SCREEN PRINTING
HOW IT WORKS
What Is It?
Screen printing is a big part of how your designs get turned into products here at McKenzie & Co. It's the process of transferring a design onto a surface (t-shirt, hoodie, tote bag, poster, etc.) by pushing ink through a mesh screen with a squeegee, it’s equal parts art and craft.
SPLIT BY COLOR
We separate your artwork into layers, one for each color. A 3-color design means 3 layers and 3 screens.
SCREEN PER LAYER
We "burn" your design onto screens. This creates the shapes where ink will go, like a coloring book outline.
MOUNT & ALIGN
We attach the screens to the press and align them so every color lands exactly where it should on the shirt.
INK IS PRESSED THROUGH
Using a squeegee, we pull ink across the screen so it prints onto the fabric one color at a time.
THE DRYER
We run the garmet through the dry, this cures the ink so it stays bright, soft, and durable after lots of washes.
QUALITY CHECK
Each one is inspected for print quality, then folded, packed, and ready to wear or ship.
Minimum order size for first time customers is 24 pieces of each style of garment.
Screen printing requires the same amount of set-up for 1 shirt or 1,000, and price per shirt increases substantially.
Using fewer ink colors, or letting the shirt’s color be part of the design, can lower setup costs.
"If I Can't Print You a Better Shirt, I'll Eat a Bug" - Jeff Mckenzie*
