# PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips - a quick tutorial making a first screen printed t-shirt.



## funtimesx

*PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips - a quick tutorial making a first screen printed t-shi*

OK, not that I am an expert or anything (since I have had the kit for all of about three days, and been peppering Solmu with questions - oh, and heads up Solmu, there's another PM heading your way shortly! ).

But, I have just done my first three colour print with my PhotoEz kit, and I think it turned out pretty well, so I wanted to:
a) Show off 
b) Tell people what I did, hoping it helps others!

I apologise in advance if any of you are upset about breastfeeding stuff, but it happens to be my best selling design, so that's what I'm printing. The ink colours do not match my original, because atm I'm using craft paints mixed with textile medium. I'm hoping to order some "proper" gear next week.

So, step by step.
This is a picture of the current design I was aiming to print:









The first thing I did was to separate the design into colours. 









Screen 1









Screen 2

You'll notice because I'm a touch lazy, I've only done two screens not three - the olive in the martini is included in the "It's my drink" screen. I'll explain how I still ended up with the three colours later.

Printing out of Photoshop, I selected to add "Crop Marks" to the print out. Then I exposed each print out.

The crop marks ended up as "ghost images" on the screen, so I used an box cutter to put slits through each screen at each of the eight marks.

I laid down the first screen (the one with the martini) onto the onesie, and then used a sewing marker to draw a line on each of the eight marks. Sewing markers are neat little things that you can use to "draw" on fabric, but wash out very easily with tap water. You could equally use sewing chalk on a dark coloured garment. Here is the onesie with the crop marks, and my first layer of ink:









I blow dried the paint using a hair dryer until it was "touch dry" before laying down the second screen. Then I used the registration marks to line up the second screen, and printed the yellow ink on. After that, I again blow dried the yellow ink, washed the second screen, dried it out and lined it up again to do the green in the olive. This only worked because the olive was kind of isolated, and I wasn't incredibly fussy about it overlaying the cocktail skewer too much.










Then I washed the registration marks off using tap water. I was impatient, so the shirt below hasn't been dried before I took the picture (hence it looks a little out of shape!).










There are some obvious flaws - I've laid down a little too much paint, and the olive is missing it's hole in the middle (again, probably because of too much paint). I think this is largely due to poor technique (as I said, I've only had the kit for a few days, and this is my first attempt at screen printing anything), and possibly a little due to "make shift" materials in using craft paint rather than "proper" screen printing ink.

However, if you don't require incredibly precise registration and are only doing a small number of garments, it's a nice "poor man's" way to get a several colour print onto a shirt!


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## Jasonda

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

Very nice tutorial Kath, thanks for sharing!

Good job, too. The shirt looks very nice.


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## HeathenPeddler

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

That looks great! I'm going to have to try something like that when I get some more screen


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## Polivester

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

That looks awesome Kath!!! Just like a pro!!! Who knew it was your first shirt.


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## COEDS

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

Thans for the tutorial. I think I learned soomething. I want to try EZ prints now.


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## Solmu

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*



funtimesx said:


> oh, and heads up Solmu, there's another PM heading your way shortly!


No problem, by the time you read this I will have most likely replied 



funtimesx said:


> But, I have just done my first three colour print with my PhotoEz kit, and I think it turned out pretty well, so I wanted to:
> a) Show off
> b) Tell people what I did, hoping it helps others!


Showing off is fun, and it's cool to see what people are working on.



funtimesx said:


> You'll notice because I'm a touch lazy, I've only done two screens not three - the olive in the martini is included in the "It's my drink" screen. I'll explain how I still ended up with the three colours later.


Lazy can be a good thing when it saves you screens 

Using transparent inks you could probably print the yellow screen first as it is now, then print the blue second with the olive exposed on it as well. You'd want to do some tests first, but you should get a decent green just printing the blue onto the yellow on the shirt.



funtimesx said:


> The crop marks ended up as "ghost images" on the screen, so I used an box cutter to put slits through each screen at each of the eight marks.


That's the first time I can recall hearing of someone cutting their screen to give them registration marks. Is the EZ system semi-disposable? (i.e. you can re-use the screen for multiple prints, but not wash out the screen and put different designs on it?). 

If your registration marks are exposed and not taped off you want them as far away from the artwork as possible - I say this as someone who occasionally forgets to tape something off and prints it 



funtimesx said:


> I think this is largely due to poor technique (as I said, I've only had the kit for a few days, and this is my first attempt at screen printing anything), and possibly a little due to "make shift" materials in using craft paint rather than "proper" screen printing ink.


Perhaps, but that'll pass. It's a good first shirt (or second, or third, or...) - congratulations.


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## funtimesx

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*



Solmu said:


> No problem, by the time you read this I will have most likely replied


Thanks - still digesting that last one .



Solmu said:


> That's the first time I can recall hearing of someone cutting their screen to give them registration marks. Is the EZ system semi-disposable? (i.e. you can re-use the screen for multiple prints, but not wash out the screen and put different designs on it?).


