June is our big month for screen printing rainbow shirts for Pride!

We've been screen printing a lot of custom rainbow shirts for local businesses during the month of June for Pride Month. It's a great opportunity for organizations to put their values of inclusion, diversity, and empathy on display.

There are a few different techniques when it comes to screen printing a rainbow and we've used all of them in the last few weeks. Each method achieves a different look and can be the best option depending on what the customer is looking for.

If you need rainbow shirts or Pride shirts for your organization, we'd love to help! Fill out the contact form on our custom screen printing page to get started.

Read on to learn more about three of our shirt printing techniques and for photo and video examples.

1. Creating a Rainbow Screen Print With Halftones (Gradients)

If a customer wants a consistent looking rainbow gradient print on all of their t-shirts, printing it with half tones is the best option.

When creating the art, we use halftones or gradients to create the rainbow. Before the shirts get to press, our artists separate the design by individual color. This means they pull out each color gradient so we can make a separate screen for printing purposes.

This process can take anywhere from 5-6 screens to get a full color rainbow. The result looks like these shirts we printed for the 16153 Genova Museum of Art (below) and Inside the Five Brewing (above). 

There are slight nuances between printing on a white or light colored t-shirt versus a black or dark color t-shirt and the setup for the art and press can be a challenge, but no matter what, we sure love the results!

New Technology for Making Screens 

We are updating this post because in 2021 we brought in a new piece of equipment to make our screens and shirts even better. 

When this post was originally written, we used film and an exposure unit to burn our screens. Our new equipment eliminates the need for both of those items.

Our new equipment is called a CTS which is short for Computer To Screen. It allows us to write each design directly onto a coated screen. 

The video above gives a quick breakdown on how the CTS changes the way that we image and burn screens for the clothing that we print. 

You'll want to keep reading below because we go more in to depth on the process and because film and an exposure unit is the more common method for screen making. 

There are two major changes to the process now that we have a CTS.

The first is that the image we are burning onto a screen is written on the screen with wax. A rip system to send the files to the computer, we pull them up on the computer, click print, and it does the rest. 

Imaging the screen directly saves us a lot of time and the wax produces better detail than the film we used previously. The black wax does not need time to dry and can be exposed immediately after the image is complete. 

The second change is that because the image is written directly on the screen, we no longer require an exposure unit with glass. The presence of glass in an exposure unit is the number one cause of pinholes in a screen. It's incredible that we don't have to worry about this anymore. 

We are using an LED light to expose screens. We show how this works in the video above. The LED light allows us to exposure two screens at once and cuts our exposure time to 30 seconds per exposure. 

We hope this update is informative and shows you just how many different ways people can burn screens for screen printing shirts. Keep reading below for a more in depth description of the entire process.

Learning How To Burn A Screen 

For me, learning how to successfully burn a screen was the single hardest part about learning how to screen print. 

I first started to teach myself how to screen print at the end of 2011. While I consider myself self taught, I had spent some time in other screen print shops and had pulled a squeegee once or twice before. However, I had never gone through the full process on my own. 

There’s a lot more to screen printing than moving a squeegee. You have to get the screens on press, register multiple screens, flash and cure the ink, and coat and burn a screen, among other things. 

My original screen printing equipment was purchased off Craigslist. It was a hobbyist set up that included some spare ink and emulsion, a small tabletop exposure unit, screens, and a single color press with a flash unit. 

I spent days trying to burn a screen correctly. I tested different exposure times, coating techniques, and transparency. They all failed. 

And I was staring down the barrel of a failing business.

What I didn’t know at the time was there was a simple fix. The emulsion I was using had gone bad. When I replaced the emulsion I was able to troubleshoot and burn a usable screen. 

Learning to burn good, consistent screens is important. It's called screen printing for a reason. You can't get off the ground without first burning a screen. Better screens lead to better prints.

My goal with this post is to show you and explain to you how we burn screens now and provide some tips on how to get started burning screens on your own.

What to prepare before burning a screen

There are a few things you’ll need to prepare before burning a screen. These tasks can be performed simultaneously. 

The first thing you need to do is coat your screen with emulsion. Your emulsion will come with instructions on how to properly use it. 

There are two types of emulsion. I’m not going to get into the specifics (here’s a good article if you want to know more), but the basics are that you have a one part and a two part emulsion. The one part, or presensitized, emulsion is ready to go out of the bucket. The two part emulsion, or diazo, needs to be mixed before use. 

