How can screenprinting save me money?

Screen printing is a one of the older forms of signmaking but is still extremely relevant for those looking for large numbers of a single sign.

Much of today's signage is digitally printed.  Think of this as somewhat akin to your home inkjet on steroids.  For each sign, the file must be set up, the printer loaded and then produced.

Now we have a print but it still needs to be trimmed and applied to some time of backing. In many cases this will be an inexpensive plastic cardboard known as coroplast.  The signmaker then trims the print and applies it to the coroplast.

This works great  for smaller numbers of signs but if you have larger numbers of simple signs, screen printing is likely to be far less expensive.  Screenprinting is as it sounds.  A screen is created with your artwork on it and then paint is applied to the screen - directly onto the coroplast.

Labour costs are less because the printing process is skipped entirely and it takes far less time to apply the paint then it would to cut and apply vinyl.  So why aren't signs screen printed?  Great question.

Firstly, it costs a significant amount of money to produce the screen.  This means that the cost savings typically kick in somewhere between 50 and 100 signs.  Secondly, the more colours you use the greater the cost. So, the simpler your sign the more you will save by using screen printing over a digital print or cut vinyl.

Lastly, screen printing is limited in what it can reproduce.  Only solid colours, no pictures or gradients.  If you have a logo that has gradients on it for example, screen printing just wouldn't work.

If you need 100 or more signs that are one or two colours, give us a call @ 778-858-4662.

Impact! Sign and Graphics services Coquitlam, Vancouver and the lower mainland. We specialize in exterior signage, lobby signs, screen printing and much more.