Showing posts with label screen printing equipment. Show all posts

Posted by Chelsea Chafin - webmaster on 1/19/2017
You may say to yourself, “I have been screen printing for years, why would I need to go to a 101 class?” However, to think that way is to do yourself a disservice. Many of us are more than familiar with being a jack of all trades, and in screen printing this would include the capability to mess with all the little tricks, whether it be a puff here and there, a discharge design, or even sublimation. But we know how the phrase ends, don’t we? “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.”

When it comes to the basics of screen printing, you do, in fact, want to be the master. You want to understand not only what customers may ask for, but how to accomplish any task. Say a customer walks in with a certain dark colored garment in mind with a bright design. You’re going to need to know how to create a white underbase at the lowest cost to you. Depending on the size of the design they want, it’s also good to know the mesh, ink, and fabric details.


Screen Printing 101 classes allow you to refresh on the fundamentals, which really comes in handy when you’re out learning the new stuff that continuously pops up (who was excited when silicone inks came out?). By consistently keeping yourself up to date on new (and most of the time, easier) ways of doing the basics, you could save yourself a lot of time to be able to focus on learning more risky techniques.

Let’s be honest, a lot of us are self-taught screen printers. We worked through trial and error time and again. We may have even researched and watched video after video trying to choose the way that we thought was best. It still may be, but seeing in person different ways and then being able to ask questions and have an open and honest discussion with other screen printers is vital to improving our skills.

For instance, we may all clean our screens differently. Maybe the easiest way for you to clean your screen is to slide on the heavy duty gloves and scrub it down. It may take a few hours, but it’s the way you’ve always done it, right? However, there are other options. More and more companies are coming out with ways to lower cleaning and reclaiming time. There are products like Easiway Chemicals’ Dip Tanks that use 2-in-1 chemicals to not only cut down on time but also on the effort you spend bent over your screens.

Tips like that and more are discussed during these classes and you’re encouraged to ask questions to understand fully instead of being forced into more trial and error. The point is, when it comes to classes, no one is working against you. We want you to be as successful as possible because in the end, it helps out everyone involved. It’s a win-win situation at its finest.

Not to mention, who doesn’t get frustrated when cure times are off? Wouldn’t you want to know why it’s happening to your exact machine in your exact situation instead of having to try all the different ways to fix it with no promises of the best outcome? That’s why actually talking with experts is so important. It’s not just how to screen print, it’s how to master screen printing. Be a master of your art in its most basic form, then mastery of its counterparts are sure to follow.
Posted by Chelsea Chafin - webmaster

 Purchasing a startup package can be very intimidating, but we want to make it easier on you. You may have inherited screen printing equipment (or an excess of ink) or have always had the desire to start your own business and finally have the means to do so. Fortunately, the packages are designed to give you a sense of what screen printing requires before you upgrade your equipment to better suit your needs.

When it comes to machinery, Texsource offers two brands of startup packages: Genesis Equipment and Vastex Equipment. In regards to your first package, it helps understanding on where you are both skill-level and knowledge-level as to which would be best.  

If you are completely new to screen printing, the Genesis beginning startup packages are the way to go. They give you a sample of everything you may need. Take for instance Package 01 which includes: (1) Genesis 1 Color / 1 Station Manual Screen Printing Press, (1) Heat Gun, (1) 500 Watt Halogen Exposure Unit, (1) Wood Frame 20 x 24 110 mesh, (1) TexMist can adhesive, (1) pint of Easiway Easi-strip, (1) pint of Easiway 701 screen wash, (1) pint of 842 press wipe, (1) pint of Tex-Blue emulsion, (1) pint of White Dream ink, (1) pint of Black Dream ink, (1) pint of red #10 ink, (1) roll of 2" blockout tape, (1) scoop 15", (1) ink spreader, (1) quart of Chem 901 blockout liquid, (1) scrub pad handle, white scrub pad, and red scrub pad, (5) stir sticks, (5) white pellons 14 x 16, and (5) black pellons 14 x 16.

