ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

Adobe Illustrator is a program used by both artists and graphic designers to create vector images. These images will then be used for company logos, promotional uses or even personal work, both in print and digital form. So what is Adobe Illustrator used for? It is typically used to create illustrations, charts, graphs, logos, diagrams, cartoons of real photographs, and more. While the program may be difficult to understand initially, the final product will be well worth the learning curve.

COREL DRAW

CorelDRAW is one of the image-creating programs in a suite of graphic arts software used by professional artists, educators, students, businesses and the general public. The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X7, which includes CorelDRAW, is sold as stand-alone software and as a cloud-based subscription. CorelDRAW is the core of the graphics suite and is primarily used for vector illustrations and page layouts.

The Many Uses of CorelDRAW

Creative professionals in print and online advertising use CorelDRAW to create and edit vector-based images and illustrations with and without graphics tablets. The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X7 can also be used to arrange print layouts, design logos and retouch photographs. With the suite, you can convert bitmap images into vector-based graphic art, which you can then edit and customize. Hobbyists can use Corel Draws powerful layout and image-editing features to design calendars, newsletters, banners, scrapbooks and other projects.

AFFINITY DESIGNER

Affinity Designer is the fastest, smoothest, most precise vector graphic design software available. Whether you’re working on graphics for marketing materials, websites, icons, UI design or just like creating cool concept art, Affinity Designer will revolutionize how you work.

It takes full advantage of OS X technologies such as OpenGL, Grand Central Dispatch, Core Graphics and is fully optimized for 64-bit and multi-core processors to squeeze every ounce of available performance from your hardware – so it’s seriously fast. Whether it’s a 100 megapixel image or the most complex vector drawing with thousands of curves, you still pan and zoom at 60fps, move objects in correct z-order and see live views of all adjustments, brushes and effects as you’re working with no compromise.

Experience the best PSD import engine out there – making it easy to collaborate with other creative professionals. Along with support for PSD, PDF, SVG, AI (PDF Stream), Freehand and EPS files you get all the flexibility you need so whether you switch to Affinity Designer for all your work, or just elements of what you do, it’s completely painless.

With professional color model support, full 16-bit per channel editing, real-time pixel preview, image slices, masks, adjustment layers and tablet support, Affinity Designer is a serious tool for creative professionals.

Real-time performance

Panning and zooming is always live at 60fps

Live gradients, transforms, effects and adjustments

Optimized for documents of any complexity, zoom to over 1,000,000% for absolute precision

Live pixel and retina view of vector artwork, wireframe view, split screen mode

Seamless switching between tools and editing modes for frustration-free design

Perfect color and output

Professional CMYK, LAB, RGB and Grayscale color models

Full 16-bit per channel editing

End-to-end ICC color management

Advanced Lanczos 3 image resampling plus Bicubic, Bilinear and Nearest Neighbor methods

Truly multi-discipline

Rock solid vector tools that work just the way you want them to

Live effects, blend modes, image adjustments, and raster and vector masks for any part of your design

Use the strengths of vector and raster behaviors for the best of both worlds

The best pen tool, node tool, curve editing, geometry operations, and smart shape tools available

Flexible text handling including comprehensive support for OpenType

High quality raster tools for texturing, masking and finishing artwork. Create your own brushes too.

Optimized workspaces give focus to design disciplines including web graphics, UI/UX, print, and concept art

Version 1.6:

New light user interface option

New stroke stabiliser for all pencil and brush tools

Metal 2 accelerated view optimised for macOS High Sierra

New font chooser dropdown with recents, used fonts and favourites

New Glyph browser

Improved view pan/zoom performance

Improved performance with large documents

Align to key items

Text frame vertical alignment options

Fit frame to text

Many PDF export improvements including vector export of multi-stop gradients

Added ‘Unlock All’ and ‘Show All’ commands

Numerous bug fixes and other improvements

CHOOSING THE RIGHT FRAME AND MESH

Different mesh is determined by mesh count, which is the number of threads per inch in your mesh fabric. Lower mesh counts, fewer threads per inch. Translates to more ink. So, an 86 mesh count will lay down more ink than a 305 mesh. Different inks for different substrates we print on. our graphic, the color of our garment, all impact the mesh count we use.

