# Screen Printing Vinyl Stickers



## scrible1980

hello all,
i am interested in screen printing my own vinyl stickers, but do not have the faintest idea of where to start. i would like to screen print my work on to vinyl and then cut it using a plotter / cutter.
can anyone recommend what i would need in terms of mesh, inks, a good transparent vinyl and plotter / cutter.
many thanks
the weekends here!!!!!


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## ropa

*cutter= (SmartCutter Pro) 
*

vinyl = (ORACAL USA ) foryour paper.

Laminators (Seal and Daige Laminators, Graphic Laminating Films and supplies, Cold Films,  Boards, Accutech Liquid Lamination)

Printers = Roland DGA Corporation - Wide-Format Eco-Solvent and Pigment Inkjet Printers


If you want to screen print. 205 or 305 mesh for details, union ink and the best of luck. Cleaning the screens are very dangerous = more money or less polar bears.


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## ffokazak

I would suggest printing sheets of stickers and then maually cutting them with say a Mat Cutter {I bought on for about 50$ and its really good for consistent cuts}

You shouldnt have to laminate anything if you print with Gloss Vinyl ink, directly onto orcale, or avery or mactac vinyl. 

I print sheets around 11x17 {how ever many can fit on that film} and then cut them up with my mat cutter. 

Agreed that the chemicals are way nastier for vinyl than tee shirts, but thats why you buy a respirator and wear gloves. All in all I try to be really really fast printing stickers, for the health reasons, and for the fact that the vinyl ink can air dry in your screens. 

Its a profitable venture should you pursue it, however. 

Good luck!


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## Paxton

ffokazak said:


> I would suggest printing sheets of stickers and then maually cutting them with say a Mat Cutter {I bought on for about 50$ and its really good for consistent cuts}
> 
> You shouldnt have to laminate anything if you print with Gloss Vinyl ink, directly onto orcale, or avery or mactac vinyl.
> 
> I print sheets around 11x17 {how ever many can fit on that film} and then cut them up with my mat cutter.
> 
> Agreed that the chemicals are way nastier for vinyl than tee shirts, but thats why you buy a respirator and wear gloves. All in all I try to be really really fast printing stickers, for the health reasons, and for the fact that the vinyl ink can air dry in your screens.
> 
> Its a profitable venture should you pursue it, however.
> 
> Good luck!


Hey !

That's really a worthy suggestion, which, i too would like to follow. Thanks for providing such a wonderful information. Hope you would continue doing this.


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## MotoskinGraphix

ffokazak said:


> I would suggest printing sheets of stickers and then maually cutting them with say a Mat Cutter {I bought on for about 50$ and its really good for consistent cuts}
> 
> You shouldnt have to laminate anything if you print with Gloss Vinyl ink, directly onto orcale, or avery or mactac vinyl.
> 
> I print sheets around 11x17 {how ever many can fit on that film} and then cut them up with my mat cutter.
> 
> Agreed that the chemicals are way nastier for vinyl than tee shirts, but thats why you buy a respirator and wear gloves. All in all I try to be really really fast printing stickers, for the health reasons, and for the fact that the vinyl ink can air dry in your screens.
> 
> Its a profitable venture should you pursue it, however.
> 
> Good luck!


 
Aahhh...what is gloss vinyl ink and what printer prints gloss vinyl ink? Buy a respirator and wear gloves??? What exactly are you talking about? Are you screen printing decals when you could be inkjet printing them?


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## nivleik

it's screen printing i guess...
well I've tried that one before..
and you really need reducer as much as your patience...


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## MotoskinGraphix

Ok...got ya...isnt screen printing stickers kinda over since the digital print media and the fact that you can do them on an inkjet printer?


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## nivleik

its' good for starters...
and far way cheapest..(^_^)


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## chard

its not good for starters..silkscreening on decals/papers/stickers requires more skills than silkscreening onto tshirts..using inkjet is more practical unless your considering a very large production..


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## nivleik

chard said:


> its not good for starters..silkscreening on decals/papers/stickers requires more skills than silkscreening onto tshirts..using inkjet is more practical unless your considering a very large production..


its just like printing tees..(^_^)the difference is the ink..
well,base from my experience...