Genesis Package 01

Before you get intimidated by all the products available, please note that it’s a good thing. The package is designed to give you a little taste of everything so you can decide what products you like and see where you may want to improve. Anxious about how to use some (or all) of the supplies? Texsource offers free admission to one of our Screen Printing 101 Classes (NC, GA, IN) with purchase of a Genesis package to eliminate some of the stress associated with starting a new business.

Understanding these products becomes useful for future purchases as well because you are going to need to upgrade your equipment sooner with the less expensive the package is. This is mainly aimed at you, Heat Gun. Ask any of Texsource crew which piece should be upgraded first and they agree that you will need a more secure dryer. You may be able to get away with using a flash unit to dry, but if you’ve purchased the first Genesis package you will not have that option. A dryer allows you to work on more shirts without having to stop your creative process to hand-cure (possibly unevenly) each shirt.

The higher Genesis packages come with a decent flash unit, so when it comes to upgrading further you will want to choose between a new press and exposure unit based on what works best for you (both will arguably be needed at some point). You will learn how to decide this in any classes you take along with any and all trial-and-error.

Now, if you have inherited equipment and are pretty familiar with it, Vastex with its sturdier equipment may be the perfect fit for you. These packages do not come with any of the extras that a Genesis package does, but their focus is to grant you the best equipment possible to immediately produce out of your shop. They offer entry shop choices along with Tabletop if you have the skill but not the room for your business.

If you choose to go with a Vastex but would like more options in regards to inks or chemicals, please note that Texsource offers different packaging for screen cleaning chemicals and different brands/styles of inks.
Posted by Ryan Bolin - Outside Sales on 9/5/2016

Texsource Inc. is hosting their annual Open House & Customer Appreciation Day September 30th from 9:30am -4pm at their corporate facility in Kings Mountain, NC.

This event is well known throughout the Southeast not only by the customers who attend, but also by the many different manufacture representatives in the screen printing industry who put on classes and demonstrations throughout the day. These manufactures fly in from all over the U.S. to support Texsource as their events have continued to grow since its first Open House in 2007.




This year Texsource is expanding outside the normal footprint of past open houses into a brand new 5,000sq. Ft. facility. This new addition will not only host these types of events in the future but will also become the new home to all screen printing classes and serve as a fully functional equipment showroom. With this being said it is also open and will be used for vendors to host training seminars.
               
 In addition to the new space Texsource will also be introducing their brand new Automatic Color Matching Dispensing system. This new color matching system is the only one of its kind in the U.S. and will be operating all day for customers to watch the automatic PMS process. Texsource will be giving out free PMS samples (pint container) of the pantone color of your choice!

 Along with the new additions attendees will be able to speak one-on-one with industry leading manufactures, attend seminars, demo new products and screen printing equipment, and receive great discounts. Not to mention the amazing food (which is said to be Ribs and Pulled Pork BBQ) that many of the past attendees come for year after year!

 For more information on this FREE event or to register, please visit www.screenprintingsupply.com or call 1-888-344-4657.
Posted by Ronnie Cannon - Outside Sales on 8/3/2016

In late summer and early fall, many screen printers can look forward to some of their busiest times of the year.  But waiting until the last minute can be costly both to productivity and to the bottom line.

Usually when a screen printer thinks of this time of year the first thing that comes to mind is 'jerseys', as just about every school, university, and YMCA league in America will be looking for football jerseys.  But you also have to consider the numerous opportunities that come with that time.  Sports has long been a huge driver of business for screen printers, so be mindful of the plethora of football and sports-related team items that can be printed and sold by schools for fundraisers, booster clubs, school stores, etc.  Everything from t-shirts to umbrellas and everything in between.  