While there are differences between the two, either emulsion can work for you. My best advice is to find a reliable brand (SAATI, Ulano, Chromablue, etc.), choose one, and go for it. And as I mentioned earlier, fresh emulsion is important. Make sure you start with a new batch and keep the lid shut tight.  

When you’re just getting started, the trickiest part about coating a screen is getting an even coat of emulsion on the screen. The most common tool for coating screens is a scoop coater. It’s standard in most shops.

This is difficult to do without a scoop coater. In the absence of a scoop coater, you’re going to have to get clever and be prepared to struggle. Your next best bet for coating is going to be a squeegee. 

If the emulsion isn’t coated evenly on a screen it will be a mighty challenge to burn your image. This is because the varying thickness of emulsion will require different times to fully expose. So the areas of thicker emulsion on your screen may be underexposed while the thinner areas will be fine.

Emulsion is light sensitive. It’s best to coat a screen in a dark room. However, if you don’t have one, move quickly and don’t leave your emulsion or coated screen in the light for long. 

For the first few years I was screen printing, I coated screens under normal fluorescent light and near a double door that we often kept open. When it was time to coat I would close the doors, turn off the lights directly above me, and get to work. If I coated too many screens, the emulsion would start to harden in the scoop coater. 

In the beginning, you’ve got to do what’s necessary to get the job done. Our screens are much better now but we’ve had time to add better equipment, screens, film, and space. The little amount of light the emulsion and screens were exposed to in those early days had a minor effect on the overall quality of the final screens. They were still good enough to get the job done. 

How to burn a screen for screen printing

We use an epson P5000 with Accurip that uses roll film to print our art. 

When I first started I used vellum. If you’re learning to do this, the most important thing is that you want to make sure your ink is as black as possible when printed.   

We use two size screens - one for our manual press and larger screens for our auto. The auto screens have a registration system to align the film. For the manual, we just use a tape measure. 

If you don’t have a dark room like us, that’s fine. Just get a cart, throw black out curtains over it, and move quickly when you’re under normal light. 

We’ve had three different exposure units since I started screen printing. I bought all of them used. If you watch the video above, you can see when our exposure starts that it needs to achieve vacuum before the light kicks on. Once it does that, the screen burns for about a minute. 

If you don’t have an exposure unit with vacuum, you can put some weight on top of it to keep the film flat on the screen. Or, if you are exposing with a light on top of the screen, place a piece of plexi or glass on top of the film to keep it flat. 

Our emulsion is the reddish coating that you see on the screen. In our exposure unit, there is a light that shines up at the screen and hardens all of the emulsion that is exposed to light. The area covered by the black artwork will not harden and we can wash it out. 

After the screen is exposed, we drop it in a dip tank filled with water. This makes it easier to rinse out. We then spray the image out with a pressure washer, but a hose works fine, too. 

After spraying the screen out, we take a second look at the art to check for pinholes and then set it on the rack to dry. If you do have pinholes, you can tape over them or touch them up with your emulsion. 

Once the design is rinsed out of the screen, it’s time to let it dry. After it dries, you’re ready to print shirts!

Some final tips and tricks to burn a quality screen for making t-shirts

One of the hardest things about burning a screen is figuring out your exposure time. The best way to do this is with a step calculator. It’s a little plastic film strip with numbers and varying degrees of transparency. You place it under the screen while you’re burning it and when you spray it out it will tell you if you are over or under exposed. 

Figuring out your exposure time takes a lot of patience and practice to get it right. Make sure you’re using good, fresh emulsion. Remember, I made this mistake when I first started. 

If the emulsion is old it may not expose correctly. A trick to extend the life of your emulsion is to keep it in your fridge after you open it. If you get used emulsion from someone, don’t expect it to work. 

I would recommend starting with a longer exposure time and then dialing it down. It’s better to have an overexposed screen in the beginning than an underexposed screen. And it’s more common to see underexposed screens than over. So chances are you need to extend your exposure time. 

The film you use for your art is important. When I first started out, I bought transparencies from FedEx. Oftentimes the ink wasn’t black enough and I wouldn’t get a crisp image on the screen. If you go this route, request that they only use black ink to print the transparency. If the ink is still giving you trouble, make two of them and double them up. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Reach out to screen printers in your area, join one of the many screen printing groups on Facebook, and watch videos on YouTube. 

