Textile Printing

There are probably a million variations on this process, and everyone does it a little differently. This time will see it from the point of view of a digital printing graphic designer There are probably a million variations on this process, and everyone does it a little differently. This time will see it from the point of view of a digital printing graphic designer

101 – Do's and Don'ts When Preparing Artwork for Screen Printing

Screen printing process it’s more complicated and laborious than digital printing. The entire process is made up of several steps that take so long that it would be a shame to delay or even ruin it due to poor preparation of the printing file.

There are probably a million variations on this process, and everyone does it a little differently. This time we will see it from the point of view of a digital printing graphic designer, who from time to time must do screen printing and the mistakes I have made (and boy I have made mistakes).

First thing first

First of all we must understand that the screen printng is divided into two categories: spot color or four color.

Spot color means that each color is separate prints only in that shade. So if you have a three-color design, you would need to create a film for each of those three colors and would be printed one at a time.

Four color process is used to replicate photographs, paintings and any other kind of art with a variety of colors in different shades and gradations. When using four-color process, the image must be separated into cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK).

Vectors vs. Raster Image

Before starting the creative process you must be very clear about the use that will be given to your design; since this will depend on the choice of software that we will use to design our art.

Raster image

Raster graphics images are best used for digitized photographs, scanned artwork or detailed graphics.

When you create your design in a raster based software you are kind of married with the original dimensions.

Always remember to start your documents at the intended print size with a resolution of 300 pixels per inch. If you have drawn the artwork at actual size, then scan it at 300 dpi. If your artwork was created a 50% scale, then you will need to scan the artwork at double the recommended resolution (scan at 600 dpi).

Common raster formats include TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PCX and BMP files.

Vector

There is no limit for sizing vector images. Can be resized indefinitely without sacrificing print quality, blurriness or pixelation that occurs when resizing images created in photographic software.

Common vector formats include AI, EPS, SVG, and sometimes PDF.

Avoid web Images

Using images from the web can be convenient, but keep in mind that most of these images are very small and with low resolution (most of the time they are set to only 72 dpi)

Convert your text to outlines

Always remember to convert your font to outline on all your text, this allows to open the file without requiring the original font file or modify the design.

Choose your color

Using a specific Pantone for each color will help to properly match your design without any color variation.

Porosity of the substrate

The porosity and texture of the materials is something that must be keep in mind. For exapmle some fabric has holes that cannot be printed on, so you should keep your design details to a minimum.

Think on the background color

If you are going to printing on a dark color (or transparency), you will need to add white ink layer under the image to make sure the colors are visible.

ALWAYS save an editable copy

When you finally have finish your design, always be sure to keep an editable copy of your work, just in case you need to do some last minutes adjustments.


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing


Dos-and-Donts-When-Preparing-Artwork-for-Screen-Printing

FLAAR-REPORTS photo archive.


Rate this item
(0 votes)

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.

Recent Posts

Keep up with the latest trends about de digital printing industry and learn more about different technologies, equipment, media & substrates, inks, etc.

Search