If you are new to screen printing, you may be wondering what the absolute best way to be productive with such opportunities.  Fortunately with regards to numbering and jerseys, there are several excellent options.  One is to use simple numbering stencils.  These products are easy to use, versatile, look great, and come in a variety of sizes.  Best of all, they work with most any screen printing press that is available.  Make sure that you use a proper type of athletic ink when printing and you should have no problems at all.  

When you are ready to move up from that (for shops who may do a LOT of jersey numbering) you should consider a special press attachment like the Vastex DiGIT Numbering System.  This special attachment for your manual screen printing press is designed to make printing numbers easy and foolproof, and will easily pay for itself in increased productivity.  Once properly setup on your press, the system can be adjusted for any number configuration for either single or double-digit prints.  


Have your screen printing equipment ready to go, have the proper screen printing ink in stock and on the shelf, and be ready to take advantage of one of our busiest times of the year!
Posted by Doug Smith - Texsource Indiana on 6/16/2016
In an ongoing effort to always make your online shopping as easy as possible, Texsource has some new changes and upgrades to our site make it easier than ever to find the screen printing equipment and supplies you need.


Likely the most noticeable change is in our Screen Printing Ink section.  We spent quite a bit of time going through this section and found numerous ways that we could improve.  First, whenever you do a simple search on our site for something like 'Green Ink', you will now get more accurate results.  But in the past where you would simply see a screen filled with green color swatches that you had to click through to find out more important information (such as the manufacturer or ink series), we now have that information right on the color swatch itself, for all inks and all manufacturers.  The new color swatches look like this - 

As you can see from the 2 color swatches in this image, it is now easy at a glace to see the exact color (taken directly from the manufacturer source), the ink manufacturer, and the exact ink type or series.  Having such information available at a quick glance can not only help you find the ink you need faster, but can also eliminate errors in ordering.  

In addition to re-thinking our ink swatches, we also looked at our overall ink product pages.  We have updated the newly formatted SDS sheets (where available - as of this writing sheets for all products are not yet available), new product and series descriptions, and printing and curing instructions.  The idea is to provide you with as much important information about the products as possible, but still make a product page easy and quick to read so that you can get back to other important tasks.  

The changes don't just pertain to the Ink section.  If you haven't visited our site in a while you will likely notice an increase in new larger photos of products, with multiple product photos when available.  You can now ask a question about any product right on that product page, and get an answer directly from our expert sales staff.  New updated product descriptions for our screen printing equipment have been (and are being) written, product demo videos are being produced and added as we get them, our website 'Search' function has been improved to give you more accurate results, and more relevant related products are now shown for each product.  

Texsource works hard to be the best online experience possible, and we are always looking for ways to improve.  It is all in an effort to make your shopping easier and more accurate so that your shop and your business can run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.  If you ever see a way that we can improve, let us know!
Posted by Bubba Thomas - Outside Sales on 5/25/2016

Why would you want to use a screen printed transfer that uses extra materials, extra labor, and more equipment when you can print directly onto the garment? There are several situations where transfer are more efficient, economical, and profitable than direct printing.

For example, if you have a once a year event that you print for but you have no way of knowing how many shirts will be sold. If you print too few shirts, you will limit your sales. If you print too many shirts, you take an expensive loss. However, if you print the design on transfer paper, you can take the transfers, heat press, and blank shirts to the event and press the shirts as ordered. If you have any transfer left over, you can throw them away and not be losing the money that you would if you were throwing printed shirts away.

If you do the same design over and over for a certain customer and they only get a small number of shirts every time. It is cheaper to go ahead and print enough transfers to last a while, than it is to set up the job on the press and run a dozen or two shirts at a time. You save a lot of time and labor by using transfers for this customer.


 Equipment Needed for Transfers
Transfer paper, Transfer powder( if necessary), Heat Press, Conveyor Dryer, Flash Unit (if doing multiple color design).

