Screen Print At Home: Inkjet Film For Screen Making

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Are you having trouble producing a decent film positive at home without RIP software on your home computer? The solution is: Catspit’s Super Inkjet Film Positives. This inkjet film for making screen printing stencils is the absolute best to use without RIP software. Achieve 70 to 80% opacity depending on your inkjet printer and settings.

Visit catspitproductionsllc.com to learn more about this excellent inkjet film. See samples and pricing. http://catspitproductionsllc.com/inkjetfilmpositives.aspx

Don’t waste any more time with laser vellum or copier transparencies! Get the good stuff for screen printing at home from Catspit productions, LLC!

http://catspitproductionsllc.com/inkjetfilmpositives.aspx

– Great screen printing informational resource for beginners and intermediate printers!

– Free information about methods, techniques, equipment, and business issues!       

 – Follow the Catspit Blog for great tips, practical experience advice, and business insights

– Watch screen printing tutorial videos and ask questions

– Learn about the entire textile screen printing process

– Heat transfer equipment!                             

– Print tee shirts for profit!

– Print tee shirts for fun!

http://catspitproductionsllc.com

Visit Today!

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Screen Printing Video News; This Weeks Tutorial Videos

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Catspit Productions

That’s right, I said this weeks videos. Plural as in 4 brand new screen printing videos for YouTube. Every day this week except for Friday I will post a new video to YouTube. These are a series of videos to compliment the Manual Screen Printing Shop Set Up Tour and the 4 Or 6 Color Upgradable Screen Printing Press  videos. All 4 will feature a different piece of equipment from RANAR. The first will cover the exposure unit, the second will cover the flash cure unit, the third will display the belt oven and finally the last will showcase the washout booth. These videos are for your informational convenience and to help spread the word that Catspit Productions is an authorized RANAR dealer.

Here’s the rap on the exposure unit from RANAR; The model XPO-2331 Vacuum Exposure Unit, standard features include 10, 20 watt unfiltered ultraviolet black-light fluorescent bulbs, a digital countdown timer and vacuum. These features make exposing block letters, halftones, and simulated process images with high resolution fast and easy. The XPO series exposure units are an important part of any screen printing shop’s pre-press room.

The flash cure unit; RANAR is an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of flash dryers from 16×16 all the way to 24×36.  They start by using the best IR panels in the industry and add the controls and features which allow ultimate control of the flash dryer. Features for the 18×20: high wattage heat panel, heat control, stand and casters, available in 110v or 220v, 3 yr warranty on heater panels.

How about the dryer; The CURESTAR 4000 infrared conveyor dryer, is the most affordable and economical 8’ft dryer for the silk screen printing market. Rated at 200 shirts per hour, using a 4000 watt (1) 24”x 24”heater in a 4 ft insulated tunnel achieves the lowest energy cost per unit average compared to our competitors. RANAR offers many features that other manufacturers charge extra for, such as a quality solid state heat control, adjustments for temperature, panel height, gates, and belt speed. These make setting up different applications on this conveyor dryer a snap. It has crowned rollers for easy belt tracking and a 24”inch wide belt.

And finally the econo washout booth is made from galvanized sheet metal with nickel plated bolts. It comes complete with a backlight and translucent white Plexiglas back. The light operates on an air foot pedal. The unit can fit 20 by 24 screens as well as 23 by 31 automatic screens.

So make sure to stop by the website and the YouTube channel to see these new videos and learn about manual screen printing equipment by RANAR from Catspit Productions. Thanks for reading! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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How To Screen Print: 3 Color Print With Flash Cure

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Catspit Productions

As I continue to look back at the videos I’ve made for the screen printing YouTube channel, I realize what a great journey this has been. Not that it’s ending or anything but things change and we are headed into a new era of screen printing videos. I hope to get to do all the things I have been wanting to and more. Now I can plan out a video that demos printing rather than do it spontaneously based on what was going on in the cooperative shop. I remember doing this video about the three color print demo. It was the first actual printing video I had done. I knew I needed to do one but I never thought about what to actually do. This video was very unplanned but I think people still get a lot out of it.

