at home screen printing
Ever been interested in screen printing? There's both industrial and fine art applications to screenprinting, this is the DIY, backyard application. A step-by-step, how-to guide to aid you through the process from your home for aficionados and beginners alike. No fancy studio necessary.
Supplies
There's a little bit of startup cost involved, so lets make sure we have everything we need!
Design
All good prints first start off with an good idea. Develop that idea by sketching and refining it until you have a well-polished drawing. Consider using one color if you’re a beginner. Finer linework or type will be tougher to burn in as a beginner. Move toward your original vision and we'll move toward getting that image on a screen.
Photo Emulsion
The best way to get the clearest resolution is to buy photo emulsion. Unfortunately it’s the most expensive part of this process. It costs $30 a bottle but if you want to use your screen with different images it’s the best option.
Sun Exposure
In studios they use expensive light tables. At home it's more cost effective to use the sun. It gets clean resolution like you
wouldn't believe and it's a shorter exposure time. All you need is a sunny day!
printing
We have the tedious prep work successfully completed. Lets get some ink in the screen, it’s business time!
reclaim & clean up
Emulsion will stay in your screen forever if you want it to once it has hardened. But emulsion remover will get the emulsion out if you want to use your screen for a differn't image.
You're Done!
You now have a clean screen and finished results! I encourage you to start the process over with brand new images. Like anything else in life you get better at it the more you practice! Check out the links below for more information on screen printing.