Yes, that's exactly right. Once you expose a screen, that is it. That's why I cut the marks in when they didn't expose properly - I didn't want to waste the screen. For the future, I'll probably add the crop marks myself, so they're a bit thicker and therefore actually expose, so cutting isn't necessary.

Each 8.5 x 11 sheet of transfer paper costs me about $15 AUD landed cost (e.g taking into account the exchange rate and shipping cost). Given many of my designs are small, because they are for baby clothes, I can probably get 3-4 screens from one sheet. So the per screen cost is quite reasonable.

It's probably important to try not to make too many comparisions to this versus a "professional" frame mounted screen on a jig - the former is great if you can afford not to be too concerned about labour and time for each print, the latter sounds great for long run professional stuff.

Having said that, I actually think even with a 1 colour PhotoEz screen, I could pump out more shirts in an hour than I can using a heat press. Using this "registration" method it would become heaps more fiddly and takes longer per shirt than heat pressing does.



Solmu said:


> If your registration marks are exposed and not taped off you want them as far away from the artwork as possible - I say this as someone who occasionally forgets to tape something off and prints it


It had been my intention to tape the marks off (actually, I was going to tape the screen to the shirt, covering the marks in the process), but I um...forgot !



Solmu said:


> Perhaps, but that'll pass. It's a good first shirt (or second, or third, or...) - congratulations.


Thanks - practice makes perfect, as they say!


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## Solmu

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*



funtimesx said:


> Each 8.5 x 11 sheet of transfer paper costs me about $15 AUD landed cost (e.g taking into account the exchange rate and shipping cost). Given many of my designs are small, because they are for baby clothes, I can probably get 3-4 screens from one sheet. So the per screen cost is quite reasonable.


Yeah, that is cost effective. More so than I would have expected actually.



funtimesx said:


> It had been my intention to tape the marks off (actually, I was going to tape the screen to the shirt, covering the marks in the process), but I um...forgot !


I think we've all done that


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## sticky

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

Ok that look very nice what type of paper did you print your design on because I got my photoez and can't seem to do it right


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## Polivester

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*



sticky said:


> Ok that look very nice what type of paper did you print your design on because I got my photoez and can't seem to do it right


Hi Sticky,

What problems are you having?  

Check out this video making a PhotoEZ stencil. It's pretty good and may help.
YouTube - PhotoEZ Shirt Tutorial Part2

Shirley


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## HeathenPeddler

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

Can't be any worse than me  I left the backing on one, exposed it and tried to wash it out. Didn't realise I'd left it on until the whole thing slid off! Still, I have 4 good full-size stencils and a couple of breast-pocket size ones that turned out great. I found sunlight to be the best way to expose, btw.


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## funtimesx

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

sticky - I'm using regular copy paper, the *non* bright kind (I tried the "bright white" one and it didn't work so well).

Also, I'm exposing for more like 6-7 minutes even in direct sunlight - I find that gives a nice, crisp image.

You'll need to experiment bit with paper and exposure time to find the best mix for the materials and sunlight available in your area.


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## mattyk50

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*

do you know if photocopied images work with photoez?


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## Polivester

*Re: PhotoEz - a bag, and some tips*



mattyk50 said:


> do you know if photocopied images work with photoez?


Yes it will , as long as it is a good sharp opaque quality copy.


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## HeathenPeddler

I used a photocopy onto a transparency - did 2 as it was a halftone, put them together and used that. It was perfect 

I doubt you need the 2 I was just being careful


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## Polivester

HeathenPeddler said:


> I used a photocopy onto a transparency - did 2 as it was a halftone, put them together and used that. It was perfect
> 
> I doubt you need the 2 I was just being careful


Hi Raven,

Do you have a picture?

Shirley


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## HeathenPeddler

That was Freyja 


















Must get a better cam when I finally get enough stock to get things moving


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## Polivester

HeathenPeddler said:


> That was Freyja
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Must get a better cam when I finally get enough stock to get things moving


They are fantastic! Thanks!!!


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## freebird1963

Hello

I have had my photoez for awhile. Just didn't have anything I wanted to try. Now I do.
My question is on curing the shirt after the ink is on.
Can you I use my heat press to cure it ?
If so what would be a good temp/time to do it ?

Thanks
Mark


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## freebird1963

What happened to the images ?


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## Solmu

freebird1963 said:


> What happened to the images ?


Unfortunately the site they were hosted on no longer exists. One of the perils of images hosted off-site.


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## Vanilla Godzilla

sticky said:


> Ok that look very nice what type of paper did you print your design on because I got my photoez and can't seem to do it right





Polivester said:


> Hi Sticky,
> 
> What problems are you having?
> 
> Check out this video making a PhotoEZ stencil. It's pretty good and may help.
> YouTube - PhotoEZ Shirt Tutorial Part2
> 
> Shirley





funtimesx said:


> sticky - I'm using regular copy paper, the *non* bright kind (I tried the "bright white" one and it didn't work so well).
> 
> Also, I'm exposing for more like 6-7 minutes even in direct sunlight - I find that gives a nice, crisp image.
> 
> You'll need to experiment bit with paper and exposure time to find the best mix for the materials and sunlight available in your area.