Types of Transfers
There are two most common types of transfers, Hot Split and Cold Peel. The main difference in the two are the way they are applied. When applying hot split transfers, the transfer paper is removed immediately after pressing the garment. This method will give you a softer feel but will take away the opacity of the print, especially on dark garment.
When cold peel, the paper is not removed until the ink and garment have cooled off. This method will allow all of the ink to adhere to the garment, making it a more stiff, opaque, glossy look.

Avoid Fine Line and Large Solid Color
In transfer printing, fine detail causes trouble because it is hard to print enough ink and control the temperature of the ink closely enough to insure that the fine lines will adhere to the t-shirt. Lines should be no thinner than 1/16th of an inch and half tone dots should be no finer than .33-.38 millimeters. If you have to print fine lines or small half tones, you should always print an underbase over the entire design, making it the last color down. The underbase will adhere to the garment and the other colors in the transfer, including the fine detail.
Large areas of solid colors may cause problems because they require a very even layer of ink, very evenly gelled. Any imperfections in the thickness of the ink layer or degree of gelling of the transfer may result in an uneven thickness of ink transferred to the t-shirt and an obviously defective design.

Avoid Trapping Colors
Trapping colors creates different thicknesses of ink on the transfers, making is complicate the gelling process, and when using a hot split, it may cause the wrong ink to split when applying it to the garment. It is always better to use butt registration.

Allow for Paper Shrinkage
Since the transfers cannot be printed wet-on-wet, the paper is getting heated in between every color. Making the paper shrink. Always run the paper through a dryer at 180-220 degrees to insure that you will get minimum shrinkage.

Ink Selection
You can use many types of inks when transfer printing, but you will get the best results when using an ink that is formulated for transfers. The most common ink that w carry is Union Ultrasoft Series. It can be used as a hot-split or cold peel. But keep in mind, it will not be as opaque when using it as a hot split on a dark garment. I recommend the Maxopake series from Union, and adding transfer powder the the image, before senfing it down the dryer.

Temperature
Typically you will press your transfers for 10-18 seconds, 35-50lbs of pressure, at 350-400 degrees. Hot splits can run at higher temperature, shorter time, and less pressure. Cold peels should be ran at a lower temperature, longer time, and higher pressure.  
Posted by Dawn Dellinger - Customer Service on 5/2/2016
It is time once again for us to begin promoting our biggest annual event of the year, the Texsource Open House Event, and here is just some of what you can expect if you have never attended (you should!).

The Texsource Open House event is definitely my favorite time of the year on my job.  For a whole day I get to finally put faces with some of the names that I see on my screen every day, voices that I would hear on my phone, company names that I am familiar with, but not always the people behind the name.  Texsource goes all out for this event.  Normally in years past the event has been held over 2 days, usually a Thursday and a Friday.  This year we are narrowing it down to only 1 day, but we are holding an Open House at 2 of our 4 locations; Georgia and our headquarters in NC.  The NC open house will held here on September 30.  

Our open house has deals so good you'll swear they were illegal!

So what can you expect?  Well, anything and everything related to our industry.  If you are a user ofscreen printing equipment or screen printing supplies, then this event will have a good bit of everything for you to check out.  We have vendors who will be showing the very latest screen printing presses, automatic screen printing presses,  the latest technology in screen printing ink(including the very latest advancement, silicone screen printing ink), new printing techniques, supply items and chemicals, and more.  

If you are relatively new to screen printing, or you are looking for new techniques that you may not have tried before, there are a host of demonstrations and clinics that go on all day from all the various vendors on how to screen print.  Since actual vendor reps will be here with their products, this is an outstanding chance to get some hands-on demonstrations and ask questions to those at the very top!  

Ah, the food.  Our owner is an exceptional cook, and nothing but the very best will do when it comes to serving others.  I do not yet know exactly what our menu will be, but I can tell you that the last few years we have served BBQ that is worthy of bragging about.  The free lunch is a highlight for many at the event (including all of the Texsource staff) and you will certainly not leave here hungry!