In the video called, “How To Screen Print: 3 Color Print Demo With Flash”, I basically used my own print job for Catspit Productions and used a rag for the video. I recall that the artwork wasn’t really set up the way I wanted it to be so I could print wet but in the end I only had a small quantity to print. These were the screens for the Catspit “Skull and Bones” tee. Here I had to flash the radioactive green twice. Once for coverage and then a second time so the gray and black could over print. But it really slows things down, ideally you want to try to at least print most all of your colors first then flash before you print the black. But sometimes things end up on press that could have been set up better. This always seems to be the case with my personal print jobs… LOL. The shoe maker wears the most worn sole. Or something to that effect.

I was still wearing those darn white shirts which are great for the heat but reflect too much light into the camera. That really threw off the lighting and I didn’t figure this out for sometime. For some reason my photographic background is only now starting to become in sync with my video making efforts. I guess I was stuck in a certain mode of thought as far as photography and video being so separate. But in many ways they are not separate, maybe different in some aspects but very much of the same species. This makes me want to try to really make more complicated edited videos but I have learned my laptop which does the video rendering cannot handle too many effects in Sony Vegas. Once I tried to do multiple transitions and it kept crashing. I think it’s time for a computer upgrade.

At least I got that HD thing all figured out. Dag nab it! What a journey indeed. That was a big hurdle created by my insufficient laptop. Totally unnecessary but you live and learn. Thanks for reading! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Screen Printing Educational Resource for Teachers, Students, Unemployed and Hobbyists Complete with Articles and Tutorial Videos

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Catspit Productions

There is a great tutorial and educational website dedicated to learning how to screen print tee shirts for fun or for profit. The website is accompanied by a YouTube channel and a blog which support and supplement the website articles.

Have you ever wanted to print your own tee shirts? Or have you wondered how your favorite T shirt was printed? Now you can get online and learn all about screenprinting tee shirts as a hobby at home or for profit. You could learn how to set up a screen print shop in your garage and make extra money while still working a job.

Jonathan Monaco, owner of Catspit Productions, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona started this educational website in late 2009. He also makes screen printing tutorial videos for the Catspit YouTube channel. Jonathan literally writes and creates all of the content for the website, blog and YouTube channel.

The screenprinting educational website he created offers a wide variety of material on the subject including but not limited to articles, web reviews with links, tips or advice, and tutorial videos. The website also provides many other services including artwork conversions, custom screen printing and discount promo codes for supplies.

Jonathan’s involvement in screen printing actually started when he was 11 years old when he printed his first shirts with his uncle in the basement. They used a handmade, wooden, table top press built by his uncle. Jonathan’s family has been deeply involved in different aspects of the screen printing industry since before he was born.

This is an excellent resource for beginners, intermediates and even professionals. Learning how to screen print tee shirts is fun and easy with this online tutorial website dedicated to screenprinting. The tutorial videos are very entertaining to watch for learning purposes or just curiosity.

Contact:

Jonathan Monaco

Catspit Productions, LLC

http://catspitproductionsllc.com/

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Discount Promo Codes For Screen Printing Supplies

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Catspit Productions

That’s right! Now there’s a screen printing tutorial website that not only teaches you how to screen print by way of great articles and videos but also gives you access to internet promo codes for discounts on screenprinting supplies and even some equipment. Make sure to stop by http://catspitproductionsllc.com to check out all of the readily available free information about how to screenprint tee shirts for fun or for profit. This is not a website just designed to sell you screen printing products but rather an educational and tutorial website that asks for nothing in return. You can visit the website and learn all about how to screen print tee shirts at home or as a professional. You can also peruse the great offers and services available all without having to sign up for anything or even leaving an email address. Check out some of the great discounts from the Catspit Productions website:

Saati Express offers screen printing chemicals for many different phases of the process. Their screen making chemicals are superior in formula and function. Saati avoids any use of toxic chemicals such as NMP & methylene chloride, HAPS, phthalates and heavy metals, to ensure RoHS compliance. Saati products are biodegradable and drain-safe when used according to instructions published in the Saatichem product Technical Data Sheets. Continental US sales only, (excludes AK and HI). Visit our Saati Express page and see the recommended products. You can now purchase Saati products featured in the YouTube videos with a 5% discount when you use code: catspit

Saati Express will give you free shipping and the 5% discount. Make sure to enter code: catspit when you check out.