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## chard

i thought your just a beginner in screen printing?=)
screen printing on these type of media requires more registration than printing on shirt..and you can print wet on wet..proper mesh count and inks and strokes is also needed..well, if you are just doing it just for hobby, in that scenario i will not be a problem..=)


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## ino

MotoskinGraphix said:


> Ok...got ya...isnt screen printing stickers kinda over since the digital print media and the fact that you can do them on an inkjet printer?


David,
A good solvent printer can cost up to 15000 USD. 
A pair of jiffy hinges, one set of micro registration, 1 diy vacuum table and a couple of screens 500 usd more than enough.
Besides I also think that for exterior use screen printing inks might outlast solvent inks.
Maybe one should also consider the cost. I'm no expert in costings but I would assume ink jet printing would be much more expensive per square inch than screen printing.


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## MotoskinGraphix

ino said:


> David,
> A good solvent printer can cost up to 15000 USD.
> A pair of jiffy hinges, one set of micro registration, 1 diy vacuum table and a couple of screens 500 usd more than enough.
> Besides I also think that for exterior use screen printing inks might outlast solvent inks.
> Maybe one should also consider the cost. I'm no expert in costings but I would assume ink jet printing would be much more expensive per square inch than screen printing.


I would think the amount of colors would kind of dictate the costs in production. By the time you set up a press for 4 to 6 colors, a print and cut system could possibly have completed the run. I think there is something to be said for outsourcing to a printer that has the print and cut ability. If you are just doing square bumper stickers, that ability is available for any inkjet printer, HP, Epson etc. Obviously the larger the format printer the faster the job can be printed. On the small scale if you have a optic reg. cutter you have print and cut abilities for a much smaller budget than say a full blown versacamm.


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## ino

If it's multi colour or a photgraphic design then the ink jet would be the only choice. However I'm curious to know which desk top printer apart from the large format solvent printers could print on vinyl.


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## MotoskinGraphix

ino said:


> If it's multi colour or a photgraphic design then the ink jet would be the only choice. However I'm curious to know which desk top printer apart from the large format solvent printers could print on vinyl.


There are vinyl sheets available for inkjet desktop printers as well as laminate sheets or coatings for longer outdoor durability. Any inkjet printer can be used but pigment ink printers are ideal.


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## jsreid

printing with inkjet printers wouldn't be ideal. Most stickers are screen printed with UV ink because they will last around 3-5 years outdoors. If you were to use an inkjet printer it would fade very quickly.
There are wide format printers that print a UV overlaminate, but these are way too expensive if you were going to be using it to just print stickers.


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## zizakron

i guys...yea i just started a small sticker company or am trying to start it. Im screen printing. It was def cheap to start up in comparison to taking the route of a wide format printer cutter. Thats been cool however the INK! Im just doing 1 color stickers for bands etc. But The ink is an absolute nightmare to work with. It dries in the screen with in 15 min. & i cant clean the ink off without having to wash out the whole screen & start from scratch. The consistency is key but it seems like its gotta be different per design. The thinner is messing with the emulgent. Is there any other ink other than solvent ink i can use that will adhere to vinyl?
Thanks


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## bobbob1982

Hi I have been screen printing on card and vinyl for 7 or so years and have only just started printing t-shirts in the last couple of months I work for a large printing firm with has 5 automatic 60X40 svecia machines and also 5 digital presses all are vinyl work gets screen printed the reason being is its normally more cost effective also digital prints always lack the colour vibrancy that you get from screen inks. I use solvent and uv inks uv inks are good to work with as they don't dry up on screen but they have there on problems to. Solvent inks just take a bit of time to get used to you cant cant leave your screen flooded for any longer than 30 seconds or it will dry up just try using a good retarder there are also sprays on the market that well help you from having to wash the screen every five minutes the problem with this type of printing is you have to work very fast or you will have problems.


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## MotoskinGraphix

jsreid said:


> printing with inkjet printers wouldn't be ideal. Most stickers are screen printed with UV ink because they will last around 3-5 years outdoors. If you were to use an inkjet printer it would fade very quickly.
> There are wide format printers that print a UV overlaminate, but these are way too expensive if you were going to be using it to just print stickers.


There are vinyl papers and uv laminates for inkjet printers. We are using them right now.


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## zizakron

thanks bob but also what do u mean by dont flood the screen for more than 30 seconds?


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## ino

zizakron said:


> thanks bob but also what do u mean by dont flood the screen for more than 30 seconds?


 The poster probably means that you have to be fast, approx 4 prints a minute to stop the ink drying up on the screen.


