Screen Printing Graphics & Design talking SHOP PRODUCTION CONCERNS The primary challenges of printing hoodies are properly adjusting the screenprinting press's off-contact and getting the correct type of pallet tack to consistently hold the garments down. Both of these issues can sound like minor concerns but they can quickly lead to scrapping a dozen hoodies in one round on an automatic press if they are not addressed properly. To set the off-contact, check the distance from the thicker garment surface to the screen's printing surface. If you are using higher-tension screens, a distance about the thickness of a nickel is ideal; occasionally, it can be less if lower pressure is needed and the ink is low in viscosity. The main way to adjust this is to watch the print and ensure the open area of the screen pops clean of ink without excessive flex after the squeegee passes. You don't want to drive the ink into the garment or have it peel back up into the screen. What you use to tack down your hoodies to keep them in place can cause a huge Figure 3. Test your halftones before you print on a hoodie. of testing and some specifically designed equipment (custom platens, squeegees and modified inks) to consistently do illustrative printing on these garments. Start with simple designs first and then see what your press, screens and printing staff can reproduce before you promise a detailed print to a client on a live job. A simple way to ease into a higher level of detail is to create several one-color prints containing some halftone or detailed elements, then compare the final prints with the positives to see how well the designs were reproduced (see Figure 3). If you need to quickly re-create detailed artwork on a hoodie, see if the design can be simplified with fewer gradients and thicker line work. A larger halftone screen is often a good idea (something in the 38-42 dpi range to avoid excessive dot loss in the rougher printed surface). Also, it sometimes can save the entire job to add a distress filter overlay on top of the design. In addition to creating a coollooking worn effect to the graphic, it makes small imperfections and printing distortions far less noticeable (see Figure 4). impressionsmag.com 64-9_IMP_0915_TSspGraphics.indd 67 Use Info*Action #27 at impressionsmag.com/infoaction See us at ISS Orlando September 2015 | Impressions 67 9/14/15 3:17 PMhttp://www.stahls.com http://www.impressionsmag.com/infoaction http://www.impressionsmag.com