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Help.ScreenPrinting.com is where printers can conveniently find their answers to frequently asked questions in the screen printing industry. 

ScreenPrinting.com FAQ & Help Center

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What should I do if I sent my order to the wrong address?

What is a freight forwarder?

Are you able to ship internationally?

What's a lift gate and do I need one?

What do I do when it arrives?

Shipping & Tracking

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I was charged tax and I'm a business. Can you refund the tax I paid on the last order?

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I purchased the Riley Hopkins Lee Stuart Combo. How do I schedule the coaching session with Lee Stuart?

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What do I need to start up a screen printing shop?

How do I pick the right screen printing press?

How to Screen Print T-Shirts

Which exposure unit is best for a beginner?

New Screen Printer Questions

How do I pick the right mesh count for my design?

What mesh count should I use for halftones?

What's the difference between thin thread and standard thread?

What's considered good mesh tension?

Why do screens need to have good mesh tension?

How do you install the mesh on Eco Frames?

What size squeegee and scoop coater should I use?

Screen Mesh Questions

What’s the difference between over and under exposure and why is that important?

What do I look for when getting an exposure unit?

I'm a startup, DIY printer, what do you recommend for a light source?

Which emulsion should I use?

What's the difference between Baselayr Complete and Cryocoat emulsion?

Why can't I burn my screens correctly?

How do I figure out exposure times?

How dry does a darkroom need to be?

How do I make my darkroom dry?

Why do I need a dehumidifier?

What's a hygrometer?

How long do screens need to dry?

How do I dry a newly coated screen?

What's the best way to rinse out a screen?

Do I need to have a pressure washer?

How long does it take for a screen to dry in the Screen Room Drying Cabinet?

Is a dunk tank worth it?

How do you use a dunk tank?

How do you reclaim screens?

How can I prevent pinholes and fisheyes?

What are fisheyes and pinholes?

How do you fix a pinhole?

How do you align films on a screen without a template?

How do you coat a screen with emulsion?

What does the round and sharp edges on a scoop coater do?

What's the best way to make a screen for water-based printing?

What's the difference between Supreme Wash and Ink Degrader?

How do you clean water-based ink off screens?

How do you clean plastisol ink off screens?

Is there a proper way to dispose of screen printing waste?

How does Sgreen® Stuff work?

My print shop is in my home. How do I make an optimal darkroom in the space I have?

Darkroom: Coating, Drying, Exposing, Reclaiming

Why do I need a film output inkjet printer?

What type of printer do I need to look for for film output?

What RIP software should I get?

How do I install ImagePrint?

How do I use ImagePrint?

What's the difference between Econo Film and Rite Film?

RIP, Film, Printers

What pallet adhesive should I use?

How do you use water-based pallet adhesive?

Pallet Adhesive Questions

Why is my print fuzzy?

How do I make my prints smooth like the shirts I see in retail?

How much off-contact do I need?

How do I achieve a tone-on-tone or tonal print?

Should I push or pull a squeegee?

What's squeegee blade durometer and what are the uses for each?

What squeegee should I use for hoodies and sweatpants?

Someone told me I should use a hard squeegee for fleece. Why isn't that the case?

How do I do CMYK printing?

How do I make a print look vintage?

On Press Questions

Why does the ink look faded/dull after washing?

Why is ink falling off the shirt during the wash test?

How do you cure water-based ink?

How do you cure water-based ink without forced air equipment?

Why is the ink cracking when I do a stretch test?

Why is the ink showing cracks after washing it?

What does undercured ink look like?

How do you cure plastisol ink with a flash dryer?

I'm using a flash dryer to cure ink. Why is the ink cracking?

Can you over-cure plastisol ink?

Curing Questions

What's the difference between water-based ink and plastisol ink?

I'm new to screen printing. Which ink should I start off with?

Why is white ink so difficult to print?

How many prints can I get with a quart or gallon of ink?

I just got ink and it seems to have separated. Is the ink bad?

What's the difference between FN-INK™ and Wilflex Epic (formerly known as Lava)?

What's the difference between an ink base and an ink additive?

What do I need for an ink mixing system?

Where do I find the ink mixing system software?

I want to print with discharge ink. What do I need and how do I do it?

What is color shift and why does it change the color of my inks?

Ink Questions

Which flash will work with my power?

What's the difference between the Riley Hopkins 250 and Riley Jr. Press?

Which press should I get?

Do I need an exhaust fan for my conveyor?

How do I assemble a Riley Hopkins 250 Press?

How do I assemble a Riley Hopkins 150 Press?

What's the difference between a vacuum lid and a compression lid?

Why is LED the best for exposure units?

What's a single point light source?

What does a filtration system do?

Who should use a filtration system?

What's the difference between XY vs. XYZ micros?

What are the differences between the Riley Hopkins 250 Press vs. the 300?

Equipment Questions

Where can I learn more about using Adobe® Illustrator for screen printing?

How do I use image trace in Illustrator?

How do you do color separations in Illustrator?

How do I invert a design in Illustrator?

How do I make a color a Pantone color?

How do you separate blends and halftones?

How do you customize a design from a vector pack?

How do I create a new design without drawing?

Any tips for making a shop logo?

How do you make an underbase in Illustrator?

How can I learn more about using Procreate for screen printing?

What are gestures in Procreate?

How do you shade using brushes in Procreate?

Can you make a t-shirt design in Procreate?

What's the difference between CMYK, spot color, and simulated process?

What's the difference between raster and vector images?

What are halftones?

What's LPI (lines per inch)?

What's DPI (dot per inch)?

What does angle mean when regarding halftones?

What's dot gain?

Designing for Screen Printing

How does dye migration happen?

How can I stop dye migration or bleeding?

When do I know I need a dye blocker base?

How do I print on polyester with a blocker base?

I'm printing with a polyester white ink, do I still need a blocker?

Polyester & Dye Migration Questions

What's the difference between pneumatic and electric automatic presses?

What is zoning?

What do I need to consider about when looking at automatic presses?

When getting an automatic press, what else do I need to consider (equipment-wise)?

How do I know if I should get an automatic press or hire another screen printer?

How do I know when it's time to get an automatic press?

Screen Printing Automation Questions

Looking for the manual to assemble your new press, cart, flash, conveyor, or washout booth? You've come to the right place. Select the equipment brand and you'll discover your manual.

Whether you're thinking about going auto in pre-production, production, or post-production, you can find some of the answers to your questions here.

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