Overview
Pushes ink through mesh screens onto garments, posters, and flat goods—ideal for bold spot-color runs and durable cotton prints at volume.
Quick facts
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Best for
- 2D · ink through mesh
- Typical output
- T-shirts, Hoodies, Posters
- Typical cost
- DIY setup $200–$1,500; manual press $500–$3,000; automatic $10,000+
Excellent for
- Bulk cotton tees with limited spot colors★★★★★
- Thick, durable ink deposits on dark garments★★★★★
- Posters, tote bags, and flat stock with flat inks★★★★★
Compatible with
Pros & cons
Pros
- ✔Bulk cotton tees with limited spot colors
- ✔Thick, durable ink deposits on dark garments
- ✔Posters, tote bags, and flat stock with flat inks
Cons
- ✘Full-photo one-offs without halftone experience
- ✘Tiny runs where screen setup cost dominates
- ✘Complex gradients on five shirts
Creator & maker guides
Equipment
- Manual screen press (1–4 color)
- Exposure unit
- Conveyor dryer
Materials
- Aluminum or wooden screens with mesh (110–305 mesh count typical)
- Plastisol or water-based inks
- Emulsion for stencil exposure
- Cotton and cotton-blend garments
- Squeegees and exposure unit or sunlight setup
Machine settings
No items yet.
Quality control
No items yet.
Best practices
- 1Provide vector art with spot colors separated by layer or file.
- 2Specify Pantone or solid ink colors when brand-critical.
- 3Plan color count up front—each screen is setup time and cost.
- 4For photos on shirts, consider DTF or DTG unless the shop specializes in halftones.
Common mistakes
Under
cured ink washing out in the laundry
Bleeding on polyester without low
bleed inks
Registration drift on multi
color jobs
Halftone moiré from wrong mesh vs LPI
Halftone moiré from wrong mesh vs LPI
Art supplied as RGB PNG without color separation…
Art supplied as RGB PNG without color separations
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Under-cured ink washing out in the laundry | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| Bleeding on polyester without low-bleed inks | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| Registration drift on multi-color jobs | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| Halftone moiré from wrong mesh vs LPI | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
| Art supplied as RGB PNG without color separations | See guides below for context | Review creator/maker tabs and troubleshooting table |
Helpful tools
DPI & resolution calculator
SoonImage size calculator
SoonBleed generator
SoonAspect ratio calculator
SoonHeat press time & temperature
SoonSublimation wrap calculator
Soon