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your order. So what happens next?



The first step in getting your design onto a t-shirt involves
printing films for the various colors used. A graphic artist
will look at your artwork and determine the best method of
printing the colors.



The two main methods of printing colors are spot colors and
four-color process. Spot colors are individual colors that are
printed separately. There are 100's of pre-mixed colors and an
infinite number of colors that can be mixed to specification
(e.g. Pantone Matching System colors).



Four-color process physically blends four colors (Cyan (sky
blue), Magenta (hot pink), Yellow and Black) on the textile to
create a large variety of colors. Four-color process, also known
as CMYK, is used to simulate photographic work and graphics with
sophisticated shading and textural effects. A hybrid form of
printing known as simulated process is sometimes used, combining
components of both process and spot color printing.



The graphic artist creates transparent acetate films of each
color and prints them in black along with registration marks and
identifying information. The films are then collected into an
envelope with printing instructions and sent to the be burned
onto screens.





Each color of your t-shirt design is then exposed via a
high-intensity lightbox onto a fine mesh screen that has been
coated with photosensitive emulsion. These screens were
initially made from silk, thus the origin of the term
silkscreen. When the emulsion is exposed, it hardens and becomes
insoluble to water. The black sections of the acetate film
prevent light from getting to the emulsion immediately beneath
them. Those sections not exposed will dissolve in water. The
screen is placed in a high-pressure washing unit where the
unexposed sections of emulsion are washed out of the screen.
What remains is, in effect, an intricate stencil for that
particular color of ink.



While the Art Department is working on your films, your t-shirts
are being ordered from wholesalers. Sometimes this can be a
challenge; calls can be made all across the country looking for
a particular size or color of t-shirt. When the textiles arrive,
they are counted in and checked against the order for accuracy
and then taken to the screen printers.



A multiple-head press holds a number of screens from as few as
four to as many as sixteen. The screens are arranged radially
and rotate over palettes that the t shirts are loaded on. There
are both automatic and manual presses; on automatics the


rotation is handled by pneumatics while smaller manual presses
are physically rotated by the printer. Each screen is placed
onto a bracket, or head, and locked into place. The printer then
carefully adjusts the printed images from each screen until they
are all in correct alignment for the final, combined image. The
correct color of ink is added to each screen and is forced
through the screen's openings by pulling a squeegee from the
bottom of the screen to the top. A number of different factors
affect the final silkscreen print result, including the hardness
of the squeegee, the angle and force of the pull used, and the
type of ink used.



After printing, your t-shirts are run through a high-temperature
dryer to cure the ink so it will bind to the fibers of the
material. A final test print is approved by the graphic artist
working on your design, and the run of t-shirts is printed.



About the author:


Mandar is a graphic artist and man-about-town with
Expertshirt.com. Design your own custom t-shirt online at
http://www.expertshirt.com
MandarPrinting Your T-shirts: An Overview

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