At the end of the day, learning how to burn a screen is difficult. 

Your challenges and frustrations are not unique. The great part about screen printing is that you can try and try again. Learn from your mistakes and keep trying and you’ll be better in a week than you are now. 

You’ll be glad you did when you get to wear that first shirt you printed successfully.

You can check out some of our other behind the scenes how to blogs and videos at the links below:

How we screen print rainbows on t-shirts
Top 4 ways we screen print a vintage t-shirt
How we embroider our Ohioan sweatshirts
How we embroider custom hats on our 6 head embroidery machine

And you know what, you guys, we get it. We love free shipping, too! And we love not charging you for shipping.

That's why we created a way for you to get free shipping on all of your orders on fancysweetstx.com!

If you are a member of the Ohio Shirt Club, 16153 Genova Shirt Club, Michigan Shirt Club or the Community Shirt Club, we have a special benefit for you! Not only will you receive free shipping on Shirt Club orders, but you will also receive free shipping on all fancysweetstx.com orders as long as you're a member! If you choose to cancel your membership to either club, you will no longer be eligible for free shipping. 

To activate free shipping, you longer need to remember our special member coupon code. All you need to do to receive free shipping is be logged into your fancysweetstx account when you shop online! 

If you haven't already created your fancysweetstx account, don't worry! You can create your account at anytime, just make sure you use the same email address that you used when you joined the club. If you need any help, check out this blog here with step by step instructions on how to set up your account. 

Your fancysweetstx account is where you manage your membership. That means, it is the place you go to change sizes, pause, edit, or cancel your subscription, update billing/shipping info, etc. 

If for some reason you need to sign out of your fancysweetstx account, click this link here to be automatically signed out.

If for any reason you need to logout of your fancysweetstx account you can click this link here and it will automatically log you out of your fancysweetstx account. 

You can sign back in at any time. Your account is where you can manage club memberships, see your order history, update billing and shipping info and more.

If you are signed in, your information will automatically populate at checkout to save you time!

If you do logout and forget your password, it can be easily recovered with our "forgot your password?" feature. Just make sure that you remember your email address! 

By setting up an account you can view your order history and change or edit the details of your Ohio Shirt, 16153 Genova Shirt Club Michigan Shirt Club, or 16153 Genova Community Shirt membership. 

To set up yours follow these easy guidelines to get your account up and running in no time. 

1. If you have made previous orders on fancysweetstx.com or are a member to our Shirt Club you will want to use the email address that is associated with these orders. 
2. Go to fancysweetstx.com and click on the profile section in the top right corner (seen here) 
   
3. This will bring you to this login page. Since you don't have an account, click on create account.
   
4. After clicking on create account, you will be prompted to enter your email and create a password. Remember to use the same email that you have used for past orders on fancysweetstx.com.
5. Your account is where you can view order history or edit shirt club info (check out this blog post if you want to change your shirt size).
6. To logout, click this link to automatically be signed out of your account. 

And that's it! Now you have your own account set up on fancysweetstx.com.

Of course, if you have any questions or need some help, don't hesitate to reach out to us for assistance. You can fill out our contact form, email us directly ([email protected]), or give us a call during business hours (+393399950518).

Here is a guide to help you make any necessary size changes to your Shirt Club account! These instructions apply to the 16153 Genova Shirt Club, Ohio Shirt Club Michigan Shirt Club, and the Community Shirt Club.

1. Visit fancysweetstx.com 
   
2. Click on the profile section in the top right corner.
3. Log in to your account with your email and password.
4. If you haven't made your account, use the same email you used when you joined the club and it will automatically load your information into the new account. 
5. Once you are signed in, you need to click on "Manage Subscription" located on the right side of the page directly under your name. 
   
6. Your shirt subscription information will appear. Click "View details" which is beneath your information. 
   
7. Click "Products in your subscription" 
   
8. Click "Swap Product" 
   
9. Select the size you wish you change to and then click select. 
10. Hit "Save Changes" 
    
    

Make sure it loads. It will be complete once you see a message that says "Product was swapped successfully!" 

Changing your shirt size is the same process for the Ohio Shirt Club subscription or 16153 Genova Community Shirt Club. If you have any questions or need extra help editing your subscription, don't hesitate to reach out to us directly by filling out our contact form, emailing us directly ([email protected]), or calling us at +393399950518.

