Topic: Adventures In Screen Printing

So in the attitude of "FUCK YEAH! MAKE STUFF!" me and Lady Faldor decided to have a go at screen printing some T-shirts and fabric.

I decided to use a panel from the comic SAGA (which is excellent by the way) which I transferred to some transparent acetate to make the screen with.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e15/11428636_945668152122294_2052152252_n.jpg

After which we applied photo emulsion to the mesh and left it to dry, luckily the studio is crazy hot at the moment.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xpa1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e15/1741196_1466005977048734_1266197506_n.jpg

When it was dry we were able to expose the screens using a totally professional 500 halogen work light for twelve and a half seconds.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e15/11372379_770327839756342_2123944937_n.jpg

Once the emulsion was scrubbed off the screens it was finally time to print!

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/11666124_10153456447842787_8278358319292876712_n.jpg?oh=9abe968c56a38d9fbe57a5acf598a4dd&oe=58398C31

It took a couple of go's to get it just right but I'm rather happy with the results

Last edited by Faldor (2016-09-21 19:45:12)

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Whoa. That really worked. Does it stand up to being run through the wash and all that?

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Oh aye, It is all the same stuff that is used at professional T-shirt studios.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Nicely done, man, that looks great.

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Could you elaborate on the process? I mean, I could also just Google it, but I'd rather bother you.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

It was a bit complicated to figure out quite what was needed but we got some half gram Diazo Sensitizer which you mix  up with Diazo Photo Emulsion then coat the screens, by screens I mean A4 sized wooden frames with a mesh in the middle.

Once you've done that you leave them in complete darkness until they are dry, This can take anything from an hour to overnight. The trick we found was to leave some emulsion on waste paper so we'd get an idea if it was dry without opening the drying cabinet. (The drying cabinet was a large cardboard box that a fan we recently bought came in)

The biggest challenge was figure out the exposure, most sites seem to recommend a 150 watt bulb but I was able to borrow a 500 watt halogen work light which did the job, if you have clear skies you can also expose with the sun in about 5 minutes but we were doing this around 6pm.

You then have to wash the screen so the design is transparent, pro’s have high pressure hoses but we were stuck with a sponge, same result but with a bit more effort.

Once we dried the screen off we used masking tape to cover the areas that didn’t include the design to prevent bleed where the emulsion might have been thinner and placed it on the T-shirt and put the ink on and used a squeegee (a long piece of wood) to drag it across the screen.

This is the nerve wrecking moment, if you spread the ink over the design too much you risk moving the screen and ruining the image but we found the first use especially needed a bit extra ink to go through but as soon as you lift the screen to check you’ll probably not be able to get it back exactly how it was.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Oh, that's what that is.

Thanks for sharing the process. Was wondering what the pics on Facebook were.

God loves you!

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

I've been tempted to try this, like, 6 times. Kudos for working thru it and getting a cool result.

/waiting for tie-dying to make a come back

Last edited by Zarban (2015-07-13 06:39:03)

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

I'm starting to kick around ideas for funny filmmaking / film making designs

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t31.0-8/11713683_10153462386232787_6746918065645302638_o.jpg

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Faldor, that's great! I was laughing at all of Owen's GL impressions on the two commentaries.

God loves you!

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

I suspect that won't be the last you'll hear of them.

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

Owen's impressions don't stop. They recur. Like poetry, they rhyme.

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Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

So I've been kicking around some ideas

https://img1.etsystatic.com/072/0/11391640/il_570xN.806318183_aqyl.jpg
https://img0.etsystatic.com/070/0/11391640/il_570xN.806539106_o24i.jpg

Last edited by Faldor (2015-07-23 23:31:41)

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: Adventures In Screen Printing

In person with an awkward smile!

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11951268_1099771443377745_3731463947354765815_n.jpg?oh=898ca33359cb81bb8d1bb3c81b836278&oe=565EDCB9

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