Best Screen Printing Supply Store Surprise Near Me

4worldlovers: “I have a local martial arts school in Peoria and needed shirts printed for my students. I'm grateful I found Athletic Ink. Their work is high quality, their customer service is outstanding and they worked quickly to get my order done. The entire experience with Athletic Ink was quite pleasant.”

Providing Professional Screen Printing and Promotional Products for Over a Decade!

We’ll are excited to hear about your need for screen printing, embroidery, and promotional products!

Screen printing a t-shirt at Athletic Ink, a professional screen printing company involves a well-organized and systematic process. Here are the detailed steps we take for every order and every client:

The process starts with a design consultation where the client discusses their design requirements with the screen printing company. The company's design team may assist the client in refining or optimizing the artwork for screen printing.

Once the design is finalized, it is converted into a high-resolution digital file, which will be used to create the screen stencils.

The screen printing company selects the appropriate screen frames for the design. Each color in the design requires a separate screen. The screens are coated with a layer of photosensitive emulsion. The emulsion is applied to the screen using a scoop coater to create an even and consistent layer. The screens are then left to dry in a dark and dust-free environment.

The finalized design is printed onto transparent film positives. Each film positively corresponds to a separate color in the design. The dried screens are paired with the film positives. The film positives are placed on top of the screens, and they are held together with a vacuum or tight-fitting glass frame to ensure they stay in position during exposure.

The screens and film positives are exposed to a high-intensity UV light source or a screen exposure unit. The light hardens the emulsion in the areas exposed through the transparent parts of the film, creating a stencil on each screen.

The screens are carefully washed and developed to remove the unexposed emulsion, revealing the stencil. The screens are then mounted onto the screen printing press. Each screen is aligned precisely to ensure accurate registration, meaning that all the colors in the design align correctly when printed onto the t-shirt.

The screen printing company prepares the ink for each color in the design. They mix the ink to match the client's specified colors accurately. Test prints are made on sample fabric to check the color accuracy, print quality, and adjust the ink consistency if needed.

The t-shirts are loaded onto the screen printing press. Each t-shirt is positioned consistently to ensure accurate and uniform printing. A layer of adhesive or spray tack is applied to the printing surface to hold the t-shirt in place during printing.

The actual printing process begins. The ink is poured onto the top side of the screen for the first color. The screen is lowered onto the t-shirt, and a squeegee is used to press the ink through the mesh and onto the fabric. The squeegee is pulled with firm and consistent pressure to ensure even coverage.

The process is repeated for each color in the design, with each color requiring a separate pass with a different screen.

Once all the colors are printed, the t-shirts are moved to a conveyor dryer or a heat press for curing. The curing process ensures that the ink bonds permanently with the fabric and becomes wash-fast. The t-shirts pass through the dryer or heat press at the appropriate temperature and time to cure the ink thoroughly.

The printed t-shirts undergo a quality control check to ensure that each print meets the desired standard of color, registration, and overall quality. Any necessary touch-ups or corrections are made at this stage.

Once the printing and curing process is complete, the t-shirts are folded, tagged, and packed according to the client's specifications.