The Case For a 4 Color 4 Station Press for Startups

Posted by Jason Cabaniss - Outside Sales on 3/23/2016

If you are just starting out in screen printing, the choice of screen printing equipment available can be overwhelming, but a good 4 color-4 station press will likely prove to be a worthwhile investment for you.

It is the age old argument - you want to buy the best and most versatile and feature-rich screen printing equipment that you can, but when you are just starting out you often must stretch whatever budget you have across multiple pieces of equipment needed to get your shop up and running.  A 4 color-4 station press (Ill call it a 4-4 in this article for brevity) makes an excellent choice for a starter screen printing press for several reasons, and here are a few.  

For most screen printing businesses, athletic seasons are the busiest time of the year as printing athletic apparel represents the better part of their livelihood.  A 4-4 press is almost ideal for most athletic printing jobs because the vast majority of team jerseys across most sports will use a 1 or 2-color front and a 1 or 2-color back.  Assuming the latter (a 2 color front and back), a 4-4 press will allow all needed screens and stations to complete the entire jersey.  you can print-flash-print the front, run through the dryer to cure, then repeat the process for the back and you are done.  Once you get your registration and alignment correct you won't have to deal with it again through the completion of the job.  

As customers are charged more for each additional color, you may find that budget-minded customers prefer a simple 1 or 2-color print job (front or front and back).  Again, the entire job can be completed on this screen printing press.

companies like Vastex offer a variety of 4-4 presses in both tabletop and freestanding models

But what if the job is bigger?  Well, a 4-4 screen printing press is obviously plenty of press for a 4-color process print job, just set one station up for each layer of the print.  With this technique you are not really limited at all to any amount of colors - use the four color process printing technique and achieve nearly photo-quality results.  

Best of all the 4-4 press is affordable and selection is plentiful.  You will find presses at Texsource available from industry leading manufacturers like Workhorse, Vastex, BBC, Brown, and Genesis equipment companies, all featuring their own feature set to cater to your specific needs.  If financing is an issue, Texsource can help you there too.  We offer screen printing equipment financing for many equipment purchases for qualified buyers.  And with your equipment purchase you always get the service that Texsource is known for - the best service in the industry with the most experiences sales and support staff.  

When you are ready and considering purchasing a new screen printing press, contact us and let us talk shop with you!