
| Screen Printing: What It Can Do For You |
![]() The ancient art of Screen Printing (once called Silk Screening because of the common use of silk for the screens) is a very versatile method of putting your image, words, logo, or anything on numerous materials. At the core it uses pressure to force the ink through tiny holes in a screen to create an image on the surface of the item. Although it does have its limitations, these are far fewer than most other methods of printing out there and the number of materials it works on exceeds nearly any other form by a large amount.
Screen printing works best when the design is created using one or more spot colors, as doing a full color process image is hard to get to work well without a machine printer, but you'd be surprised how expansive your options are even with limited colors. You can see numerous examples of this throughout our Screen Printing Gallery section. If you want to learn more about how Screen Printing works you can click on any of the sub-menu options to the left. The sections that follow are a number of things we can do for you using standard and advanced screen printing techniques. |
Shirts and Garments
Control Panels, Keypads, and Electronics
Signs and Boards
Metal Plaques
Stickers and Labels
Water Slide Decals
Magnetic Signs
Other Specialty Items
| Shirts and Garments |
![]() Not only do we have a large selection of single shirt samples and the ability to order large numbers of even more types of garments, we can print on nearly any garment you bring to us as well. In the past we have not only done shirts, but also safety vests, all weather jackets, aprons, baby wear, and much more. Whatever you have the inkling to put your image or logo on, we can print on it for you and most likely order the garments directly if you don't already have them. We even have access to online catalogs you can look through for some of our venders, so you can go through them at home and choose exactly what you want before hand. Check them out in our Materials & Catalogs, found on our menu to the left. |
| Control Panels, Keypads, and Electronics |
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For years our specialty has been screening control panels for a number of local and national companies. This can be for things as large as commercial aircraft and boats to small electronic devices and musical equipment. When you see labels, numbers, and tic-marks on the face of some device, the odds are they were screen printed there and it's possible we did it. We have also done a number of keypads for devices, placing the numbers and symbols on each and every key.
So if you have some electronic or mechanical item you need to have printed with all the relevant information and markings, we can most likely do it for you and within a reasonable time and price range. Even if you are simply doing a couple prototypes or want a whole production run done, we can help you out. |
| Signs and Boards |
Another area that we have done a lot of work in is signs. All kinds of signs, up to a certain size. We are not a sign shop, so we don't do the large backlit box signs you see over the fronts of many businesses, but we do all sorts of smaller signs. The two main kinds of these are the "A-Board" standing signs and the plastic Corex signs, but we are not limited to just these. We have done wooden signs, cardboard signs, hanging plastic door signs, and many others.
![]() ![]() Corex is a corrugated plastic material, which looks a lot like white cardboard but is made of plastic instead (it comes in several colors, but white is the most common and easiest to work with). It makes for a relatively cheap but sturdy and weather resistant sign material. You most likely have seen them used for political signs in people's yards, strike signs on the picket lines, and in-store signs used by many businesses. We are able to get you the Corex (sometimes called Coroplast) material, cut it, and print all the signs you want right here in house. Wooden signs are simple to do, as long as we have the board to print on. Cardboard signs are possible and inexpensive, but not very resilient to weather or damage. Plastic sheeting is often used for open/closed signs, door hangers, and other thin simple signs, which is flexible and useful for many applications. |
| Metal Plaques |
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Most commonly used for awards, but not limited to that, we can print names or even images onto metal plaques of any size. These can be small metal plaques with just a name on them that is added to a larger award (often replacing the name plaque that was previously on there), or a larger plaque where we match the names previously added as each new name is added to the award.
A lot of this work, at least for the adding of names, has been moved over to the Laser Etching method, but we can still do it with screen printing if that's how it would work and look best for you. |
| Stickers and Labels (Bumper Stickers) |
![]() We are limited to a total printable area of about 11 inches across for most jobs, so make sure we are able to get the paper you need and do the size you require if you want to do something close to or larger than this. Smaller stickers on sheets are easy to do since we just have to change the number of rows we put on each one. Most of these tend to be done on white sticker paper or vinyl, but we are not limited to that color and have a wide variety to choose from. The adhesive papers we use can be anything from extremely sticky, which won't easily come off of anything, to vinyl sheets that only attach thanks to static cling. Depending on your needs we will be able to do this for you using standard Screen Printing methods or with our special Vinyl Cutting and Printing equipment. |
| Water Slide Decals |
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Most common with model kits and other scale craft hobbies, Water Slide Decals allow your images to be printed on special thin decal paper that is usually transparent. These can be a single image, a sheet of various different images, or even a large sheet of several repeating images that are going to be applies to several identical items.
Once the sheets are printed and ready, there are several steps to applying the decals. We can do this for you, or you can take the sheets home and apply them yourself, depending on your needs. If doing it yourself, there are a few steps to remember: ![]() 2. You then briefly place them in lukewarm water to wet them down; usually this takes about thirty seconds. This breaks down the surface layer of the decal and activates the adhesive below it so that it can bond to the surface. When they start to curl they are more than wet enough and might become harder to handle. 3. Remove the decal from the water, usually using tweezers or some other small tool, since the wet decal may become hard to handle in this state. Some people also remove the backing at this time, while others like to try and place the decal first and then slide the backing out from under it. At the same time it's also a good idea to gently rub some water from your fingers onto the spot you are going to apply the decal. 4. The damp decal is then carefully placed on the surface of the object you want it attached, sliding it gently to adjust exactly where you wanted it. Then gently press down, making sure there are no bubbles or folds in it, and blot away the excess water with a dry napkin. 5. Using your finger or a soft brush it is usually a good idea to carefully push down in the center and work out any water that may be under the decal, blotting it up with the napkin. Keep doing this until the decal is completely dry and firmly set in place. 6. As the adhesive bonds to the surface and dries, the decal becomes well affixed to the surface and nearly indistinguishable from something directly printed on the surface. This drying can take upwards of a full day, depending on the weather and environment. |
| Magnetic Signs |
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Don't want something permanently (or at least not semi-permanently) attached to your car or other metal item? We have a solution for that. We can custom print anything you want onto special magnetic sheeting. This can be used for large car signs, or even to size and shape for smaller refrigerator magnets you can give away. Being magnetic and not based on any adhesive, they can be removed or moved as much as you want without losing any of their sticking power.
Not sure which car you are going to drive today? Get one of these and always have your company logo and information on the door. The durable magnetic sheeting we use is resistant to weather and minor scrapes and bumps, so it should hold up great no matter what you use your vehicle for. Just make sure to follow the instructions, remove and clean both it and the car regularly, and this magnetic sign will last you years. |
| Other Specialty Items |
![]() All we need is for you to call, email, or come on in and tell us exactly what it is you want and we will happily tell you if it's possible, and even if we think screen printing is the best way to go with it. No matter what, we will do out best to make you idea work out as close to what you had in mind as we possibly can. |
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Last modified: 31.10.08 by admin
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