New Catspit Screen Printing Tutorial Website & Forum

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Catspit Productions

The Catspit Productions website has finally been rebuilt with some new features. Not only did we totally redesign the shell and update the look of the entire website but we created and added a “learn how to screen print” forum dedicated to learning the process. We also made it possible to watch all of the famous Catspit screenprinting YouTube videos directly on the website. So now you can watch them all without leaving the Catspit website or you can watch them on YouTube. We also made the access to the instructional screenprinting videos much easier to navigate. You will also be able to access the screen printing articles alphabetically like the Printing Glossary and Fabric Glossary too. I hope you all enjoy my hard work in making the website better and more valuable as a screen printing tutorial resource. Learn how to screen print for fun or for profit!

Make sure to check out the newly redesigned website and don’t forget to use the forum!

http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/

http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/forum

Thanks for reading! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Posted on April 18, 2012 by Catspit Productions

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A brand is the icing on the cake, the queen of the ball, the home run king. It is the defining hallmark of a company, the icon that presents your company on grandma’s great big silver platter. And how about that Xerox (hey, can you Xerox me a copy? Or hand me a Kleenex?) Who were those people who came up with these brilliant monikers that have become just regular, everyday language that we all know what we’re talking about when we ask for one? Were they highly paid ad people or just a one woman/one man show who hit upon them accidentally?

A brand must set you apart from your competition and offer the reasons why a customer should give their business to you. This is very different from a logo or tag line/slogan that was discussed in the previous blog. A brand has the potential to have a…

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How To Screen Print: Setting Up & Using A Pocket Pallet

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Catspit Productions

The first YouTube video for this week is a continuation on the pallet theme. I figured it was the perfect time to come back to printing on the pocket by looking at the pocket pallet. That fits right in with all of the other pallet videos I have done recently. And it’s a follow up video to the one about printing inside the pocket with the “Helen Keller” method. I promised I would show you the pocket pallet method after I replaced my missing pallet. Well, in this screen printing video I make good on that promise.

This one is called, “How To Screen Print: Setting Up & Using A Pocket Pallet.” In this screen printing tutorial video we take one last look at pallets for screen printing tee shirts. The pocket pallet is a specialized pallet that you can use to make it much easier to print designs inside the pocket. In a previous video I showed you how to do this without the pocket pallet using the “Helen Keller’ method in which we mostly use feel to place the pocket for printing. In this screenprinting video I show you how to set up the pocket pallet and how to load shirts onto the pallet. You’ll get a close up of the pocket pallet itself as well as a good look at how it sets up on press and what off contact requirements you will need in order to use one. After you watch this educational video you will know what a pocket pallet is and how to use it. Just remember to make sure your artwork fits inside the pocket!

There is some rather good news about the website coming your way very soon. The entire site has been rebuilt with a new great feature that I will announce later this week or the beginning of next week. The website will also now contain all the videos on watch pages for you to access them directly from the Catspit site while referring to all those articles that fill in the blanks. The scheduled re-launch is set for next week. I’ll make a final announcement on that real soon. Thanks for reading! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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World’s 1st Legoland Stop Action Screen Printing Shop

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Catspit Productions

Yes! That’s right, I am the first person to ever build and make a Legoland stop action screen printing shop! Alright, I don’t know about that for sure but who else would do something like this? Probably not many but as you can see I am totally consumed with screenprinting. In every aspect of my life I live, breath, and eat screen printing. So I think it’s pretty safe to say this is a first. I’d love to make some more stop action videos in the future with Lego products. They are easy to work with and have all the appropriate components to make a complete stop motion video. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this entertainment video.

The latest screen printing video is called’, “World’s 1st Legoland Stop Action Screen Printing Shop.” This is a video I made for fun. I am very interested in stop action as many of you may know. I love old stop action monster movies and sci-fi stuff. I love all of the Ray Harryhausen movies very much. To this day I prefer special monster effects to be done in front of the camera as opposed to computer rendered animations. There is something about knowing it was a hands on creation that makes it all the more worthwhile. And yes, much like many adults I love Legos and I have a decent amount of them to mess around with. It’s a great way to relax and flex your creative muscles. I built this mini screen printing shop while I was watching an old Colombo movie. LOL… Peter Falk was awesome! How the heck did he ever get into acting with that glass eye? He must have been an amazing actor.