Integrity Print Supply offers a wide variety of screen printing supplies and accessories. They carry such brands as M&R Equipment, Sprayway, Tekmar, Excalibur Inks and Saatichem. IPS also sells pre cut squeegee in wood handles, scoop coaters, pre-stretched screens and much more. Please take the time to explore their ecommerce website for all of the great screen printing supplies available for purchase with a Catspit discount! Use code Catspit1 on your first order for a onetime 15% discount and anytime you return you can enter code Catspit for a 5% discount! Continental United States, Canada and Mexico sales only, (excludes AK and HI). Discount does not apply to major equipment.

Enter code: Catspit1 on your first order at checkout for a onetime 15% discount!!

Enter code: Catspit on subsequent orders at checkout for a 5% discount anytime!!

RhinoTech offers chemicals and equipment including RhinoClean™ Green² ™ Products that work hard to reduce our industry’s carbon footprint with durable, biodegradable, and no-waste products. These include: mesh prep, screen wash/ink degradent, press wash, stencil remover, and hand cleaner. USA-built RhinoClean screen printing equipment includes Solvent Recirculation, Screen Drying and Screen Stretching systems enabling space saving and economy. Back-lit Washout Booths offer a no splash-back system to afford efficient use of water resources. RhinoTech also offers the revolutionary dry stencil system called RhinoScreen. Eliminate emulsion, film, chemicals, and the need for an exposure unit or a washout booth. Get 5% off your order when you use code Catspit511 at checkout. All discount offers are exclusive to Catspit Productions and the appropriate Catspit code must be used to receive it. Continental US sales only, (excludes AK and HI).

RhinoTech will give you a 5% discount plus free shipping on orders over $50. Make sure to use code Catspit511 when you check out.

Enter code Catspit511 at checkout for a 5% discount!!

All of these great offers are available on the Catspit Productions website. Please visit the Print Supplies page for more details and the complete vendor listing including recommended products for screen printing tee shirts. Save 5% or more on your next online order for screenprinting supplies:

http://catspitproductionsllc.com/screenprintingsupplies.aspx

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

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RhinoTech Screenprinting Supplies & Equipment

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Catspit Productions

I’m very happy to announce the addition of RhinoTech to the Catspit Productions Print Supplies page of the website. Most all of the vendors on the Print Supply page offer a 5% discount when you use the appropriate Catspit promo code. RhinoTech offers chemicals and equipment including RhinoClean™ Green² ™ products that work hard to reduce our industry’s carbon footprint with durable, biodegradable, and no-waste products. These include: mesh prep, screen wash/ink degradent, press wash, stencil remover, and hand cleaner.

RhinoTech also manufactures American built RhinoClean screen printing equipment which includes Solvent Recirculation, Screen Drying and Screen Stretching systems enabling space saving and economy. They also sell back-lit washout booths which offer a no splash-back system to afford efficient use of water resources.

And RhinoTech offers the revolutionary dry stencil system called RhinoScreen. Eliminate emulsion, film, chemicals, and the need for an exposure unit or a washout booth. This could be the single most important technological breakthrough for home based screen printers. This process also lends itself to professional and commercial applications where time and labor may be reduced on screen making. It’s a great way to offer a 1 color, 1 off process for that demanding customer who only wants one shirt too!

Make sure to visit the Catspit Productions Print Supply page to see all of the vendors listed and their discount offers. So far we have Saati, Integrity Print Supply, and now RhinoTech. You can also find screenprinting products from Amazon.com for the hobbyist and non commercial home printer.