Best of all, the only cost to you is your gas to get here - everything here is on us (although you might want to bring your wallet with you - there are show deals galore and usually a few racks full of clearance items that gets picked clean fairly quickly).  Since we need an accurate food count, all we ask is that you register in advance here before the date of the event.  Bring out your entire shop and enjoy a full day with us.  

We hope to see you here and we hope to further prove our worth to you as your most trusted industry supplier of screen printing equipment and supplies.  
Posted by Ryan Bolin - Outside Sales on 4/25/2016
Our Open House Event at our Georgia location last week was a big hit with both customers and vendors of screen printing products and equipment.  If you missed it because of scheduling or location, you can catch our NC Open House Event in September.

 The first Open House/ Customer Appreciation Day just concluded at our Texsource Georgia location and it was an amazing turn out! We had a couple hundred people to stop by to enjoy this really big event we put on and with this being our 1st Open House at our Georgia location we were very pleased with the turnout.  Whether you were looking for the latest screen printing ink,presses, dryers, or accessories, Texsource had it all there, with the experts to answer all your questions. 

First of all a big thanks to all our customers who stopped by and spent the day with us! We hope that each of you enjoyed meeting the Texsource staff as well as our industries top leading representatives. There was certainly a lot of screen printing equipment and supplies to be seen!  We know there was a ton of knowledge for you to gain at this event and your responses on the overall show were great!

Secondly, I want to thank our manufactures that came out to support us. You all were a huge part in the success of this Open House and were are pleased that you continue to join us each year that we host these events!

Last and certainly not least, there was lunch! Everyone in the building seemed to love the food that was provided and one thing for sure is that no one left hungry!

                           


Again, thanks to everyone that came out to support us and if we don’t see you this September for our 9th Annual North Carolina Open House then hopefully will see you in 2017 at our 2nd Annual Georgia Open House.  If you want to read more about what to expect at the event you can read more here and also register to attend absolutely free.
Posted by Jason Cabaniss - Outside Sales on 4/19/2016
If you are still printing in your shop with your startup equipment, what do you upgrade first?  Here we offer help in choosing your new screen printing equipment so that you can maximize your shop capabilities.   

We have all been there; brand new to screen printing and having only the basic equipment for starting out.  Many start out with an entry level screen printing press (probably only 1 or 2 color capability), an overhead lamp-style exposure unit, a heat gun for a dryer (luckier folks may have started with a dedicated flash unit), a couple of screens, and some basic inks and cleaning chemicals.  Those of us who stick with it and do quality work should easily and quickly outgrow startup equipment such as that, and face the task of trying to decide exactly what screen printing equipment should be upgraded, and in what order.  

Unfortunately there isn't an answer that fits every shop and every situation.  But there are some things to keep in mind when considering the process.  

I would argue that a quality conveyor dryer should be one of your first considerations for a new equipment purchase.  If you have been using a heat gun, a conveyor dryer will likely make the biggest difference in your shop output and overall efficiency.  Where you may have been standing over a shirt for minutes using the heat gun, a quality conveyor dryer will keep an even, consistent, and controlled heat across the shirt for the correct amount of time (belt speed).  Print, pull the shirt, lay it on the dryer, done.

Next (in most cases) will likely be your manual screen printing press.  I have seen some really interesting modifications to existing starter presses to try to repair or give some sort of new functionality, when modest money could be spent on a newer, higher capability screen printing press, and be done with it.  For many screen printers, this may mean going from a tabletop or bench model press, to a full freestanding press.  Obviously there are considerations of the area you have available as well.  Typically this means going from a 1 or 2 color bench type press, to a 4 color 4 station freestanding manual press (and some will upgrade to even more colors).  A quality press such as this will usually have an outstanding warranty and be very durably built.  An investment in a quality manual press will give you new capabilities, faster production, and more flexibility.  

