So once my paper was in position, I could turn on the vacuum to keep the paper still before printing.Īnother additional step was to fix a big sheet of acetate over the top of my printing paper, using a masking tape ‘hinge’ at one end. The beds at The Print Club have air holes in them like a hockey table, only they work the opposite in that they suck rather than blow. I lined up the guide under the screen and marked its position again.
This time, I placed my acetate positive over a test print I’d made during the first colour layer, so my paper position would be as close to perfect as possible.
#SEPARATION STUDIO 4 TUTORIAL REGISTRATION#
Once again, I set up my registration guide. The black layer was undoubtedly harder to lay down, but so much more satisfying. Right: The drying rack.īecause I was also done with the artwork on my screen, I used the pressure washer and a slightly stronger cleaning product to get all of the original emulsion off of the screen, ready for the next person to use. Remove your newly inked paper and place it onto a drying rack.Then place the squeegee in the ‘safe’ position, closest to the hinge (see below). Press down firmly with your arms straight and pull the ink evenly across the screen. Move the squeegee to the back side of the ink, ready to pull it back across the artwork.Lower the screen onto the paper (the screens are weighted so the raising/lowering is super-easy).With the screen still elevated, push the ink lightly over the screen, away from your body to coat the artwork.Coat the entire base of a squeegee, a slightly pliable plastic strip with a metal or wooden handle, by rubbing it around in the strip of ink.
Apply a thick strip of ink to the base of the screen, under the artwork with a palette knife, roughly three fingers width either side of where the ink will end up.Raise the screen up off the paper and hold it in place with your belly (or rest it on your belt buckle).I couldn’t think of a quick way to do this in Photoshop, so I painstakingly painted this in with the brush tool. With this in mind, I added an extra millimetre of pink to the edges of the first layer. Anywhere the black layer touched the pink, like the eyelids or around Laura’s head would need to be lined up utterly perfectly, otherwise white strips would show through. The black layer would be printed on top of the pink. If the registration is off by even a millimetre, meaning the colour layer on top of a previous layer isn’t lined up exactly, then parts of another colour, or even the white paper underneath can show through the cracks. One of the main reasons a piece might not be accepted is due to the mis-alignment of the colour layers. The Print Club has a poster show each year called Blisters, which has some seriously high standards for acceptance. We were also shown what can go wrong during the printing process. So last week I called in a belated Christmas present from my wife Laura and took a two-day screen printing course at The Print Club, London. I have at least four screen prints on the walls in my home, and I absolutely adore the styles that are possible using this very simple technique. But one method that I’ve always wanted to try is screen printing. There’s something quite therapeutic about spawning something tangible, over designing a webpage that you can only share on screen.ĭuring my time at this publishing company, I visited the print factory where the magazines were made, and learnt more about different printing techniques. When I could actually hold my designs in my hands, I found that I felt much more of a connection to my work, and I began to appreciate the finer details. I quickly realised how satisfying working in print can be. On the job, I picked up the basics of print design, largely by shadowing a colleague. I got my start in graphic design as a digital designer, working for the website arm of a magazine in London.