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## printing40years

No. Screen printing stickers is not over. Screen inks can last as long as 7 years due to the quality of the pigments and the thickness of the deposit. Inkjet inks say two years outdoors in mild climate, but many of us live in sunny California or Nevada or..... Screenprinters can print any DayGlo color...can't do it on an inkjet printing four color process dots. Screenprinters can print metallics and pearlescents...not with inkjet. They both have their place. Oh, and what if you need an opague layer of white to diffuse the light coming through the sticker...not with inkjet and laminates are very expensive.


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## 527ink

i do graphix for motorcyles and atvs, i use inktec solvent inks and they dont dryin the screen. they work great but need to print with a 305 mesh otherwise its a nightmare but work very well and stand up to alot of abuse


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## printing40years

Put on an overlaminate or screen a clearcoat that is designed to hold up to gasoline spills to avoid customer complaints down the road. I never heard of that brand of ink, but I know you can find that product with most the major ink manufacturers. 305 is about standard for solvent inks, 355 for UV curable inks.


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## zizakron

the problem im having now is the ink is sticking to the vinyl, im using a spray adhesive and ink thinner. the ink is almost water consistency but it seems to still stick and when i pull the screen up the vinyl sticks and leaves such a nasty image. How do i stop the sticking!!!!?


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## mudturtle

Do you have good off-contact? You dont want the screen laying flat on the vinyl, there should be about 1/16th-1/8th " gap. If the screen is laying flat then the ink IS on the vinyl but it is also still in the mesh and when you lift it looks horrible and can pull the vinyl up with it.


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## printing40years

switch to a better quality vinyl sticker screen ink and use Retarder instead of thinner 5-15%. I like TM Techmark from Sericol. 800-255-4562 Customer Service and there are plenty of other good formulations out there


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## zizakron

thanks alot guys....i'm getting to the bottom of this. Yes i do have a gap in between the vinyl and the screen. I have slow thinner but it really didn't make to big of a difference in contrast from the regular thinner. The ink doesn't have a specific retardant for it, i was told the slow thinner is equivalent. i was also told that the emulgent mixing with the ink makes it impossible to wash out & its probably the emulgent thats making the screen stick. Im gonna try a harder emulsion. Ulano qx-1, Hopefully that works. Im also using 230 screens i was told that would suffice. I was also advised to check into nazdar ink. Any suggestions?


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## ino

BTW are you using some spray adhesive, or a vacuum platen to hold your vinyl down?


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## zizakron

spray adhesive...it has worked before. i have printed 1 successful run.


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## printing40years

Check into Sericol inks for vinyl stickers. It's not sticky at all if you add the recommended 15% Retarderd designed for it. 800-SERICOL Kansas City


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## danky01

Does Sericol stink like the other air dry inks? Is there an air dry ink that doesn't stink and cause health problems?

I REALLY need to be able to print signs and decals but because of the smell and hazard of air dry inks, i haven't tried it yet. I love the idea of UV inks but just can not afford the cost of a UV dryer.

I have done some stickers on my OKI C3200 color laser using vinyl. It works for the first few sheets, but after that the fuser gets to hot and melts the vinyl, so you can't print a large quantity. I have tried it on color copiers but the fuser is too hot and melts the vinyl. As for lasting out doors, Lexmark told me their toner will last outdoors for up to 7 years.


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## comabeat

Hi this thread answers some of my questions on sticker printing... but serious its one of about 4 posts worldwide to deal with this subject... as a result does anyone know

1.if I need to use a different emulsion? (I up to now have only done t-shirt printing)

2.Is there any good suppliers of Ink/Paint and Vinyl in the up?

Any response appreciated.... Trying not to waste money on the wrong stuff


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## Gilligan

I'm not expert by any means... but it depends on your emulsion.

I know lots of textile emulsion is designed to print with plastisol and will break down with water (and I'm sure solvents as well).

They make a hardner that you can use when using waterbase or discharge (essentially waterbase) and that might be they way to go... hopefully someone with more solvent knowledge can chime in.


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## ScreenFoo

If you're in doubt, check the tech data sheet on the emulsion you're using/looking at for 'solvent resistance'. Plastisol ink emulsions have to be reasonably solvent resistant. If you're using a WB emulsion, you're more likely to run into problems.

Hey now, Kevin. You're an expert... something.


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