Wood frames can be good if they are made well and sealed with lacquers. But wood frames age quickly and lose their rigidity especially when they are used and reclaimed on a regular basis. Metal screens work best if you plan on reusing the same screen for many different jobs.

Standard textile screens are made of rectangular metal tubing. They come in many sizes and materials but I have found the 20 X 24 aluminum frames to be the best for tee shirt printing on a rotary textile press. You can purchase screens pre-stretched with the mesh. They are economical in the consistency of the quality of the frame and tension. It is important to have a rigid squared frame with tight mesh firmly secured to it. The performance of your screen and stencil will depend on the quality of the frame and screen itself. The better the screen, the easier it is to print a higher quality print.

The ink you Choose will come with a recommended screen mesh for that project. It is wise to choose the appropriate mesh for the artwork. A common tee shirt mesh count is 110 but it is not the default mesh for textile printing. Mesh count numbers work in reverse. The bigger the number, the smaller the openings will be in the mesh. The smaller the number, the bigger the openings will be in the mesh. 355 the mesh is standard for printing four color process. Obviously, the bigger the mesh opening, the more ink will easily pass through the mesh onto the shirt.

RECOMMENDATIONS

30 Mesh For Glitter Ink

60 Mesh Athletic Ink, football jerseys for example

86 Mesh Puff Ink, Plastisol Transfers

110 Mesh Under base for Heavy Block Letters or Artwork

156 Mesh General Prints on Light Garments

196 Mesh Multi-color Prints on Light Garments, Jackets

230 Mesh Under base for Simulated Process, Suede Ink

305 Mesh Process Inks for Light Garments, Simulated Process Colors

PREPPING THE THE SCREEN FOR EMULSION

Once you have chosen your frame and mesh and have your screen finished, you will be ready to prep the screen to coat with emulsion. This is a very simple step and only requires that you gently abrade the surface of the mesh with a mild abrasive while cleaning the mesh of any residual grease or dirt. This is normally done in a washout booth where the screen can be easily soaped up with screen degreaser and thoroughly rinsed off. let screen dry off completely in a dust free environment. This ensures the screen to be clean before coating with emulsion without any complications.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF EMULSIONS

Pure Photopolymer

Also known as fast-burning or premixed emulsion, pure photopolymer is called “one pot” since no mixing is required. This product comes premixed and ready to immediately go onto your screen. Added to the ease of use, this emulsion exposes much more quickly than traditional two-part emulsion systems.

Now the screen is ready to coat with emulsion. The emulsion is light sensitive. The liquid applied to the screen becomes light sensitive when dry. a scoop coater is used to coat the screen with emulsion. Typically a scoop coater for a 20 X 24 screen is about 14 inches wide so that you may coat a screen lengthwise with one pass from top to bottom. It will give you the most consistent, smooth coat and provide even thickness in the emulsion as well. The thickness of your stencil is directly related to the amount of emulsion applied, the deeper the stencil is the more ink will be deposited onto the shirt. This gives better opacity or coverage.

The side of the screen that comes in contact with the tee shirt is known as the substrate side. The side where the ink is placed and pushed through the screen with the squeegee is known as the inkwell side. You will want the thickness of the stencil to be apparent on the substrate side. This is accomplished by how you coat and dry the emulsion on the screen.

In order to deposit a thicker layer of emulsion on the substrate side, you will need to coat the substrate side first. Always make coating passes lengthwise starting at the bottom. Then follow with a second or third coat from the inkwell side of the screen. This will push much of the emulsion to the substrate side and it should look very glossy with a wet sheen. Now we dry the screen in a level rack with the substrate side facing down. This will allow gravity to keep the emulsion thickest on the substrate side. Make sure the drying rack is either light safe or in a light safe room, level, and has sufficient air circulation. Poor air circulation will result in a dimpled emulsion and an unusable screen.

Depending on how good your air circulation is and how many screens you coat at one time, your drying time can be anywhere from an hour for one screen to overnight for a rack full. The drying time will also depend on the relative humidity in your geographic region. Remember that the area where the screens are drying with emulsion should be a clean room with minimal dust being airborne. Dust that falls onto the surface of the wet emulsion on the screen is most likely to cause pinholes or blockage within your stencil area.