Perhaps lesser on the list but still important are items such as exposure units, screen drying cabinet, washout booth, etc.  Certainly all of these have their place in a well run shop.  Upgrading your exposure unit may be especially important as they can significantly cut exposure time and exposure errors.  Too many shops are trying to scrape by with older outdated units, and it often seems that they are wrestling to get a quality screen burn.  Newer exposure technology, such asLED exposure units will serve your business for many years of trouble free service and quality production.  

In the end, only your production needs and your budget will determine the best upgrade path for your screen printing business.  But when you feel that you are outgrowing your current screen printing equipment, hopefully these general guidelines will stay in the back of your mind and serve as a good base of knowledge.  
Posted by Harvey Cole - Outside Sales on 3/30/2016

Properly utilizing a quality screen tape such as PMI Split Tape is a great way to reduce your screen work area and increase efficiency.

Usually when you have a screen printing job that requires multiple colors and you have to burn several screens, it almost always happens that one or more of your screens will have a very small area of a certain color, yet for proper registration you must almost always coat an entire screen with emulsion and burn the image.  Although your screen size may be large, your work area may only be a few inches or less in some cases.  Here is where proper taping of your image will save you wasted time and ink and make cleanup easier and faster on your screen printing equipment and frames. 

Consider a wider size tape such as our PMI 3" Blockout Tape.  I still see some shops use simple masking tape, but masking tape in most cases has a much more aggressive adhesion that can pull your emulsion and in some cases perhaps even damage the screen mesh as well.  The blockout tapes that we sell almost all have a less aggressive adhesion that peels away easy for fast cleanup.  Have a look at this video for a demonstration of the application and adhesion properties -


As you can see, this is a fast and economical choice for reducing the work area of the frame which will make your subsequent equipment cleanup a breeze.  

Our PMI Split Tape is a tape that is specially manufactured for use by screen printers, as it has 2 section of the tape in a cross/section type configuration.  Half of the tape is designed for screen adhesion and the other is designed for adhesion to your aluminum frame or wooden frame material.  It is designed to be both applied an removed quickly, is economical, and will save you time and resources in your shop.  Here is a video that demonstrates just how easy the split tape is to apply - 



The tapes themselves have so many advantages over normal masking tape that it makes it almost impossible to use masking tape again once you have used these PMI products in your shop.  As always, Texsource has the entire product line in stock at all of our US locations, ready to ship.  Contact us if you would like to try some of these PMI tapes in your shop - we can arrange sample products to be sent to you to try out.  You will not find a better deal anywhere than you can get here at Texsource, the largest distributor of screen printing equipment and supplies in the US!
Posted by Ryan Bolin - Outside Sales on 3/28/2016
 Spring is the time that many shops gear up for printing of athletic jerseys, and there is no better piece of screen printing equipment to help you with jersey numbering that the Vastex Digit numbering system.

The Vastex Digit is one of the most popular pieces of screen printing equipment that we sell here at Texsource, especially around this time of year and also in the fall.  We typically keep a complete system or two here in stock, and we can quickly set the system up for a full demo (it is just as quick to setup in your shop as well).  Provided you have a decent quality press, it is designed to fit into a screen printing press made by a variety of manufacturers.  

The true beauty of the system is in its simplicity and ease of use, excellently designed and tested by Vastex Equipment.  Once properly mounted in your manual press, you can simply slide the screen from left to right to select your number.  There are slots for centering a single number, or for double digit numbers you can select whether that number will be printed on the right or left of the other number.  Since the number "1" is thinner than other numbers in most fonts, there is an offset setting for that digit, so that your printing is still centered on the jersey no matter what number you are printing.  

Have a look at this video by Vastex Equipment demonstrating the Vastex Digit Numbering System presented at the most recent Texsource Open House Event -



As you can see, the Vastex Digit Numbering System is the ideal system for fast, accurate athletic numbering.  