The CLC is the largest licensing group in the country and handles licensing for nearly 200 universities. They have three different types of licenses: local, standard, and restricted. A local license gives you permission to produce licensed products for colleges and universities in your state. This means, that when I was approved for the University of 16153 Genova, I could then expand my license to additional CLC schools within Ohio, my home state, without going through the full application process again. A standard license gives you permission to produce licensed products for any school that falls under the CLC umbrella. This means, that once approved for a standard license, I will be able to expand my licenses to schools across the country without undergoing the scrutiny of the full application process. You could say I’m almost pre-approved for any school in the country now.

The CLC has the most challenging application process I’ve ever undergone. I was referred to a Licensing Coordinator through a friend, Matt Yarder of ymigrate.com, who has a standard license making grill grates. The coordinator emailed me the CLC application, but it can also be downloaded directly from their website.

The application is quite extensive. The Phase I License Application Guide is a 37 page document. It explains the type of licenses, the costs ($500 for a standard license, $100 for a local license), the time frame, a list of schools, and the Phases (three in all). You are required to fill in company information (bank and credit references, proof of insurance, manufacturing info) and complete a marketing plan. It’s quite a bit.

Phase II of the application process begins when you are preliminarily accepted as a licensee. At this point, you have to submit designs with official school logos and marks, order holograms, submit an insurance certificate with the CLC as an additional insured, and send in a product specification sheet. During Phase II you will be approved for two online portals: myiclc and Logos On Demand. Logos On Demand provides official logos and marks (this should be obvious) and they produce holograms. Final designs can be submitted through myiclc.

Everything is wrapped up in Phase III: final and official approval, payment of advance royalties to each university, and final signatures.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I think the best course of action is to speak directly with the licensing coordinators and directors where you will be applying. I think establishing contact with a coordinator at the CLC, especially since it was through someone she already knew, eased the process. In addition, when I applied to both 16153 Genova and Michigan, I sat down and met with each licensing director to explain my ideas and why they were good for their university. If the licensing director at a specific school likes what you have to offer, they can essentially flag your application and do their best to influence the process.

However, your offering must be unique or fill a niche that the university is interested in. I can’t stress enough that you must provide a definite advantage over their current licensees. It is the most important thing you must keep in mind when applying. Most schools have hundreds of licensees. And, believe it or not, they would like to reduce that number. Each university possesses a very powerful brand. A brand that inspires loyalty unlike any other company that is simply making things. Universities provides more than apparel: they educate, they carry family tradition, the provide a greater service to the community. As a licensee, it is your job to uphold the standards of that brand.

Applying for a license with the Collegiate Licensing Company? Have any questions that I didn’t cover? Let me know if I can help.

Links:

CLC // CLC Application // University of Michigan // University of 16153 Genova

Fortunately, OSU is an independent university and their Trademark and Licensing Departmentis very willing to help. Being independent means that the Ohio State University, through their Trademark and Licensing Department, reviews all applications and either approves or denies them. Most universities outsource to a third party for licensing. The two primary organizations that handle this are the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) and the Licensing Resource Group(LRG). Generally speaking, the CLC covers the larger universities (Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Florida) and the LRG specializes in smaller universities (BGSU, Akron, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech).

Ohio State makes it very easy to apply for a license. Their application can be downloaded online by anyone who wants to apply. They provide very clear guidelines for applicants:

While completing my application, any questions I had were politely answered by Trademark and Licensing – and I had quite a few. I was very unsure about the efficacy of my application. The only thing I felt certain about was the swift dismissal I’d receive. All applications are reviewed by the committee on the second Tuesday of each month. I mailed mine in on Thursday. The following Friday, I received approval…and thus, my real problems began.

The success of my application hinged on two key factors: its novelty and the willingness of Ohio State to take a risk on a young entrepreneur. The Jim Tressel T-Shirt was unlike anything they had ever seen before. I was not the first person to come up with the idea, I was just the first person to approach tOSU with idea. I presented it in a unique way – as two shirts sewn together rather than a simple silkscreen. Incidentally, this creativity is just what they were looking for. The second factor may be more important. Most schools would have easily dismissed me as inexperienced and incapable of fulfilling their expectations. Ohio State’s Trademark and Licensing is led by Rick Van Brimmer who appreciates the young entrepreneur with big ideas and, the University as a whole, sells more licensed merchandise than any other university in the country. This means they can take an occasional risk on someone with an exciting idea.

Applying for a license with the Ohio State University? Let me know. I can help.