A big question that every screen printer asks in his or her career is whether to push or pull a squeegee. Although there is no wrong answer because there is similar quality when the substrate is finished, this has seemed to be an ongoing debate for many years especially with beginners. Truthfully, whether you’re pushing or pulling a squeegee, there are both positive and negative effects. So, it comes down to the printer’s personal preference.

When it comes to emulsions, paying attention to the small details makes a big difference. 

Saving time during production is the goal of all garment decorators. That's especially true when it comes to direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, which doesn't have a reputation as the quickest decorating technology. 

But in today's world, where customers have "I-want-it-custom," "I-want-one" and "I-want-it-now" mindsets, decorators must come to grips with the realities of short-run production. 

The following are a few things you can do to improve your production rate. 

Last year, online fashion accounted for nearly 20% of retail e-commerce sales in the United States – a total of more than $458 billion. This massive sum of business is changing expectations for apparel customers, who thirst for on-demand personalized garments that can be manufactured in small quantities and delivered at incredible speeds. “Online shopping has turned the idea of supply and demand on its head,” says Omer Kulka, VP of marketing and product strategy for Kornit, which manufactures digital inkjet printers for the apparel decoration industry. “Instead of selling what we’ve already manufactured, we’re being asked to manufacture what we’ve already sold.”

Whether you’ve been in the decorated apparel game for decades or you’re just starting out, you’ve probably realized that having top-notch equipment is a vital part of your business’ success. From keeping up with the trends to providing the staples customers rely on, your equipment has to keep up. If your current equipment just isn’t enough anymore, it’s time to look into financing your next piece. 

As we move into 2018, the pretreatment process for D2 printing is still a major requirement. We have seen a lot of development with inks and a wider range of fabric printability combined with newer pretreatment solutions. The actual process of pretreating a garment prior to printing is something that will probably be around for a long time.

MagnaColours announces a new initiative entitled “Make the Switch,” aimed at screen printers. The program is designed to help shops transition from plastisol to water-based inks.