unique, multi colored, and color blending