Are you curious about the screen printing industry and want to know more about the goings-on? We understand the interest! But, like any professional industry, there’s knowledge and know-how that wouldn’t make sense without already knowing common terms. So, why don’t we start out small? When you need to know about t shirts, get the knowledge you need from the best of the t shirt printing companies in Baton Rouge.
Understanding The Tools At Hand
There’s no shame in not knowing common industry terms from the get-go. After all, we’re not plumbers, so why would we know what a PEX pipe is? But as far as screen printing goes, where should we begin?
- Screen. The namesake of screen printing, screens are frames with mesh stretched tightly in the center. With these, we can create amazing styles for all of our t shirts.
- Conveyor Dryer. This equipment is used to cure shirts by heating the ink to around 330 degrees. But not with fire, infrared heat panels are actually used to achieve the necessary temperature.
- Mesh. This is the material we stretch over frames. It allows ink to pass through to adhere to the shirt.
- Emulsion. We apply this photosensitive chemical to a screen, harden it with UV light, and then spray away to make a stencil.
- Squeegee. This tool is equipped with a rubber blade. This blade is pulled across the screen to press ink into a stencil.
- Washout Booth. Who doesn’t love to recycle? These booths help us wash out stencils and screens to use again on another project.
- Automated Press. This is a screen printer with six or more color stations available for use.
And there are even more tools we use in our daily screen printing process. You’ll just have to stick with us to find out more. But, it can be pretty hard to use some of these tools without knowing the proper jargon associated with them. Why don’t we discuss a few?
Important Terms To Know
A lot more goes into making a t shirt than you might now. In fact, there’s some pretty specific science behind it. Take a peek at some of our industry terms and see exactly what we mean:
- Burning. Burning a screen consists of exposing emulsion to UV lighting in order to harden it.
- Plastisol ink. This ink doesn’t seep into the shirt and instead sits on top, creating a brighter image. This is the type of ink we use in screen printing.
- Bleeding. Not ideal for bleeding to happen. Bleeding entails the ink going outside of its predetermined print area or when two colors mix into each other.
- Butt Registration. Another ink-related term, this means that two colors have come edge-to-edge, but don’t overlap.
- Durometer. Also known as just “duro,” this scale is used to refer to the hardness of a squeegee blade.
Just like with our screen printing tools, there’s much more terms to explore. You just have to stick around to find out more! Out of all of the t shirt printing companies in Baton Rouge, no one operates quite like us.
Get Your Own Shirts With Giraphic!
Do you want to know even more? Keep up with our blog and you might just find out even more processes and terms! For all your t-shirt printing needs in Baton Rouge, you need to check out our work at Giraphic Prints. How can we help your team stand out in a crowd?
To begin, feel free to get in touch with our professionals by getting a quote. On the other hand, if you have a question or two, go ahead and give us a call at 225.923.2434 or send us an email at [email protected]. We can’t wait to help you look better than ever.
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