Newbie says Hi and asks first question

[BoydRiver]

Hi All,
I came across the forum as a result of having a question to ask jonathan and ended up here rather than send him an e-mail.
I don't know if this is the right place to ask the question and say Hi but I am sure the admin/mod will move it if required.

I have a single colour screen press, which I use to make single colour prints for my own use.

I would like to print some t's for friends and family but I'm an XXL in size and the family, well let's just say their a lot thinner than me
So my question is based around artwork size and required screens.

For the purpose of the question let's imagine I want to do a four colour print on my four colour press, for Christmas presents for my family.

I have the four colour artwork and to print a shirt for myself, I need four screens. Let's say the artwork on my T'shirt will be 20" wide by 8" High. I will need four screens each with the four separated colours.
Job done.
But the rest of the t'shirts are 2 small, 3 medium, four large and 2 X Large. Which is 11 shirts in total.
Do I need to expose 4 screens for each shirt size, ie 48 screens (inc my original shirt) for the job or is there a special artwork formula to cover the different size range please?

I apologise in advance if this is a really stupid question.
Regards
Tony

[Catspit Productions]

Hello there Tony! You are now in the right place. This would have to do with art work creation than anything else.

Basically you only have to make 2 different sizes for 2 different sets of screens. You should be able to come up with a size to print on adult small through extra-large. It would be the same size and just look a little bigger on the smalls.

For double extra-large or triple extra-large and even quadruple extra-large you would make the biggest size artwork for those shirts. But you would never make a specific size and set of screens for each size shirt. That would not be practical and you would spend a lot of time on labor and money on supplies.

You can basically make the biggest size artwork for the smallest shirt you will print in standard sizes and to the same for the smallest shirt you will print in the oversized shirts. On a commercial job when the customer orders mostly adult small through extra-large they always have a few XXL or maybe XXXL but they never want to pay for making extra screens and film to enlarge the print for those few shirts.

I hope that helps out. Let me know if you have any further questions on this and good luck!

[BoydRiver]

Thanks for replying Jonathan,
I would say sorry for the stupid question but then the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked in my book

[Catspit Productions]

You are welcome and I agree. No question is stupid except the one you don't ask

[BoydRiver]

So I went and bought a "S" size T-shirt to work out my screen sizing.
Measuring this t the overall dimensions, chest and body area, from bottom to neck and front side to side are
25" x 19 and 1/2".
Using the "three" fingers from any edge technique I have worked out the maximum screen printing area possible to be
14" x 19".

Does anyone know if this sounds right please? I take it the "three fingers" is what everyone uses ?
Thanks in Advance.

[Catspit Productions]

Perhaps you are over thinking this. Basically you can go as big as you can on the pallet the small shirt fits onto. For instance I have a set of 16x18 pallets. An adult small fits onto these pallets fine. That means I can print as big as 15x17 if I wanted but I try to stay around 14x16. Then I have a 20x26 pallet for when I need to go bigger on smaller runs. On that pallet I might go as big as 18x24. Of course we are talking inches here.

If you are printing these flat on a table top style set up then you can pretty much go as big as you want without overprinting the edges unless you want to. And everyone’s fingers may differ in thickness. It’s a general rule of thumb, no pun intended but ultimately the height placement should be figured depending on how long the print will go down the shirt. My 3 fingers are about 2 and ¼ inches. You kind of just have to see what looks best and makes sure not to make the print too long if some people may tuck the shirt in their pants.

The other thing you should consider is not to make the design too big for the screen. Don’t let the stencil get too close to the frame edges. You want to try to keep the stencil in the sweet spot which will always be dead center. I’d stay about 2 inches away from the frame edge at least. 3 to 4 inches would be better.

[cris_jusai]

Hi, how u doin'.... i would like to try doing a screenprint but unfortunately i cant afford to buy some stuffs for it. My question is, if i will use the sunlight to expose the screen, how long it has to be?

Thanks,

Cris

[BoydRiver]

Check out jonathan you tube videos and his website, i'm sure i read the answer there.

[Catspit Productions]

Hi, how u doin'.... i would like to try doing a screenprint but unfortunately i cant afford to buy some stuffs for it. My question is, if i will use the sunlight to expose the screen, how long it has to be?

Thanks,

Cris

Hey there! boydriver is correct. That is on my website somewhere... LOL. It's here on the FAQ page:

http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/faq.html

Scroll down to the question, "Can sunlight be used to expose emulsion coated screens?" The exposure will depend on your geographical location, time of year, emulsion and film positive quality. And the weather the day you try it...

Let me know if you have any further questions about it and good luck!

[cris_jusai]

Hi, im in Dubai, United Arab Emirates this time and the weather is so lovely.. just 45 Degree celcius! lol.... if i will expose the screen at this temperature, how long could it be? Thanks in advance..