![]() What Can Happen If You Choose The Wrong Mesh Count The bottom line: make sure your ink, substrate, and image all align with your mesh count. ![]() So your t-shirt, too, has a “resolution” that it can hold.īesides the makeup of the actual substrate, you’ve also got to consider whether the material is right for the ink you want to use. While your screen may be able to hold a great deal of detail, the t-shirt you’re printing on is made up of a bunch of tightly woven threads. Here’s why: both the screen you’re using to print with and the material you’re printing on are made out of woven materials arranged in a grid. Material (substrate)ĭifferent materials (substrates) require different mesh counts. Struggling to manage your inks? Learn more about screen printing ink here. The thinner threads and smaller gaps will allow less ink through. When using extremely thin inks (like water based inks or discharge inks), you’ll need to use a higher mesh count. ![]() Because of this limitation with thick ink, you also need to consider that your images should be simpler. This allows more space between the threads on the screen so that ink can pass through the screen freely. If you use thicker inks (particularly inks that contain additives like glitter), you’ll want to use a lower mesh count. We’ll get into how to calculate how much detail your image can contain with a metric called LPI (lines per inch) later. But for a complicated image, you’ll want the highest mesh possible. You don’t need a high mesh count for something simple like a one-color logo or large text. Image detailĪs the detail of your image goes up, so does your mesh count. You can store this information in your screen printing management software and make it easier for employees to choose the right mesh. While multiple mesh counts are standard in any screen printing shop, they all have their unique uses for the highest quality output. Ultimately, it’s your job to understand which mesh works with each garment, each image, and each ink. Screens come in a wide range of mesh options. One of the most important parts of successful screen printing is understanding how mesh count relate to print quality. What material (substrate) is being printed on?. ![]() To decide which mesh count you need to use, you should consider the details of the print: Printavo’s Mesh Cheat Sheet (Click for full version) How to Decide Which Mesh Count You Should Use? Since screens are just woven nylon threads, mesh counts describe exactly how many threads you’ll find in a given area. They’re sold in different mesh counts, which you can think of like the resolution of the screen. Screens for screen printing aren’t just sold in different size. Mesh count is one of the first variables that screen printers should understand. ![]()
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