One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard from other at-home printers is a lack of knowledge of a good way to register a multi-color print. My process has evolved over the years, and is a mix of common sense and other folks’ methods, and I have to say it works pretty dang well. So, let’s get this class started: you’ll need, as always, your exposed screen, squeegee, and ink, but you may notice that on the table under the screen is a large sheet of mylar, which is taped down on the left hand side. Lastly, there’s a roll of Dymo tape; you’ll need to cut three pieces about an inch or so each. (If you’re unsure what Dymo tape is, it’s the adhesive label tape that goes in label makers like the one below)

Spread your ink on the screen and pull you first print onto the mylar. As long as your clamps can hold the screen well, each time you pull a print, it will print in exactly the same spot as it did on the mylar.

Line up your paper underneath the mylar until the ink on the mylar is directly over where you would like it to print on the paper. (More explanation in the next step)

Since most of the prints for The Weekly Print are the same size, I can use an earlier print to make sure each week’s print goes in the same spot. On top of that, I have lightly taped the positive that I used to expose the screen (use very low tack artist’s masking tape), and THAT is what I was lining up to the print on mylar in the last step. Once you’ve got everything lined up, peel back the mylar without losing your paper placement. Now, while holding down your paper firmly with one hand, place the Dymo tape strips flush to the edge of your paper with your other. Two on the long side and one on the short side of the paper is good enough.

(A quick tip: personally, I find the paper backing on the Dymo tape nearly impossible to peel off, so I always make sure I peel it off and set the tape aside BEFORE I make the first pull onto the mylar. It’s just less hassle that way.)

Throw down a fresh piece of paper and slide it into place so it is flush against all three of your tape strips. Then pull a print! If you make sure to always align the paper to the tape every time, each print you pull will be in exactly the same space on your paper.

OK, so anyone can do one color, but what if you want more? After printing and cleaning up after your first color, clean off your mylar and re-tape it in place on your table. Just as you did with the first color, pull the first one onto the mylar.

Now, line up the paper with your first color underneath the mylar, pull the mylar away, and adjust your Dymo tape strips accordingly. I’ve found that I can use the same three tape strips for at least three colors, just pull it up and re-place it when you switch colors.

Print away and you should have a properly aligned, two-color screenprint, congratulations! You can use this exact same method over and over for as many colors as your print requires.

If you only do smaller, less registration-intense prints, you can also hand register each print by keeping the mylar taped to your table. Pull the first one onto the mylar, just like above, roll away the mylar, print, roll back the mylar, place new paper underneath mylar, roll back mylar, print, new paper, and so on. Instead of using the Dymo tape, you just eyeball it under the mylar each print you pull. It takes a lot longer, but some people are more comfortable with it, and it’s also a good method to know if your paper does not have perfectly straight cut edges.

That’s it for this lesson, hope it was helpful! If you’re getting anything out of these home printing lessons, I’d love to see what you’ve been printing.

OK, so you’ve got a screen exposed and washed out, what’s next? Well, it’s time to get printing, the exciting (and let’s be honest, sometimes tedious) part! On the table, I’ve got my screen, of course, paper cut to the proper size, the transparency positive for one of the colors, ink, a small plastic scraper (to clean ink off the screen when you’re done), a squeegee, some spray tack, and a large sheet of clear mylar. On these smaller prints, I can fit two colors on one screen, which is why one half of my screen is masked off with newspaper.

Also just as important, in my opinion, is what’s up on the wall behind my print table. That whole wall is tacked and taped with prints, photos, drawing, and the like from many of my creative friends and acquaintances from all over the world, and is a never ending source of inspiration and visual candy while printing.

For those of you new to the screenprinting process, the screen gets clamped to the table with hinge clamps, which secure the frame to the table, but allow the screen to raise and lower in the same spot every time. The green tape is taping down a small piece of pressboard lined up with the screen frame, this slightly increases the distance between the bottom of the screen and the table, also known as off-contact.

Here, I’ve lightly taped down one of the transparencies I used to expose the screen to my paper. I’ve used a previous print to get a general idea of where on the paper I wish to print, to create a consistent placement.

First color of ink is on the screen, people! You want some good flow to the ink, but not runny. The consistency of pancake batter seems like a good match I guess.

Here’s where the mylar comes in. Tape down one edge of it to your table, then pull your first print on the mylar. Take that transparency-taped paper from the previous step, and line it up under the print on the mylar. As long as your hinge clamps are tight, each squeege pull will print on that exact same spot it did on the mylar.

I’m thinking of doing a whole separate post just on registration in the coming weeks, but here you can see that I’ve laid down Dymo tape in an L-shape aligned to the paper. Put a very light coat of spray tack down, just enough to stick the paper to the table lightly, but not glue it down. Now get printing!

OK, the first color is dry, second color is on the screen.

A very transparent yellow is my second color of this print. When printed over the halftone dots of the blue layer, it creates a nice light green color.

I didn’t take any pictures of the last color being printed, but here’s the final print, all lined up and drying on my drying rack, otherwise known as my bed.

I hope you liked my second big installment of my at-home printing process, and I hope maybe you’ve learned something. If you’re reading this, and there’s a specific question you have about the process or setup, or you have a suggestion for what step you’d like to see me cover next, please speak up.

And please, if you have been enjoying the site, or these more informational posts, remember that all of these prints are actually for sale in the Weekly Print store. Any sales would be much appreciated right now.

This week’s print might post a little later than usual: Wednesday or Thursday, so check back!