Friday, 4 May 2012

TIM- How to successfully screen print

When printing with the finished stencil.


Once you have used the light box, and baked the stencil onto the screen with the light sensitive emulsion, your stencil will be on the screen as a greeny colour. You use the jet wash to wash off the green and then the screen where the stencil is goes more clear.
Get your acyrlic, whatever colour you fancy, and put it in a pot ready for when you need it, you will also need a palette knife and a squeegee board the size of your stencil, and an extra empty pot for when you hold your screen up so when the acrylic is on the board it doesnt go all over the newspaper and potentially ruin your print.
Once you have done that, you then either put newspaper on a flat surface, or you can use a board and put newspaper on (tape the newspaper to the surface so it doesnt move) and place your screen on the newspaper, draw a clear thick line around the screen so you know where to place it down when your print your stencil onto another material.
Also make sure you have some newspaper next to your screen to put the acrylic covered sqeegee and palette knife on to stop mess.
Then either get a piece of plain paper, or whatever you want to use, and place it under the screen where the stencil is, and when you have put it in place place some tape at the bottom and mark where to place the piece of paper for when you print your stencil.
Put the pot under your screen and let it rest on that so it is up at an angle, and then underneath your stencil, using the palette knife get some of the acrylic out of the pot and place it in a line under the stencil, not on the stencil just underneath and put the palette knife on the extra newspaper, then put some of the sqweegee board so when using it it has some on already so therefor easier to spread.
Put your paper in place where you left your tape so it is just on the top of the tape. move the pot away from the screen and place the screen on the newspaper in line with the line your drew around the screen before, so everything is in the right place and your screen wont go off the paper you are using. Then with the squeegee board, hold it in both hands at a 40 degree angle facing you, and with some pressure pull the sqeegee up over the stencil, making sure not to get the boarder of the screen as it is an inconvenience, harder to clean and can cause a mess, register your sqeegeem which means when you get past your stencil, push back a little bit so the emulsion goes behind and when you lift up you don't get acrylic everywhere. put the squeegee above the acyrlic, and at the same angle pull back towards you again and register once more.
Once you have done that put the sqeegee on the extra newspaper, and lift up your screen, if the paper has stuck to the screen do not worry, just gently pull back the piece of paper so it doesn't smudge, and there is your stencil printed out onto paper. Put the pot back under the screen and let it rest on that once you have more the paper away from the screen, again for less mess.
When you have finished make sure to clean all equipment and put newspaper in the bin.

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