Discharge Screen Printing

Discharge Screen Printing

So let’s talk screen printing.  Firstly, what is it?  Screen printing, at a glance, is applying ink to the surface of a garment through silk screens.  The screens have designs etched out in an emulsion that covers the holes in the mesh.  Once all the layers of the design have been applied, the garment can be dried and it is ready to hit the market.  If you’ve been researching around, you might have heard about discharge screen printing.  You may be wondering what that might be and how it is different than other screen printing.

Discharge Screen Printing

Originally, practically all screen printing was done with plastisol inks.  Plastisol inks are made from PVC and contain virtually no solvent, which means that they won’t dry up when left exposed to the air.  They are user-friendly inks that can be re-used over and over again with no degradation in quality.  For some, however, the ‘hand’ that plastisol inks leave behind is unappealing.  Also prints printed with plastisol inks cannot be ironed as it will re-melt the ink.  Luckily, screen printing with plastisol inks isn’t the only option around anymore.  With discharge screen printing, you can get a whole new look for you custom goods.

Discharge screen printing is a method of printing that uses water-based inks to create the image.  The ink is specially formulated to remove the existing color in the garment, the ‘discharge’ step, and then apply a new color in its place.  This method leaves behind a very soft ‘hand’ which many people like for their prints.  If you are interested in having your own custom discharge screen printing projects done, I urge you to come visit us at AMBRO Manufacturing.  You can contact us to place an order, or to find out more about our company and services, by email or by calling us at (908) 806-8337.

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Four Color Process Screen Printing

Four Color Process Screen Printing

There are a few options for designers when considering a multiple color, photo realistic T-Shirt or other garment.  The primary process is Four Color Process Screen Printing with Simulated Four Color Process Screen Printing as a second option and Sublimation Printing as a third option.

Four Color Process Screen Printing

The process of Four Color Process Screen Printing is typically used on a white shirt to create photo realistic results.  An experienced screen printer like AMBRO Manufacturing will work with your design team to develop the color separations for your Four Color Process Screen Printing project.

Artwork in a JPG, BMP, PNG or other common format is separated into CMYK values and using specialized separation software, sequences of print are calculated to achieve the multi color result.

Once the color separations are completed, and the screens are burned, your screen printer can begin printing your Four Color Process Screen Printing just like any other screen print job.  The main differences in Four Color Process Screen Printing vs. traditional screen printing, is the type of inks used. 

Opaque / See Thru, inks are used in a 4 color process printing job.  This enables inks to lay on top of each other to create multiple colors out of 4 basic colors.  It is for this reason that the white background or white shirt is so critical.  White is one of the colors that is used to create the effect of the other colors.   Since the inks are opaque, the white base is a component of the color results.

If you need to have a shirt other than white for Four Color Process Screen Printing, then you will need to speak with your contract screen printer about using Simulated Four Color Process Screen Printing, which involves more than 4 colors.

If you are interested in Four Color Process Screen Printing, please consider giving us a call (908) 806-8337 or email us.

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