Once the screen is dry it is very light sensitive and all steps hereafter up until the screen is taken out of the exposure unit should be done in subdued yellow or red light.

Dual Cure

the emulsion is actually a hybrid product. It is a diazo-sensitized pure photopolymer. This combination product is extremely durable through repeated prints. This product comes in quarts, gallons and beyond. Each container comes with a bottle of powdered sensitizer, enough for the quantity of emulsion you have ordered. Warm water is added to the bottle of sensitizer and shaken. Once the sensitizer and water are mixed completed, pour the contents into the glue base. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or paint stir. The sensitizer will cause the emulsion base to change color so you can tell if you have mixed the product well. After mixing, allow the mixture to set for 2-3 hours to allow bubbles to dissipate. This product is thick, so it takes time for all the bubbles from mixing to make it to the top.

COATING THE SCREEN

Now the screen is ready to coat with emulsion. The emulsion is light sensitive. The liquid applied to the screen becomes light sensitive when dry. a scoop coater is used to coat the screen with emulsion. Typically a scoop coater for a 20 X 24 screen is about 14 inches wide so that you may coat a screen lengthwise with one pass from top to bottom. It will give you the most consistent, smooth coat and provide even thickness in the emulsion as well. The thickness of your stencil is directly related to the amount of emulsion applied, the deeper the stencil is the more ink will be deposited onto the shirt. This gives better opacity or coverage.

The side of the screen that comes in contact with the tee shirt is known as the substrate side. The side where the ink is placed and pushed through the screen with the squeegee is known as the inkwell side. You will want the thickness of the stencil to be apparent on the substrate side. This is accomplished by how you coat and dry the emulsion on the screen.

In order to deposit a thicker layer of emulsion on the substrate side, you will need to coat the substrate side first. Always make coating passes lengthwise starting at the bottom. Then follow with a second or third coat from the inkwell side of the screen. This will push much of the emulsion to the substrate side and it should look very glossy with a wet sheen. Now we dry the screen in a level rack with the substrate side facing down. This will allow gravity to keep the emulsion thickest on the substrate side. Make sure the drying rack is either light safe or in a light safe room, level, and has sufficient air circulation. Poor air circulation will result in a dimpled emulsion and an unusable screen.

Depending on how good your air circulation is and how many screens you coat at one time, your drying time can be anywhere from an hour for one screen to overnight for a rack full. The drying time will also depend on the relative humidity in your geographic region. Remember that the area where the screens are drying with emulsion should be a clean room with minimal dust being airborne. Dust that falls onto the surface of the wet emulsion on the screen is most likely to cause pinholes or blockage within your stencil area.

Once the screen is dry it is very light sensitive and all steps hereafter up until the screen is taken out of the exposure unit should be done in subdued yellow or red light.

PLACING THE ARTWORK & EXPOSING THE SCREEN

This should be done in subdued yellow or red light. For a one color design placing the film positive on the screen for exposure is quite simple. We will place it on the substrate side with the film facing up so that when you look at it from the inkwell side the design will "read right". Just center the design from left to right and set it down about 3 or 4 inches from the top. The top would be the side that is closest to you when mounted in the press. Use clear Scotch Tape to hold the film in place on the emulsion coated screen. It is often helpful to make a "dog ear" on the tape for easy removal after being exposed and before washing out.

For artwork with multiple colors and thus multiple film positives, you will need to place each film positive so that the registration marks for each film positive fall in the exact same place on each screen. Exact may be a severe term but there should be no more than 1/8 of an inch of variance between the location of each color film positive on the screen. Having your design lined up correspondently with each film positive to the screens will prevent time-consuming re-burns and/or work-a-rounds. There are "carrier" systems that will make it very easy to set up multi-color designs on your screens with great consistency and speed. If you plan on making a lot of screens on a daily basis, a carrier system is a wise investment.

Exposing The Screen

Now that the art is taped to the screen in the appropriate place, we are ready to place it in the exposure unit and expose the emulsion to light. This is the step in which we cure the emulsion with light. Remember that your film positive will be 100% black for the areas that will print ink. The black areas of the film positive that make up your design will block the light from hitting and exposing the emulsion. Those unexposed areas of your design will remain water soluble while the rest of the emulsion on the screen, being exposed to light, will be cured and thus no longer water soluble. This means that the emulsion that was blocked from the light by your film positive will dissolve and wash out when rinsed with water.