With the introduction of our new line of Rutland Silicone Inks, there has perhaps never been a more exciting time in athletic numbering.  Silicone inks are ideal for athletic wear with their adhesion and flexibility, and they have a smooth, soft feel that cannot be matched by any existing plastisol ink.  

Many screen printing shops depend on athletic seasons for a large part of their yearly business.  Why not make an investment that will pay off big for your business for years to come?  The Vastex Digit Numbering System is fast, affordable, efficient, and will serve your business without trouble for many years of printing.  It is one serious piece of screen printing equipment you need if you are printing numbers on jerseys, and nobody will match the deal that Texsource can make you today!
Posted by Dustin Koch - Outside Sales on 3/25/2016
This year Texsource is doing something a bit different with our annual Open House Event - we are hosting our customer is both our Georgia location and our North Carolina location, making it easier than ever to come by and pay us a visit!


The Open House Event will be held at our Georgia facility on April 31, and then a little later at our NC facility on September 30.  As usual, we have an impressive lineup of manufacturers who will be joining us at each event.  If you have never attended on our our Open House Events, you owe it to yourself to make plans to attend; admission is free for everyone but you must register here for an accurate food count.  

So what can you expect to see at such an event?  As you might can guess, it is screen printing and more screen printing.  All of the leading manufacturers will be on hand with their very latest screen printing equipment and supplies, including some that may not yet be released to the public.  This isn't a situation where you see the screen printing equipment from behind a velvet rope.  Screen printing presses will be running all day, with hands-on demos and clinics on the latest equipment,screen printing ink, printing techniques, and more.  All attendees are free to approach vendors and ask questions, run some prints, pick up some samples, and have fun.


Texsource Open House Event - free demos and clinics all day

To add to the fun, Texsource and specific vendors sponsor prizes that can be won.  The last several events that we have had took on a 'Vegas' theme, with table games, slots, and a prize wheel.  You have several opportunities to win and no purchase is necessary.  

Speaking of purchasing, there is likely no better time of the year to make a purchase, as many vendors will offer show specials that are not available at any other time.  Our full customer support staff will be on hand and ready to help you and on-site financing is available for qualified buyers.  You can also take a walk around our clearance rack (which seems to get emptied off with the first hour or 2).  

If you have only read about a piece of screen printing equipment that you would love to have, this is the chance to get up close with the actual manufacturer reps and get some first hand knowledge.  Come and stay all day - Texsource will even feed you lunch on us!

Don't miss the opportunity to see the latest equipment, inks, techniques, and screen printing technologies at the 2016 Texsource Open House Event.  Register today!
Posted by Harvey Cole - Outside Sales on 3/24/2016
The term "RIP" software has probably passed by you many times as a screen printer, and indeed you may use RIP software.  But if you are new to screen printing, what is RIP software and what can it do for you?

According to Wikipedia, RIP software is defined as follows - 

 - A raster image processor (RIP) is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. Such a bitmap is used by a later stage of the printing system to produce the printed output. The input may be a page description in a high-level page description language such as PostScript, Portable Document Format, XPS or another bitmap of higher or lower resolution than the output device. In the latter case, the RIP applies either smoothing or interpolation algorithms to the input bitmap to generate the output bitmap.

One of the more well known RIP software packages specifically for screen printing equipment is AccuRip, which is developed and released by Freehand Graphics.  AccuRip takes RIP software and presents it with specific printers in mind (almost exclusively Epson printers).  Some of the most common features of interest to scree printers are - 