Catspit Productions; your source for easy to read educational material about screen printing AND promo codes for discounts on screenprinting supplies and more!! Visit today! – http://catspitproductionsllc.com

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Screen Printing Tee Shirts & Customer Satisfaction

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Printing is one of those industries that is riddled with job variables that can cause problems with customer satisfaction. Not only is your print work critical to customer happiness but so is the pre press set up and everything else involved with the job. As a manual screen printer who does every part of the job himself by hand, I often am very disappointed in myself when a customer expresses dissatisfaction with a print job. Because I take so much pride in my work and my reputation, I can take it very hard when someone is not pleased with my work. And as hard as I try, there will always be those who are just not happy. Here are a few tips I have learned over the years you can use to help you avoid unsatisfied customers.

The first and foremost important thing to do with your customer is communicate. Never assume that the person will be fine with any minor changes or substitutions in garments. Make sure to walk your customer through the entire process to be sure they understand what they need to provide you for artwork. Be upfront about costs and charges for anything related to their print job. Women, especially need to be comforted and put at ease with any part of the process they do not understand. Always be patient with your customers and give extra attention to females.

Next it is very important to be on the same page with your customer in relation to artwork. I never have any artwork approved by email. I always bring a print out that is to size for them to look at and approve. Make sure you ask them verbally if the spelling and information being printed on the garment is correct. It is always good to point out that the print proof is exactly what will print on the garment to size. That helps the customer put a little more attention to examining the artwork. Many screen printers make the customer sign off on artwork prior to printing. But in the end if there is a problem with the job it will benefit you to fix it at your cost. That’s right, even if the customer approved the artwork and it was incorrect. A happy customer is worth more than the bottom line on the invoice!

Another point to keep in mind with male and female customers is that the female customer will tend to be more picky when it comes to the actual garment they purchase. Men tend to purchase men’s shirts and they pretty much know what to expect. Even when men purchase more complex garments they often are less likely to have a problem with the products they chose due to style or fit. Women on the other hand will tend to buy more expensive women’s cut garments. And they have higher expectations for the garment than men. This is rightfully so because women’s shirts always cost much more than the men’s due to fabric, stitching, cuts and so on. Therefore it can be critical when working with women that you have samples of the ladies products you will be selling. If you let them pick it out of a catalogue using only a picture as a guide, you may be heading for trouble.

Finally I will give some advice on rush jobs. When in doubt, don’t take the rush job. If you aren’t sure you can meet the needs and expectations of your customer in a hurry, then it will be more beneficial to you to be honest and pass on the job. This is one of those things where printers will think they are doing the customer a favor by taking a rush job and when something goes wrong, the printer is upset that the customer is upset when they were only trying to help. You have to understand that the customer doesn’t really think you are helping any extra or doing any favors. And really you aren’t because you will get paid for the job just like any other. The rushing of the print job is just a part of your customer service. So don’t get your feelings hurt when you deliver a rush job and the customer treats it like nothing….  LOL.

Like I said before the bottom line is that a happy customer is worth so much more than the print job you are working on with them. So in the end it will behoove you to fix errors at your cost no matter who may be responsible for them. And if you are a manual printer like me who is very close to all the work you do, try not to take it too hard when a customer expresses dissatisfaction. Just turn that around by taking care of the problem and making your customer very happy that you did. Remember, word of mouth is one of the most effective marketing tools for local screen printers.

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

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New Screen Printing Video: Welcome To The New Shop

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Finally the long awaited video featuring the new Catspit screen printing shop. It was tough there for a while to keep things alive while I searched for a new place to print jobs and make videos for the Catspit YouTube channel. I even had a difficult time learning how to render HD videos with the new Sony camera due to a glitch between Sony Vegas and Vista. At least that’s what I think it was…. anyway after having to completely reequip the shop and moving to a new, smaller location, I have reassembled the screenprinting shop.  I am ready to make new educational and tutorial screen printing videos.

The first of such uploaded early this morning or late yesterday which is what it was for me. It’s the first video over 10 minutes and it didn’t want to upload the first time. Even still I am experiencing a bug with my video settings on all of my videos it seems. This extra long video is transitional in that we start out in the old Catspit shop, or what’s left of it, and we introduce you to the new Catspit screen printing shop. The video is called, “4 Or 6 Color Upgradable Screen Printing Press”.  It’s named aptly because in the video we look at the old 6 color, 1 station press used in all of the past videos which is made by RANAR and we learn about its upgradability. Here you get to see the press as a 6/1 and then as a 6/6. And of course you get to see a nice shot of the new shop! Thanks to RANAR for helping out with all the details to equip the new shop.