Anyway I hope you all enjoy this entertainment video. I learned a lot from making this little test of a stop motion animation video. I will certainly do some more in the future. Maybe a full fledged Legoland movie with a story or something. But that will definitely not be related to screenprinting….. LOL. Thanks for reading! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Posted on March 22, 2012 by Catspit Productions

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Tom Frecska Student Printing Competition sponsored by the Academy of Screen Printing Technology (ASPT)

The ASPT is dedicating its Student Printing Competition to Tom Frecska. For those of you who didn’t know Tom, we want to tell you that he was a gem of a human being; a nice guy who was in his element as editor of ScreenPrinting Magazine before his sudden and unexpected death in 2009. Tom was an especially ardent supporter of educating young people in the important art of screen and graphics printing, so the renamed award is a poignant and apt tribute.

2011 Winner,  Best of Show: “Spring Time” by Casandra Myers
Finished Garments (Dark); Subcategory: Single/Multicolor
Paramount High School, Paramount, CA

About the Award: the Tom Frecska Student Printing Competition will be presented to graphic arts students to honor superior imaging work within a variety of categories. Typically, the entrants are students in high…

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How To Screen Print: Metal Vs. Wooden Pallets

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Catspit Productions

I uploaded a new screenprinting video today but I have been so busy with other projects I didn’t have time to blog, tweet on Twitter or post to Facebook. Until now… So if you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube channel yet that means you may have not been informed of the latest video. That’s a great reason to subscribe! And because it means a lot to me 🙂 Anyway… this is all really based on manual presses because an automatic will come with metal or honey comb type pallets. But in the video you get to see the pallet I burned a little while back… LOL. I know it’s funny, wait no it’s not…

The video is called, “How To Screen Print: Metal Vs. Wooden Pallets.” This screen printing tutorial video describes the pros and cons of metal and wooden pallets. Most metal pallets are made from aluminum and most wood pallets are made with some sort of press board and a “Formica” top. You know these days they are probably not really Formica but it’s the same type of counter surface you find in kitchens. The educational video will compare the differences between the two while explaining why wooden pallets warp and metal ones do not. Find out about pallet rubber and how humidity can affect your wooden pallets. You will get to see what a wooden pallet looks like after it has been burned with a flash cure unit. You also get to see the warp of the wooden pallet compared to the very flat surface of the metal pallet. This is an excellent screen printing video for anyone looking to buy new equipment and contemplating aluminum pallets.

Well don’t laugh at my burnt pallet. It happens to the best of us. But if it happens too often then there’s a problem… LOL. Once every couple of years or so is ok 🙂 Thanks for stopping by the blog and reading my nonsense about printing tee shirts and such. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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How To Screen Print: Choosing The Correct Pallet Size On Press

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Catspit Productions

It must be pallet month or something. Here is a quick tip screenprinting video about choosing pallet sizes. LOL… I figured since I started on the subject I may as well cover as much as I can now. I have covered pallet tape, pallet sizes and cleaning the pallet itself. So I think next up will be a quick tip video about metal vs. wooden pallets. But for today’s educational screen printing video we will take a quick look at pallet choices.

This new tutorial screenprinting video is called, “How To Screen Print: Choosing The Correct Pallet Size On Press.” Eventually if you are screen printing shirts for commercial purposes you will find the need to print smaller special items or garments. This video discusses and shows the different pallets and pallet sizes you can use to screenprint different items and even tote bags on a standard textile press. Here we consider youth garments as well as women’s logo wear which is often smaller than the standard adult sizes. What do you do when a youth tee shirt does not fit on your standard adult pallet? This instructional video answers those questions and more. Like how can you print sweat pants or long sleeves? The answers all lie within the realm of pallets. And here you’ll get to see a nice variety of pallet sizes. I think this is a great tutorial video for those who are just starting to work with a manual rotary textile screenprinting press. It’s one of those topics that you don’t think of until you have a shirt too small for the pallets you have on your press.

In the meantime enjoy this educational screenprinting video. Make sure to stop by the website for more high quality free information about screen printing tee shirts. And pay close attention to the blog! An exciting announcement will be made first on the blog and then on YouTube as a video. If you read the blog, you will often find out about all things Catspit before those who don’t. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions LLC!

