If you have spent any time in the apparel or decorating industry at all, then you have no doubt heard the term ‘sublimation’.  Indeed, many business owners have long since taken advantage of this process to add to their own service offerings, and with good reason – it offers profitability for the owner and creative promotional opportunities for customers.  In this article, we break down what sublimation is and what you need to get started yourself.

Confused about the different white inks on the market? Most printers understand the difference between a cotton white and a low-bleed white, but what about a mixing white vs. a highlight white?
Here’s a brief breakdown on which white to use for what:

Today’s top-line autos reduce setup time with screen locks, blade locks, and tri-locks for instant registration of a multicolor image. Often, the images are created digitally. In addition, today’s mesh is dimensionally stable and, yet, some days some jobs seem to take forever. It might seem as though registration is the problem, but, in fact, the inconsistency is due to “doodling.” Lost time is not often about image alignment, but rather the misunderstood, misappropriated, and oft-misaligned squeegee blade.

It takes a certain amount of skill, planning, and luck to get commemorative championship game T-shirts from screen to store to happy fan overnight.

There is no single factor that determines how long your screen will last; there are many. All screen printers face the question of, “How long will my screen last?” 

Let’s keep in mind, an obvious way to increase longevity is to take absolute care of them. Like any piece of equipment, how and where you store them matters significantly. If screens are taken care of properly, they can last you the life of your business. Many shops must reuse their screens because new ones can get very costly. Let’s discuss the issue further.

Screen-mesh tension plays a very important factor in your final print. Although many factors can affect your print, screen tension should not be overlooked, as it will impact things such as emulsion coating, registration and ink deposit.

BELLA+CANVAS takes apparel decorators through the step-by-step of each garment decoration process. Watch the full video to hear the pros and cons to each discipline. 

Over-Flashing: Printers often refer to ink “drying in screen” when it becomes hard and clogs the screen mesh’s open parts. This usually is caused by using excessive heat during printing, most likely after the flashing process. If the ink isn’t given enough time to cool after flashing, laying the screen down on top of the heated print could partly cure the ink it contains, thus clogging the mesh.

There are many variables that can affect a print’s quality. From the squeegee to the correct cure temperature, every piece of screen-printing equipment used can affect a job’s outcome. Think of the equipment as tools,: when used correctly, the outcome will be positive.