So welcome to the new Catspit Productions screen printing shop. I appreciate your taking the time to visit my educational services about screenprinting online. I hope you all enjoy my latest efforts. Thanks for reading. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Screen Printing: Understanding Emulsions & Stencil Exposure

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Catspit Productions

If you are looking for technical tips and instructions about optimizing your exposure for direct liquid emulsion stencils then you should have a look at this great article by Ross Balfour of SaatiPrint. This is an older article but it has a lot of information packed into it from one of the leading screenprinting chemical and mesh manufactures in the industry. This article is very technical but it also has a decent amount of information that is easily read and understood by anyone with good reading comprehension.

SaatiPrintCheck out this excerpt from the article: “Up front, I have to admit that my motives for writing this article are purely selfish. As someone who toils daily in the manufacture of stencil systems, it is in my best interests to ensure that anyone who makes screens for a living is highly trained, knowledgeable, and best of all, qualified to troubleshoot problems. So, the aim of this article is to focus on some key variables that affect the correct exposure of direct emulsions and capillary films and to explain their influence. Then we will consider how to best evaluate optimum exposure for the different types of formulation that are used to manufacture these stencil systems. Finally we will touch upon some of the more practical aspects that are involved with producing quality screens on a daily basis.”

The article is called, “Understanding Emulsions and Stencil Exposure”. The article is located HERE.

This is the last of the five articles provided by SaatiPrint for the Catspit website. These articles appear on the Article Archive section of the Catspit website. These articles appear on the Catspit website courtesy of Saati and have been published previously. © SaatiPrint. Please make sure to visit the Print Supplies page to view the products offered by Saatchem.

I hope you all enjoy this new addition to the Catspit website. I hope to continue to work with Saati in the future to bring you more educational materials about screen printing tee shirts and other products. Please stay up to date with article releases and more by subscribing to the RSS feed of this blog.

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

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How To Screen Print: Tips On Good Ink Coverage

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Catspit Productions

As I prepare myself today to make the first new manual screen printing video from the new Catspit shop, I can’t help but think about where we started. When I first started making how to screen print videos for YouTube, I was working from a large warehouse with a few friends and colleagues in the industry. It was really cool to work in such a big space and have access to equipment and supplies to make the videos that I would have otherwise not have had access to. But as time moved on I found the restrictions and barriers of working in the cooperative situation to be too limiting.

Many of the older videos made in this situation were done very spontaneously. But as a result of not having full control over the shop environment, we would make videos in any place of the shop that seemed to be good for a video. In the video called “How To Screen Print: Tips On Good Ink Coverage” I simply used the only table I had at the time to work on. Here you can see parts of the shop that were never intended to be shown and it adds a bit of haphazardness to the look of the video. But in he end the video turned out to be packed with great information on how to get great ink coverage when screen printing tee shirts. It’s funny because this was the point at which I thought I could add annotations when I produced the video in Windows Movie Maker. But much to my dismay every time I uploaded such an attempt, like this video, the text annotations looked very bad and were almost unreadable. I never really figured out why the video itself would look fine but the upload seemed to ruin the text graphics. Therefore I began using the YouTube annotation system exclusively to add important information to my videos that I forgot to mention or maybe didn’t clearly explain. And of course I use the annotations to correct mistakes which I make often due to the fact that the videos are unscripted.

Now that I am uploading in HD I may return to investigate the text graphics and how they upload to YouTube in HD format. Maybe they will render much better but that is a project for another time. Right now I have to get going over to the old cooperative shop to shoot the transitional portion of the latest manual screen printing video. This video will bring us to the new Catspit shop with all the new RANAR equipment. I am really excited to be making new screenprinting videos in a shop that is all my own. Now we can get serious!

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

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