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How To Screen Print: Using & Changing Pallet Tape On Press

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Catspit Productions

The first of two screen printing videos this week is sort of a follow up video to one I did some time ago. Last year I did an educational video about cleaning the pallets on a manual rotary textile press. In that video I mentioned and showed a product called pallet tape. Well in the latest video by Catspit we cover this very product and do a demonstration of how it is removed and applied to the pallets on press. I think this month will end up being pallet themed as I have a couple more videos to upload in March that relate to pallets or pallet products. By the time we finish the month you should know a lot more about your pallets that you use in screen printing tee shirts.

So the new video is called, “How To Screen Print: Using & Changing Pallet Tape On Press.” I really intended for this video to be a shorter one but because I actually change the pallet tape on my 6 color, 6 station press, it takes a little more time than I anticipated. But I did speed up the footage where we applied all the pallet tape. Despite the length of more than 10 minutes I think this video is not only fun to watch but very informative. Here we run through some tips on working with pallet tapes and when to change them out. It is very important not to leave pallet tape on your pallets for too long and you will find out why in this screenprinting tutorial. You’ll get to see the removal of old pallet tape and the condition of which you should remove it as well as the application and trimming of new pallet tape. Learn how to trim your pallet tape in order to avoid problems when loading tee shirts for printing while getting tips on how to handle and care for your roll of pallet tape. This video will teach you how and when to use pallet tape and it gives you some tips and advice on doing it with minimal frustrations as pallet tapes can be difficult to work with at times.

I think in the end you will agree that pallet tape is easier to work with than just having to clean the pallets with solvents. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video and thanks for watching. I appreciate your time. And of course thanks for stopping by my screenprinting blog. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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How To Screen Print A Working QR Scan Code Onto Tee Shirts

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Catspit Productions

I had a print job this past month where the customer wanted to print a working QR scan code onto tee shirts. I had never done such a thing before but I knew that some people had actually done this before. I mean I really didn’t know of any specific cases or print jobs that were done and turned out successful but I figured that in this day and age where we have so many people doing the same things in different parts of the world, someone had to have done it. And I figured it could work because it’s a matter of printing simple square shapes in a pattern that the scanner can read. I knew for sure the screen printing part of this was possible. What I didn’t know was how the smart phone scanner would read it off a flexible tee shirt. And, no because this wasn’t my personal project I didn’t actually research it….LOL. The customer did…

So the customer looked into a few concerns about QR codes on flexible fabrics and he came up with three most critical questions. How do we make the QR code easier for the smart phone to scan? How big or small can it be in relation to scanning distances form a tee shirt? And finally how would this all be affected by women with substantial breasts? That’s right boobies. And I apologize to our women readers here as those are just good keywords… LOL. Alright, really it is a concern and a funny one at that. But it’s a real issue and something to address if you try this yourself. The new screenprinting video is called, “How To Screen Print A Working QR Scan Code Onto Tee Shirts.” In this educational video you will get to see the set up and printing the QR code onto a white garment but you also get a time lapse clip of a 3 color job press break down. It’s a pretty nice video where you see how the manual rotary screen printing press is broken down after printing a 3 color design. Then you get to see a smart phone scan the QR code printed on the shirt and you can hear the scan beep. It works! You’ll also get a nice close up of the actual print itself.

So this is a pretty cool video to watch if you have ever wanted to screenprint QR codes on to textiles of different sorts. I had a lot of fun making it and I appreciate the customer, David, for letting us do a video with his print job. Of course he does get a little exposure out of it… 🙂 Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Posted on March 10, 2012 by Catspit Productions

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I’ve been working in a home-based environment for 19 years. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was a big leap from a corporate office situation, but the benefits have far and away surpassed any doubts I had (or the naysayers). Because I have day-to-day customer contact via phone and in-person, I’m not devoid of human connection and people I enjoy working with.  I Skype, text, Tweet, use Faxbook, Linkedin and e-mail, so I engage all day long. If I have to rush out to handle an elderly parent issue or take 1, 2 or all 3 of them to a medical appointment, I can do that and make up the time later. My office is always open.

Throughout the years, the benefits to this arrangement have surpassed any negatives. In the early years, my growing family prospered because mom/marketing director, grant writer and volunteer was always…

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