How to Screen Print
Posted by ReadyMade
Project by Jeff Barfoot; photo by Stephen Karlisch
“The total cost for everything on this list to make a 5-color screen print (like our Puffin) is around $320 (assuming you already have a work space and basics like scissors and clear tape). The cost for any additional prints would be fairly minimal, ” says Jeff Barfoot, subject of our home feature, “Texas Two-Step” (April/May 2010), who with his wife Shay Ometz operates a screen printing studio called Bee Things in his Dallas backyard.
Web exclusive: Click here to download a 9-page PDF with detailed instructions from Barfoot on how to create the Bee Things puffin print shown above.
Skill Level
Hard
Active Time
Weekend
Cost
$$$
- Transparency film
- 1 canister of printing emulsion fluid
- Clear tape
- 1 roll of screen tape
- 1 roll of artist tape
- Screen-printing ink (standard set colors; we use Speedball printing inks)
- Reclaiming fluid (like Ulano)
Materials
- 3 spatulas
- 3 plastic food containers
- 1 screen-printing squeegee
- 1 emulsion spreader
- 2 hinge clamps
- 5 printing screens
Tools
Sketch your illustration on paper. Scan it into a computer and do the final illustration in color in Adobe Illustrator.
When you are happy with the illustration, build the mechanical file: Decide on the best order for the inks, and build trappings into the file. (Trapping is putting in a little bit of overlap between colors so gaps don’t show.)
Print each color plate out separately, in black only, on transparency film.
The day before you want to make screens, use an emulsion spreader to evenly apply emulsion fluid (which is light-sensitive). Let dry in a dark place (a closet or cabinet)—they’ll be ruined if they’re left in the light.
Position the transparency backward on the flat side of the prepared screens (so your artwork is the correct orientation when flipped over). Use clear tape to hold it in position. Depending on your light source and thread count, exposing a screen can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes (check online to find a good exposure time and be prepared to ruin a few screens at first). For light, try an exposure table (look for one on eBay), tungsten lightbulbs, or even sunlight.
After the exposure, the exposed parts of the emulsion on the screen will harden and darken, while the part covered by the black artwork will remain light and soft. Wash out the unexposed emulsion with water, and the plate is ready.
Use screen tape around edges on both the front and back of the screens, making sure not to tape over the artwork. Position the paper on the work area, using the same transparency you used to expose the screen. Use artist tape to make registration marks on the corners so every print will have the artwork in the same exact place.
Place the screen on top, lining it up with the transparency, and tighten down the clamps. (Be sure you have a worktable that you can screw clamps into or get a thick board from Home Depot to use on top of a counter or table.) Time to print!
Mix ink with spatulas in plastic food containers to get the colors you want. Use the squeegee to pull the ink from the top of the screen toward you in one fluid motion. (The squeegee should be positioned at a 45º angle from the surface.) Apply medium pressure evenly across the squeegee—too soft and the ink won’t push through the screen, too hard and too much ink will squish through the screen.
Open the screen to see your print! Use your registration tape marks and load the next piece of paper into position. Keep going. Let the batch dry for about an hour and wash your squeegee.
Use the registration marks and transparencies to register the rest of the colors in the same way, repeating the process for each color of the print. After many pulls and inky fingers, the print is done. Use the reclaiming fluid to wash the hardened emulsion off the screens so you can use them several times.
