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Automating Your Screenprinting Shop

By Charlie Taublieb - Taublieb Consulting

When I first got into screenprinting, I knew I wanted to be a large shop and so I rented 15,000 square feet and only needed about 500 square feet. I felt that having more space was better than not having enough. The problem I had was everything was far away and I didn’t understand work was supposed to flow through a shop. Over the years I have designed many shops through out the world and each one is different, but I always look to do one similar thing and that is to place the departments near each other that follow one another. In other words, understanding how a job flows through a shop. I will address this at the end of the article once we have looked at all the other items needed.

When making decisions on equipment, I follow the same line of thinking, more is better than not enough once the size and emphasis has been determined. I like to break down the shops into three categories:
1-Small
2-Medium
3-Large

I also look at the different equipment and number of people each size shop will need.
1-Press
2-Dryer
3-Exposure Unit
4-Film Output Units
5-Frames

Now, let’s look at the type of work that would typically be produced by each size of shop:
1-Small shop
a-Custom work-printing for client that want a shirt for their company/store or an event.
b-Contract printing-printing for other than the end user, i.e. Ad Specialty company, producer of a line of garments that will sell to stores, etc.
2- Medium shop
a-Custom Work
b-Contract printing
c-Own line-you will design and sell to stores or on line.
1-Large shop
a-Custom Work
b-Contract printing
c-Own line

Once the size of a shop has been determined, we need to look at the number of machines, flashes and employees needed. This is always a little different depending on exactly what kind of work will be done and how much a company wants to grow, but here are my views:


1-Small shop
A-1 Automatic-Custom & Contract Printing
a) 8-12 colors with 2 flashes
b) 1-5 employees



2-Medium shop
B-1-3 Automatics-Custom, Contract & Small Line
a) 12-14 colors, 10 colors minimum with 2 flashes minimum per machine
b) 5-12 employees


3-Large shop
A-4+ Automatics-Custom, Contract & Line
a) 12-18 colors, 12 colors minimum with 2 flashes minimum per machine plus having additional flashes available and possibly a flock head or two
B-More than 12 employees



The next area to look at is dryers. My feeling is that all dryers in an automated shop should be gas fired. If natural gas is not available then use propane or at least an electric convection dryer. This is a dryer that looks like a gas dryer but uses electric elements to heat the air that will be used to cure the ink.

1-Small Shop-48”-60” width-10’ drying chamber.


2-Medium Shop-1 dryer for every 2 automatics with 60” width and a 10’-15’ drying chamber.



3-Large Shop-1 dryer for every 2 automatics with a 60”-72” width and possibly a split belt so very different kinds of jobs can be put through the same dryer without concern for curing or scorching. The drying chamber should be 10’-20’ and possibly longer if water based inks will be used.







One of the most important pieces of equipment you will need is the exposure unit. The quality of your prints will be very affected by the type of light source you use to make your stencil. All automated shops should be using metal halide lamps with a light integrator. The light integrator allows for precise exposures verses a timer which is not as accurate due to the variations in power supply that can occur.

The size of the exposure area and strength of the light will depend on how many screens need to be produced per day and the type of work being done. The exposure unit should be self contained to reduce the amount of space needed in the screen room and should be about 2.5K or more.
1-Small shop-2.5K-5K Exposure Unit able to expose 1 large screen or 2 small ones.

















2-Medium shop-5K Exposure Unit capable of exposing 2 large screens or 4 small ones.











3-Large shop-5K-10K Exposure Unit capable of exposing 2-6 large screens or 4 or more small screens. A second exposure unit of 3K-5K should be available as a back up unit and to get quick reshoots of one screen.





















We are now into looking at film output units. There are a number of different types to consider no matter what size shop you have, as long as the quality of the positive is very good.

Here are the different types and some information about them.
A-Image Setter has excellent dot resolution but requires developing, disposal of chemistry and requires a large darkroom that is usually climate controlled.

B-Thermal units such as the OYO have very good dot resolution but the heads are will corrupt and need to be replaced periodically. The film will also turn yellows if the same image is exposed often.

C-Laser printers were popular at one time and some companies still use them, but there are many negatives weather using paper of plastic vellum. The paper/film is frosted so the dot resolution is usually not very good, there are size restrictions, registration problems, the need to spray the positives to intensify the image and in general, not a good choice for an automated shop.

D-Ink Jet printers are probably the most popular and have good dot resolution. There are units they are sheet fed or work off of a roll. They can be slow, moderate or even fast in their output speed based on the RIP used. A RIP is necessary and lets the computer tell the printer how to produce half-tone dots and the amount of ink to lay down on the film.

E-Direct to Screen units are great because there is no film to output, file, retrieve or touch-up. They do not required glass on the vacuum frame so exposure are 25%-30% faster than with film and the accuracy and repeatability is the best. They can use either ink or wax for their output. Due to their price, they are justified if a shop has two or more automatics, or the shop uses a lot of film.

There are different types of screen frames to use, but in my opinion, the only ones that make sense to me are retensionable ones. The screen size to use will depending on the particular machine. Small shops using a small machine will usually use a frame size of 23”x31”. A medium sized shop with larger presses will probably use two sizes. The most common ones are 23”x31” and 25”x36”. In a large shop with the capabilities of doing over all prints, there may be three or more frame sizes used. The 23”x31”, 25”x36” and whatever the maximum size of a frame that will fit a machine.

Space considerations will vary quite a lot based on a number of factors, but first,
let’s put together a list of what happens in the order that it happens in almost any shop and then look at how much space may be necessary.

1-An order is written by the sales department
2-Multiple things occur
A) Artwork has to be generated
B) Garments have to be ordered
C) The job has to be scheduled (tentatively)
3-Screens have to be prepared
4-Ink has to be prepared
5-Job has to go to production
6-Job has to be shipped

Having a feel for how large you want to try to grow your company is one of the considerations in looking for space. This is a minimum of what I think each type of shop will need in terms of space and departments.

A-Small Shop
– 2,000+ Square Feet
• Office
• Art Department
• Screen Room
• Ink Room
• Production Area
• Shipping & Receiving


B-Medium Shop
– 5,000+ Square Feet
• Offices
• Sales
• Accounting
• Sourcing
• Art Department
• Screen Room
• Ink Room
• Production Area
• Sample Area
• Shipping & Receiving

C- Large Shop
– 15,000+ Square Feet
• Offices
• Sales
• Accounting
• Sourcing
• Conference/Show Room
• Art Department
• Screen Room
• Ink Room
• Production Area
• Sample Area
• R&D Area
• Shipping & Receiving

Since there is no limit to the growth potential of a shop, the amount of space required will probably change, but keep in mind that moving is a costly proposition and having more space may cost less in the long run than not enough space.

The last items to look at are the power requirements, which will vary based on the size of the shop. An adequate supply of gas and electric is essential. Most large equipment runs off of 220 volt. Dryers and flash units can require a lot of amps so more is much better than not enough. Check the requirements for each piece of equipment and then boost it to accommodate growth.

Should you have questions that need more specific answers, please contact me via Hirsch International or via e-mail – drprint@aol.com.