Screen printing on burned cd's

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Roboburger
buyin' gear
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Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 7:44 am
Location: Williamstown, MA

Re: Screen printing on burned cd's

Post by Roboburger » Fri Feb 11, 2005 12:02 pm

For some cool CDRs to screen onto, try Americal.com

http://www.americal.com/ct/color%20cdr%20media.html

these are color top CDRs, they even have black, which would look cool with a white or Gold screen. Don't use Orange. that's MY color.

Honestly though, whenever I burn a CD for a client, I use those CDRs, and all my clients say that in their house they have 1000 cdr's so it's easy to find the one from my studio! I use a stamp from a local stamp place (I think it was 8 bucks) and stamp my studio name on them as I use them.
Audio Engineer Euphemism for going number two: "Rollin' off the Low End."

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andrew embassy
george martin
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Re: Screen printing on burned cd's

Post by andrew embassy » Fri Feb 11, 2005 1:41 pm

BEARD_OF_BEES wrote:UTFSF!! LOL!! heres a great post by our own boardmember Ryan_C to me a while back :
Alright Sky, I'm going to write this assuming you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. Of course, you may know some (if not most or all) of this, so I apologize in advance if you already do. Screen printing is something that takes a lot of effort, but isn't particularly difficult to do, and I think it behooves every band to have at least one person be fairly proficient at it.

First, depending on your design (and how much detail is in it) the mesh count of your screen is key. A low mesh count will make your prints look like shit, and everything will be very blocky. You'll also use more ink and it will go on thicker, as more ink is allowed to transfer. And a low mesh count + small text = bad times. If you just bought your silkscreen off the shelf at Dick Blick (my local example, though they are a nationwide chain so they may be your local example as well!) with the mesh already stretched, you may have problems. We learned that the hard way. We normally just buy frames and stretch them ourselves, and many times we've bought mesh from Dick Blick (they sell it in a bag, though I've heard it's been discontinued) and it's always been of sufficient mesh count. The last time we were in a hurry, though, and just bought some new screens pre-stretched off the shelf at Dick Blick, and the prints were UGLY. Really blocky, way too much ink got through and soaked the paper, it was a total disaster. I mention this because you said you already have the screen, and if it ends up looking bad, the mesh count could be why. I've been told that a mesh count of 110-195 tends to be great for most designs. The screens we used turned out to be like 74s or something.

I don't know if you have your screen already burned, but if not, it's pretty easy. We make our negatives on vellum paper printed off of a laser jet printer and use a fancy-pants lightbox with some fancy pants screen emulsion, which gives us more detail and cuts down on the time. For a simple one color design you don't have to go that route, though. You can get the Speedball Diazo screen emulsion kit at just about any art store. Look in the included instructions and follow them. It's pretty easy to use. The instructions are pretty clear, but i can add a few more pointers. First, put your design on a transparency. If you have a photocopier, that's great, otherwise take it to Kinko's and have them do it. Make sure you like the way it looks, because your finished product is going to look almost exactly the same. When I would do stuff off of an inkjet printer, I'd make a photocopy of it, and then copy that copy and so on a few times to soften up the edges before making the transparency, but I'm crazy like that. You'll also need a sheet of glass bigger than your design to hold it flat while you burn it. You can probably just take it out of a picture frame. Once the screen is burned in and ready to go, you'll probably have to tape off where the edges of the glass were. A nice clamping work light with the reflector around it is fantastic, just use the wattage bulb they recommend in the instructions (I think 150). And be careful, the emulsion stains. I turned the bottom of the shower in my dorm green in college from washing out screens in there. The transparency route is kind of down and dirty, but it's pretty easy and doesn't require much equipment (like a lightbox and the right weight vellum and a laserjet printer). Out of the probably two dozen screens I've made like this (with extremely shitty setups), I think I've only managed to fuck up one.

