www.images-magazine.com 68 images OCTOBER 2026 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT in-house? To me, it was easy: yes. Having access to replacement screens would dramatically reduce downtime. Gaining full control over the variables – tension, EOM and positioning – would produce instant wins. The learning curve to achieve the skills and knowledge required for a modern screen department would be steep but worth it. A good screen is not necessarily a repeatable screen, and when five automatic presses are waiting for those screens, small positional inconsistencies become expensive very quickly. The argument against was simple. The current long-distance supplier was producing good screens, production was running and bringing the whole process in-house would cost money and create another department that needed managing. The visit finished with a full presentation on the levels of investment required to build a Phase 4 screen department that would bring control of tension, EOM and positioning under one roof, improve repeatability and give production immediate access to replacement screens when they were needed. What would you do? Invest in a new in-house screen-making department or carry on as you are? Earlier this year, I wrote about the Brazilian manufacturer Live! and briefly mentioned its unusual production set-up [imagesmag. uk/feb26_tony]. When I asked to see the screen room, the reply was: “Sure, we can probably make it there in 90 minutes.” It’s rare I get sideswiped by a comment, but this really did make me question, first, my entry-level Portuguese and, second, my knowledge of screen printing. Live! is a well-established activewear brand and vertically integrated clothing manufacturer with five automatic presses, a full development lab and sample tables in-house. Given the high level of competence in the print department, including printing onto verydifficult synthetic products, I was surprised (to say the least) to discover the complete absence of a screenmaking department. The stencils in this professional print studio were high quality and in my week there I never saw one instance of stencil breakdown. The EOM (emulsion over mesh) was high on the Relevo screens used for puff and high build. My issues, however, were centred around the image positioning. The screen print presses were modern and all new from purchase. But there were two different brands on the production floor. One, a wellestablished brand that I have worked with for the majority of my career; the other, a bright yellow Eastern Europeanbuilt machine that I don’t see much of on my travels. Again, the issue here was not one of quality or reliability. The issue was that the yellow machine had been adapted to match the European machines, which was causing inconsistencies in the positioning of the image. (If you are wondering why image positioning is important, then I can refer you to the many articles I have written on pre-registration systems and their unique ability to reduce set-up downtime by an average of 40%.) A quick test soon highlighted that the screens were not made in exactly the same position. The use of the word ‘exactly’ is important. The level of accuracy we can achieve in the screen department directly correlates to the amount of time taken to align the separate layers of colour we apply in the production arena. Investigation time My investigations ultimately turned to the screen-making process, to establish which phase of screen production we were actually using. ■Phase 1: Hand-drawn artwork on acetate (old school) ■Phase 2: Computer-drawn artwork printed onto clear film (inkjet film) ■Phase 3: The image printed directly onto the emulsion before exposure (computer-to-screen) ■Phase 4: Light-based direct imaging of the stencil, removing film and ink from the process (laser-to-screen) ■Phase 5: Futuristic methods of creating differing mesh in specific areas (multi-mesh) Having realised that the problem lay 60km south – with the third-party screen-makers – I paid them a visit. I was expecting to find a high-end, fully automated screen room, one that efficiently and economically provided finished stencils at a commercial level. I was wrong. I saw a Phase 2 facility, with manual coating processes and a film-positioning unit that had been adapted to accommodate other manufacturers. This rendered it useless for accurate positioning. Even the films were not printed here. I must stress that, despite using old techniques, the quality of the screens was high and the techniques were robust, just not repeatable across different staff and shift changes. This discovery led to a conundrum. Should we bring the stencil department Tony Palmer takes a closer look at the faraway third-party screen room used by Live! in Brazil and offers some advice and options Tony Palmer has been in the garment decoration industry for more than 30 years and is now an independent print consultant working closely with print shops across the globe to get the most from existing processes and techniques. He also co-hosts the popular screen printing podcast Chippy Tee! withDanny Donald of The Flippin Sweet Print Co. www.palmprintuk.com T ny’stravels Stretching screens at the third-party screenmakers, which is located 60km from the print shop
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