Wright City, MO

How Large Format Printing is Possible

Large format printing is a beast all its own. To be a true, quality provider of Wright City, MO large format printing, a screen printing shop must have the right equipment. The first three things a screen printer needs to produce large format printing work are:

1. The Press

To screen print anything at all, you need a proper printing press. Regardless of whether a printer uses a manual or automatic press, the resulting print can only be as large as the squeegee is wide, and the squeegee size is limited by the build of the machine. The consistent, even colors on a screen printed item are the work of the machine, and large format printing means - you guessed it - a machine with larger-than-average parts to allow for a larger print area.

2. The Film

Here's a speed lesson of the screen printing process for those of you who aren't familiar with how it works; your design is "stenciled" onto a fine mesh screen within a framethat holds the mesh taut. But how does the image, pattern, or design get stenciled on the screen? First, the original design is printed on a sheet of film, and a photosensitive chemical called emulsion is applied to the screen. The light hardens the emulsion to the screen in the areas of the image where the film is transparent and allows light through. The hardened parts are where the ink will not pass through. The positive space where the mesh is still exposed shows your image and is where the ink will pass through the screen and then adhere to the shirt or other printing surface.

Make sense?! If you don't quite get it still, no sweat (your shirts will still come out looking just as great)! Since film is required to make the stencil for your design, the print can only be as large as the size of the film sheet. The film comes in standard sheet sizes, but for larger designs, we have film with a larger surface area.

3. The Screens

The screen is the next ingredient to printing your design. Without a screen, screen printing would just result in a messy, undefined blob. This could be wonderful if you're an abstract artist, but usually it's not what you want.

The size of your stencil and, in turn, your design, is limited by how large the screen is as well as the film. The biggest sheet of film in the world won't matter if the frames being used are too small to fit the entire image. Likewise, your frame could be big enough to cover a huge area, but without film in the correct size, the image would end or would simply print smaller than you would liked. When printing in larger sizes than usual, we often use a particular mesh that creates clean lines and detail that looks great for the particular size of the print.

However, the most beautifully crafted violin will not produce the most beautiful sound ever heard if it's in the hands of a toddler. What we mean by that is that these large format printing tools and equipment won't do any good on their own. Quality Wright City, MO large format printing, as with any type of screen printing, requires the touch of a skilled craftsman. Don't turn to just any print shop when you need large format printing for your Wright City, MO needs. Some print shops might have the right equipment for large format printing, but they may not necessarily have experience specifically in large format printing. To produce good large format printing work, we also invest in special inks and meshes and modify our technique to make sure that what we print looks good, lasts, and isn't too heavy or thick.

Large Format Printing Wright City, MO | STL Shirt. Co

Don't let other screen print shops limit you by trying to keep your ideas small. Trust STL Shirt Co. for all your Wright City, MO large format printing needs. Whether you need a big banner for an event or love the look of a big, full print on a shirt, STL Shirt Co. brings you the best through every step of the process, from the initial design to the final product. We guarantee quality, long-lasting results from all our work.

Reach out to us to begin your Wright City, MO large format printing now, and discover what can happen when there are truly no limits! To learn more about STL Shirt Co.'s large format printing serving the Wright City, MO area or any of our other services, get in touch with us today. Call us at (636) 926-2777, send us a text at (636) 299-0162, or jump right in by requesting a quote.