Simply place the screen in the exposure unit with the substrate side down, (with film attached), coming in contact with the glass. Close the rubber blanket top and turn on the vacuum. Allow the machine to completely finish the vacuum cycle to ensure the film is sandwiched between the glass and screen tightly. Now set the timer to the predetermined to set and expose.

Your exposure time will depend on three factors. The exposure unit or light source, the emulsion, and the mesh being used. The vendor of the emulsion should be able to provide a starting point for you based on your criteria.

There are many different emulsions available on the market today. I work with a pre-sensitized emulsion that has a very good shelf life. Other emulsions have to be mixed with a sensitizer or catalyst and may not have such a good shelf life. You may need to do research on the emulsion that will be appropriate for your application. A standard pre-sensitized textile emulsion will hold up to solvents and plastisol inks very well. Remember, printing tee shirts is not rocket science. Most any high-quality textile photo emulsion should suffice. When the timer stops and the light has gone off, turn off the vacuum and remove the screen from the exposure

WASHING OUT THE SCREEN

Quickly take your screen to your washout booth and immediately wet both sides. Once the screen is wet it is relatively safe in regular light. Wet, uncured emulsion will be less reactive to light at this point. Gently rinse the screen on both sides with standard garden hose pressure from a hand trigger spray nozzle. Be very gentle on the inkwell side. This side is always slightly under-cured and may look different in color and appear slimy or sudsy. This is normal. After gently rinsing both sides of the screen for about a minute or so turn the screen so that the substrate side faces you and let stand for a minute. Now focus on spraying the water directly at and through the image areas of your design.

As soon as you wet the screen you will see a "latent" image of your design begin to emerge in the emulsion. Do not force it, be gentle. The emulsion should start to look lighter and thinner, eventually washing out. You should be able to see this happen and watch closely as you only want to spend the amount of time washing the screen out as is necessary to get the uncured emulsion out of the mesh. Once you can see that your entire stencil area is free of the uncured emulsion, go to a wide, sheeting spray action with the water. Rinse both sides with a flooding, sheeting action running down the screen. This will help remove any scum left behind from the slightly under cured emulsion on the inkwell side.

At this point, it is helpful to use a very low-pressure air hose to gently blow out the water and any remaining scum out of the open mesh area which is now your stencil. The emulsion is still very wet and delicate so be extremely careful not to use too much air pressure as this may blow away parts of the emulsion resulting in stencil damage. Avoid touching the emulsion and/or allowing any debris to come in contact with it. Allow the screen to completely dry out. The emulsion should be thoroughly dry. The drying time will depend on the relative humidity in your geographic region.

Checking For Pinholes

Simply place the finished screen on a light table or hold it up against daylight and look for any unwanted holes or breaks in the emulsion due to dust or foreign debris. It is best to use a light table so that you may see what you are about to do. We will want

to fill any pinholes or other mistakes with block out. Block out is an emulsion like chemical you can use to fill pinholes. It is not light sensitive and only needs to dry. Be sure it is compatible with your solvents and inks. You can use some of the emulsion used to make the screen or old emulsion as block out. You can keep a small container of it so that you are able to take it out and work in daylight using it as needed. If you use photo emulsion to block out pinholes or any portion of your screen, you will need to do a post cure. You can use anything from the tip of a pencil to small fine art brushes and small plastic smoothers/scrapers to apply block out. It is most often applied to the substrate side but it is a good idea to make sure it is filled on both sides but remaining relatively flat. Don't create bumps or dimples by leaving large drops of the emulsion to fill pinholes. Keep it smooth

Post Cure

Many screen printers employ a technique known as the post cure. This is often done whether or not a photo emulsion was used as block out. In general, this is done to ensure that the inkwell side of the screen is fully cured. The screen is simply put back on the exposure unit, this time with the inkwell side facing down toward the light source, and exposed again. The top is pulled down but the vacuum is not necessary for this. We are just making sure all of the emulsion is fully cured and hard. Dual cure emulsions may not respond to post cures. Now the screen is ready to tape off and go to press.

