TOUR SHIRT WALKTHROUGH - Part 1 - Introduction

[upperhandprinting]

Hello everyone!

Jonathan asked me to talk a bit about my process and how I've learned so much so quickly. I wanted to give a bit of an introduction about myself so you can understand where I am starting from.

I mainly play music in a band. Merchandise is a huge part of our income, so I've been familiar with it for a long time. I was always interested in screen printing and about 5 years ago decided to try it. I bought a speedball kit from Michaels and actually had okay results considering the methods. I had fun but it was never a continuous thing. I did it when I had a project I wanted to do and then when it was done I put it away. I wasn't out to learn about it, I was just out to make that 1 shirt. Now that my band is touring more regularly, it's been difficult to keep a day job. Asking for 2 months off at a time 3 times a year doesn't make your employer too happy. Ha. So I decided to start my own business. It would allow me the flexibility to come and go as I please, as well as let me work at my own pace, which is usually much faster than most businesses run.

Starting a screen printing business just seemed like common sense from that point on. Not only was it something I enjoyed doing, but it would also help my band by cutting our costs on our merchandise. And on top of that, the hundreds of bands I meet need stuff done as well. Everything lined up and pointed me in that direction.

I knew running a business would be much different than making a few shirts for myself, so I decided to do a lot of research. That led me to Jonathan and Catspit. I watched nearly every video he had and read articles. I also read up on other websites and other videos. I narrowed down the direction I wanted to go and found funding. I will explain a bit later what made me purchase the equipment that I did.

Once I had the equipment, it's literally been diving head first in to it. I've made mistakes, had questions, learned a ton already and continue to get better. I think the biggest thing you can do is have no fear. Don't be afraid to ruin a few shirts. Go slow but don't wait for every little thing to be exact. Trial and error is really your friend.

Why I purchased what I did:
I bought a 6 color/4 station machine and then bought the upgrade to 6 stations at the same time. I also got the 5' scamp dryer, the ranar light box, and the flash dryer. It's the 2nd biggest bundle ranar/catspit offer and then the upgrade to 6 stations. When you are investing this much money in to something, it's important to line up your goals with what you need, plus a bit more. I could have gotten away with a bit less, but time/energy and especially efficiency are key elements to consider. Bands are usually ordering 100+ shirts and usually with 5+ colors. I didn't want to hinder my services because I didn't have the means to do them. If I turn down a customer, the only excuse I have is that I don't feel confident enough in my abilities to give them the product they desire.

So I've had this equipment for about 3 months and I'm printing 5+ color jobs and they're selling at my shows. I will post in each category the same heading so you can follow along. Thanks for your time and I hope you can learn something throughout this Walkthrough.

Below is the shirt we ended up printing for our tour. Big image on the front, dates and tour name on the back.

The Walkthrough continues under "Creating Artwork".

[Catspit Productions]

Greg this is truly an amazing post. You have to be my single most prominent success story. I am so proud of what you have accomplished using the RANAR equipment. And I am very happy you found me and I was able to help you out. I thank you again for your business and I have to say I am somewhat surprised at your progress in printing. Artwork along with film output can be such a big challenge for people to learn and even I don’t do all my own artwork so you have done very well.

The shirts look great. I rarely get an order for such complex artwork anymore. I print so much commercial work that I do a lot of spot colors and most are 3 colors or less. These days in this economy the small businesses that I mainly deal with order less and print a ton of 1 color shirts for their employees. Now I have to admit there is decent money in these types of jobs but it can get a little boring.

My brother who has been screen printing for 25 years learned Illustrator when it first came out so he has had the benefit of learning from the very beginning stages of digital vector artwork and film output systems. In the beginning when we started his business we actually used a stat camera and either hand drawn or computer printed artwork to create film positives. It was a 1 step direct positive film with a little electric automatic processor in which the film would go through some chemistry.

So the point is that he is joining me currently and taking over my printing department so I can do more online and he will help Catspit Productions make videos about artwork creation with film output. That will also give me more time to do more complex printing videos of whatever I want. I am looking forward to it.

I am happy for you and I appreciate this string of posts you did. I am off to read the next part. Thank you so much for contributing to the forum in such a way. Everyone will love them I’m sure.

[BoydRiver]

Fantastic stuff.
That set up must have cost a pretty penny AND giving working for the man.

[ApeShirt]

Impressive. It's amazing how we get steered into certain directions. You have done it pretty much like I am. Research, learn, and dive in. You didn't skimp on your initial setup Nice print.