Sorry I did not quote all posts relevant to this topic.

There is a difference between methods here.

Most users who have dabbled in screen printing, or have transparencies (like for overhead projectors) and use them with the ez screen/photoez will have different results than those who use other "paper" or medium to print on.

I myself bought a starter kit expecting to see at least [1] 8.5x11" transparency, especially after reading their ebay ad, which only claims to provide enough to make your own "stencil" worry-free, and after seeing the youtube videos where a printed transparency was used, instead of regular copy paper (I understand that ezscreen probably did not personally make the video).

-For anyone interested in using this product, the FIRST thing I would recommend is to go buy the proper transparency to print on, if you do not have one. I wish they would have charged $2, even $5 more and provided proper transparency paper, especially since this kit is a bargain to begin with. 

I think this is the main reason people have had different results.


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## Polivester

Vanilla Godzilla said:


> Sorry I did not quote all posts relevant to this topic.
> 
> There is a difference between methods here.
> 
> Most users who have dabbled in screen printing, or have transparencies (like for overhead projectors) and use them with the ez screen/photoez will have different results than those who use other "paper" or medium to print on.
> 
> I myself bought a starter kit expecting to see at least [1] 8.5x11" transparency, especially after reading their ebay ad, which only claims to provide enough to make your own "stencil" worry-free, and after seeing the youtube videos where a printed transparency was used, instead of regular copy paper (I understand that ezscreen probably did not personally make the video).
> 
> -For anyone interested in using this product, the FIRST thing I would recommend is to go buy the proper transparency to print on, if you do not have one. I wish they would have charged $2, even $5 more and provided proper transparency paper, especially since this kit is a bargain to begin with.
> 
> I think this is the main reason people have had different results.


You make a great point! However, I've been making PhotoEZ stencils for over 12 years and 100% of my stencils come out perfect. Sometimes I use transparency and other times I use paper. And sometimes I expose in direct sun and other times I use my exposure light table. Forgive me as I’m not boasting, I’m simply trying to make a point so everyone using PhotoEZ will have consistent positive results… The bottom line is it is very simple… very, very simple… follow the instructions and do not deviate.

One common mistake is the paper. Folks will use whatever paper they have in their printer. If it’s 92, 96 brightness or higher the stencil won’t turn out. If you’re not sure, use transparency. Or, use the cheap Wal-Mart 88 brightness, 20 lb copy paper. That’s what I use a lot. In fact most of the stencils on EZScreenPrint website were made with the cheap Wal-Mart paper.

Another common mistake is the quality of the artwork. If the artwork is fuzzy the stencil will be fuzzy. If the printer ink is not dark enough you’ll end up with a bad stencil. If the fonts, lines or images are too small the stencil will not come out right, and so on. All of these details are mentioned in the instructions, however, folks still deviate or over look these points.

It’s too bad that when folks troubleshoot they end up spending a lot of time and wasted PhotoEZ tweaking the exposure time. Though, most often it’s the artwork, wrong paper, the image on artwork not dark enough or even grey, or images too small or thin.

Fortunately, this only happens to a small group of people and most of our calls or emails are about how much folks love our PhotoEZ products. We will be selling transparency very soon so please check our website.


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## digimidgi

Hello

I made my 1st photoez stencil the other day and it came out great but the ink was inconsistent thoughout the stencil.. how many times should i swipe across the stencil with the squiggy? should i water down my paint?
is it best to spray stencil adhersive to keep it in place and will that not affect the resulted part of the stencil?

Many many many thankyou's from brighton england
Alex


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## splathead

digimidgi said:


> how many times should i swipe across the stencil with the squiggy? should i water down my paint?


As Many times as it takes to get a consistent print. Using a larger squeegee also helps. 

Are you using paint or ink? You should not water down your ink unless instructions say to.



> is it best to spray stencil adhersive to keep it in place and will that not affect the resulted part of the stencil?


No, that is not best. It can gum up your print area. Simply laying the stencil on top of the garment will suffice. You want to be able to easily life up one side of the stencil to make sure your ink is being applied correctly to the garment.


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## digimidgi

Thanks for your quick reply.. I'm using Berol (water based) textile screen printing ink. There is no mention of watering down.

Yes i thought the adheasive would glue up the stencil,, thanks for letting me know.. The PhotoEZ instructions do say you could use this though:/

Thank you kindly sir


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## splathead

digimidgi said:


> The PhotoEZ instructions do say you could use this though:/r


I might be tempted to use it on the corners, if you think that would help you.

The problem with spraying the entire stencil is it may be difficult to remove the stencil from the shirt. And once you do, if you notice a spot you missed, it will be very difficult to place the stencil back down in the exact location again.


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## natescreenprints

I would get inconsistent coverage when i did not spread the paint over a particular area with PhotoEZ. I have never needed to use adhesive spray to hold the stencil down, i just use blue tape.


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