CURING THE INK

Now you are ready to go to press. We will be focusing on a one color design. inking up the screen and flooding and stroking ink through the stencil onto the shirt with a squeegee. The press can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Make sure your press is in good working order. Skimping on press maintenance and buying used equipment. The better your press is, the easier it will be to print high-quality prints quickly. In order to mount the screen in the print head with ease, you can draw crosshairs on your pallet. If your pallet is somewhat clean and the crosshair lines are dark, you will be able to see them through most emulsions before they are inked up. After the screen has been inked up and used a bit, it may be difficult to see your crosshairs on the pallet. Take the time to line up your screen properly before you ink it up.

Curing Ink On Printed Shirts

Plastisol ink is a type of ink used for screen printing textiles. Plastisol inks are the most commonly used inks for printing designs on to garments and are particularly useful for printing opaque graphics onto dark fabrics. Plastisol inks are not water-soluble. Because the ink is made up of PVC particles suspended in a plasticizing emulsion, the ink will not dry if left. for extended periods of time.

Plastisol inks are recommended for printing on colored fabric and on lighter fabric; plastisol is extremely opaque and can retain a bright image for many years. Plastisol inks will not dry and need to be cured as a result. Curing the inks can be done with a flash dryer or a belt oven. Most plastisol inks need to reach a temperature of about 330 degrees Fahrenheit before being fully cured. Plastisol tends to sit on top of the threads instead of soaking into them, giving the print a raised, plasticized texture. When printed with higher mesh counts, plastisol inks can produce a softer feel.

With that being said, remove your shirt from the press and run the tee shirt through belt oven making sure it reaches optimum temperature by the time it emerges from the exit point and falls into a catch box.

Under cured ink can wash out and over cured ink can prematurely flake off and crack. For about $30 to $40 you can buy a temp gun with a laser sight. Point the laser sight at the ink on the shirt as it is still 4 to 6 inches still inside the oven chamber and take a reading. It should have reached your optimum temperature for your brand of ink, typically between 320 to 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Check with your ink vendor on this.

There are many belt dryers on the market today. Make sure not to over purchase or under buy your dryer. Belt dryers have certain maximum rates at which they can run shirts through the chamber and reach optimum temperature. A dryer made for manual printing will not be able to keep up with an automatic press and you certainly do not need a dryer rated for an automatic press unless you plan on going automatically one day. So your dryer is yet another piece of equipment that you should purchase with your business goals in mind.

RECLAIMING THE SCREEN

This part of the process is done when we need to reuse the screen for another job. The chemical needed is called "reclaimer" or stencil remover. It most likely will need to be diluted but there are some that you buy ready to use. It is most often put in a chemical resistant spray bottle and kept with other chemicals in your washout booth. After you have finished printing a job, clean the screen of any ink and all tape. Put it in the washout booth and spray both sides of the screen with the stencil remover. Let stand for a minute or so and begin to rinse with a pressure washer. You shouldn't need a ton of pressure but it is a good idea to have a halfway decent one. Make sure to follow the directions for your specific stencil remover.

The emulsion should begin to dissolve and wash away with the spray from the pressure washer. Give the screen a thorough cleaning making sure all residual emulsion is removed. I like to make sure the entire screen is very clean at this point. Check for any ink that may have been missed and stray emulsion bits and pieces on the frame itself. Rinse well.

Sometimes the ink you have printed on the screen will stain the mesh. When the stains become bad, you will want to remove them for various reasons. Hazing can cause ink flow problems and even emulsion adhesion complications. The chemical needed to do this is called haze remover or de-hazer. This comes in different types of products. Some are spray-able and others are a paste or gel-like and need to be swabbed onto the.

screen with a brush. Most will need to sit for a few minutes before rinsing out with the pressure washer. After removing the stencil and rinsing well, apply some of your haze removers in the manner described by the vendor. Follow the specific instructions for your haze remover and rinse well with your pressure washer. Allow the screen to dry. Now you are ready to start the whole process over again. Haze removers are probably the most hazardous chemicals to work within screen printing. There are many new products that are more user and environment-friendly. Do some research to find the best chemicals for your usage.