Screen printing is an industry that many people are familiar with but don’t know how it works. In fact, many people don’t think anything about screen printing in Wisconsin until they’re looking to have shirts made for an adult softball team or a special event. At Four Seasons Screen Printing, we understand this so we want to help you make an informed decision about what’s right for you. Read more to get answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.
How long does it take to screen print one shirt?
Screen printing a single shirt takes about the same amount of time that it does to print 75 shirts but it depends on the ink and shirt colors that are used. This is because the screen needs to be made, colors mixed, and then applied to the shirt. The shirts will then take about 20 to 60 minutes to cure.
Do some materials print better than others?
You can screen print on just about anything like various fabrics, paper, and plastic. However, natural materials like cotton are more absorbent so the ink penetrates deeper into the fabric. This makes for more durable printing that holds up to many washes. What’s more, screen printing ink can still penetrate porous plastic to create beautiful and lasting designs.
Can printing screens be reused?
This is typically a question that’s asked by people who are looking to get into screen printing. Although, those who are curious about where the costs associated with the service understand the necessity to be able to reuse screens to mitigate costs and reduce a company’s carbon footprint. To answer the question, yes, screens can be reused and this does go a long way to ensuring that we can pass a certain amount of savings onto our customers. If we had to build new screens for every order, your costs would certainly be much higher.
What do you recommend for the artwork file?
To properly transfer your design to the screen used for printing, the digital file that’s used must meet specific perimeters to ensure that the image transfers correctly to your shirt or another item. The industry standards recommend using vector files rather than simply .jpg files from your phone. This means that you can use .ai or .eps files from Adobe Illustrator or .pdf. If you are going to use a .jpg, .tif, or .psd file, we suggest high-resolution bitmap images of at least 300dpi. If you need help meeting these specifications, speak with our team and we’re happy to assist you.
What’s the difference between screen printing and DTG?
If you’ve been researching making custom t-shirts, you’ve probably come across another method called direct-to-garment, or DTG. This is a newer method of printing that uses a machine similar to your laserjet printer to print designs on t-shirts. It uses water-soluble ink that soaks into the fibers of the shirt. However, the ink doesn’t penetrate as deep as screen printing so the image won’t wear out as quickly.
How do I find out about pricing?
Pricing with screen printing is done based on the size of your order and other factors, which means that we have to build your unique price based on what you want. For instance, if there are two people who want an order of 500 shirts, one with shirts that have three colors and the other with a single color, their prices are going to be different. Our team will build out your price based on your needs.
Get in touch for more
If you’d like to learn more about screen printing in Wisconsin and the services we offer, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Four Seasons Screen Printing. Give us a call at 715-845-1146 or send a message using our online contact form. We look forward to working with you and creating your order.