If it's just one color, it's pretty simple. Get whatever color ink you want to rock. Standard acrylic ink (Speedball is the easiest example and is very inexpensive) should work fine. You can make a custom color if you want. We use big disposable plastic cups and plastic spoons for mixing, though if we have old tupperware around that also works well. So pour some ink into the cup, and add some extender base to thin it down a bit. This will help it go on smooth (you don't want it to print all puffy, it looks kind of crappy and will be prone to flaking off) and help keep it from drying up in your screen. It also (as the name suggests) helps extend the amount of ink you have, sort of like a restaurant watering down your soda.

If your backing board is clean, you can probably just lay the cd down directly on it, but if you're feeling a little nervous about it (as there is a potential for scratching) a (very) thin, flat layer of foam (like they package stuff in) or a thin, soft towel (also flat!) would probably work. Make sure you tape it down (we use drafting tape for everything) so it doesn't move around. After this, line up the cd with where you want the design to be. If you're only doing one color, it shouldn't be too bad, though it can be a bit tricky so be patient. Make sure you have more cds than you actually need so you have some to practice with. Once you get it lined up the way you want it, tape off a tight square around the cd so you can quickly put the next one down without having to figure it out everytime. You may need to adjust it a little, and depending on how your screen is mounted (standard pin-hinges have a little more give in them compared to clamp hinges, which won't move at all on you), the positioning of your picture may be slightly different on every cd, but that just makes each one a unique piece of art!

Now it's time to make a print! Use your disposable plastic spoon to spoon some ink onto the screen. You won't need a ton of ink, just put it an inch or two above your design and make a line just a little bit wider than your image. Use your squeegee and pull it down while holding it at an angle, using both hands to ensure even pressure. You won't need to go all the way to the bottom of the screen, just past where your design ends (that way if you didn't tape off the gutters, you won't have ink squeezing through to the bottom). Kind of scoop up the extra ink at the end of your pull. Lift up your screen. Does it look right? If so, then awesome, congratulations! Take off the disc and it's on to the next one. If it looks uneven and some ink didn't print (you can normally tell this as you're doing it, though), don't touch it! Close the screen and do another pass across the bad area. You can normally tell right away if your design will require two passes, which isn't a big deal. Just try to not move the screen at all so it stays in registration. Normally, if you need two passes, you can add more ink and make it in one if you want to. Just be mindful of how thick it's going on the cd and add a little more extender if you need to. Also, you don't want the cd to stick to the bottom of the screen. That shit is bad news. A bit more extender will help with that as well.

We find it easiest to do this with three people. In your case, one person would set up the cd, one person would print it, and one person would take it off and set it aside to dry, making you a real-live assembly line! This is also helpful for adding more ink and getting the printer water to drink or whatever. It's nice because that way you can trade off who is printing, which is definitely the hardest job. If you have to do it by yourself, grab a boom mic stand and use that to hold up the screen off the board while you put cds on and take them off, that way ink doesn't get onto the board (and therefore on to the bottom of your discs!).

You may notice your print quality declining (particularly if you're doing hundreds of prints), sometimes severely over time. That means it's time to take a break. Thoroughly wash out your screen and let it stand to dry. If it's nice and warm and sunny out, put it outside in the sun and let nature do the rest. When it's dry you can get back to work.

Also, keep a roll of paper towels handy. They're good for putting inky things on, keeping your work area relatively clean, and if ink blobs up on the bottom of your screen, you can wipe it off with a paper towel.

This last part seems like common sense but I've seen it happen, even to us: make sure your cds are dry before stacking them! Lay them all out one by one on the floor or a table and give them enough time to dry. It shouldn't take too long (though humidity will obviously add to the time) but give yourself enough time and be patient about it.

I think that's most of the basics. I hope so at any rate, because after previewing this, it's extremely fucking long. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll feel about it. Feel free to post again or PM me with any other questions, and let us know how it goes. Good luck!
AWESOME! Thanks, man.
HEY! Who forgot they bag?

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