  • Easy Setup: AccuRIP's Setup Wizard makes the setup process fast and convenient. It auto builds a print driver for your selected Epson model. In minutes you are ready to output (print) using AccuRIP.
  • Streamlined User Experience: As an on-demand RIP, AccuRIP is always ready and waiting to process your file data and deliver sharp and clean halftones and solids. No program to launch and manage.
  • Job Queue: A "Job Queue" and "Job History" window to review and watch jobs process.
  • Direct Application Printing: Nothing beats the convenience of printing directly from the graphics program your file is in. Go to the "Print" window of any of your design programs and AccuRIP is ready to RIP.
  • Automatic N-UP Printing: AccuRIP automatically gangs a separation on your film saving valuable output time and media. When your art board/page size is less than half your media’s width, the N-UP feature comes into action. This feature is a user favorite.
  • Ink Laydown Control: With numerous ink and film brands available AccuRIP provides the controls to balance ink laydown to your media. A good match delivers needed dMax and a better dry time.
  • Dye Black Film Ink Cartridges loaded into your Epson: An option for AccuRIP users with select ink jet models. Enjoy the many benefits of running your Epson with every cartridge filled with high-quality black dye. Don’t try putting an Epson black cartridge into another slot. Cartridges are chipped and keyed for particular slots. Only AccuRIP and our Dye Black Film Ink Cartridges are designed for this purpose. This feature is a user favorite.
  • Network Solution and No Dongle: Install AccuRIP on one host computer and share the AccuRIP driver easily across your entire network and even across platforms. One printer, one RiP, multiple users. AccuRIP uses an Internet-based serial number registration for instant access. No dongle required.
  • Windows and Mac Solution: Whether you use Mac or Windows, or have a cross-platform network, you have the RIP for all environments. Share AccuRIP at no additional cost with all users on your network

    Accurip software give you precise control over your Epson printer

    One of the more appreciated features of AccuRip is that it will let you use all black ink cartridges in your Epson printer and draw from them all, also letting you control very precisely how much ink is laid down.  When you are using it to control your half-tones and separations, you can use all available ink cartridges.  If you have been laying down too much ink then you can adjust for that in the software.  
    Some printers have even gone so far as to run a job through a printer twice if the ink isn't laid out in the thickness that was desired.  Obviously, this can cause some real problems with alignment.  AccuRip give you such precise controls over ink output of your positive printer that running through twice should not even enter your mind.  Using an Epson 1400 Series printer (our preferred printer for the Texsource screen printing classes) you get excellent speed and quality especially when paired with a good waterproof film.
    AccuRip software can be somewhat expensive, as retail prices for the latest versions tend to hover around the $500 price.  That is certainly a costly upgrade for some screen printers, but when you consider that a bad proof can halt your entire process (and you get used to how well a GOOD proof helps your production) then you begin to see that this may be a 1-time investment that is a worthwhile addition to your shop.    Need to speed up an inkjet device? The speed of an inkjet as its print head moves across the media is set and cannot be sped up. Others make ambiguous statements that make you believe that their RIP is speeding up the printing process. The speed of a RIP is in how it translates the file and sends it to your device. AccuRIP is the fastest at sending the data - so fast it only takes seconds. Your time savings is in this release rate as well as in work-flow. AccuRIP is so fast you will never again sit and wonder if your file is actually processing. In the time it takes another RIP just to "load" your file into the RIP application then process your data, AccuRIP is already printing. The instant your print progress bar leaves the computer screen your inkjet head is in motion! Nothing is faster that AccuRIP.

    Just want to print halftones with no hassles or extra work? After the tasks of designing, file building and color separating what should be a simple process on your list is often complicated by other solutions. By offering those screen print specific features for black and white channel output required by screen printers and eliminating the unnecessary color management features, for example, of other more expensive solutions the RIP process with AccuRIP has been significantly simplified and the RIP rate accelerated. Stochastic printing is a fantastic option for screen printers but not easily achievable before AccuRIP. The stochastic option is now available for both Macintosh and Windows users.  
    Texsource Screen Printing Supply is an authorized dealer for AccuRip software, and we have trained support staff that can help answer any questions or issues that you may have with it.  Texsource will never leave you hanging - on the contrary, we want to help your shop grow and succeed and earn your longterm business.  If you are looking to have some further questions answered regarding AccuRip or any otherScreen Printing Equipment or supply items, contact us today - you will be glad you did!
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