- 1). Determine the scope of your project. Will you print on paper, plastic, wood, T-Shirts, or other material? What size will the print be? This will decide the size of the screen and other materials. The screen must be several inches larger all around than the live print area. Will you print one, or multiple prints? Ask your art supply store for paper suitable for screen printing. Buy the proper ink for the project, as fabric inks are different than paper inks.
- 2). Prepare the artwork or design and transfer it to a film positive. It is possible to create a design in a graphics program on a computer and output it on transparent vellum or other transparent material to create a film positive. Another method is to work with opaque ink directly on transparent material called "wet medium," available from art supply stores. To successfully expose a screen, the design must be very opaque on the transparency.
- 3). Clean the screen on the wood frame, also know as a silk screen, with mild soap, rinse and let dry several hours. Coat screen with photographic emulsion in a darkened room. Start with a tablespoon or two of emulsion. Spread it in a line along one side of the screen and then spread over screen with a stiff piece of illustration board or cardboard. Screen coating tools are available but are a bit expensive. Coat each side and remove excess emulsion and put back in container for future screens. Let emulsion dry on the screen overnight.
- 4). Expose your screen in the dark. Place screen over foam rubber, fitting the foam inside the screen frame with the flat side of the screen pointing up. Put the film positive upside down, reading backwards, on top of the screen. Tape it down with a piece of transparent tape. Put heavy glass over the film positive. Weight it at the edges with heavy objects to create tight contact between film positive and screen. Hang the light source above screen and expose for recommended exposure time. Light source should hung about the length of the long side of your screen above the surface of the screen.
- 5). Spray out the screen with warm water at medium pressure. The emulsion comes off where the ink will pass though the screen in the image area. Use more water pressure if the emulsion will not come out. If too much emulsion comes off, try again and increase the exposure time. To remove excess emulsion, blot both sides of screen with newspaper when done developing.
- 6). When the screen is dry, you are ready to make silk screen prints. Place the paper, fabric or other material to be printed on a flat surface. Place the screen over the item to be printed and add a line of ink to the side of the screen opposite you. Hold the screen firmly with one hand and pull the squeegee firmly with the other, pulling the ink towards you. Try two or three strokes to be sure of ink coverage. It is optional to fasten hinges to the printing surface and clamp the screen into the hinges for stability while printing.
Remove ink from screen when finished and clean with proper solvent, for example water or mineral spirits, depending on your ink. A finer screen mesh may be required if the ink smudges. Thinner ink or a more open mesh may be required if the ink will not print through the screen.