Mesh count
Becauase EZScreens can be used on many different surfaces, a lot of our customres find themselves using several types of inks or other printing mediums with their silk screen, which will likely have different consistencies. As an example, fabric ink is thicker than acrylic paint that is typically used for printing on glass, paper, and wood. To improve print quality with different inks, we offer two different mesh sizes; standard and HIDEF.
The standard 110 thread count is suitable in most projects. It is good for inks/paints containing large pigments (like opaque inks and ceramic under-glazes) that you might use for screen printing on fabric, t-shirts, wood, ceramic, pottery, bisque, and clay.
Our HIDEF option has a 160 thread count. This helps with highlu detailed images and halftones. HIDEF screens are also better when using thinner inks or when printing on non-porous surfaces such as glass, plastic, or metal. Pushing ink through the higher thread count may be more difficult. Inks/paints branded "metallic" or "opaque" may not come through the mesh well. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about what mesh count will work best for your project.
Size
This one is pretty self explanatory. You are going to need a stencil that is at least as large as your artwork. We usually recommend at least 1/2 an inch border all the way around your design. Meaning, your stencil should be at least an inch wider and taller than your design. It is convenient to have even more space, but we strongly recommend that 1/2 inch minimum.
We sell EZScreen stencils in 3 sizes; 11"x17", 8.5"x11", and 4.25"x5.5". These are standard paper sizes (Tabloid, Letter, and A2). Keep in mind that if you are printing your own transparencies that you will need transparencies and a printer that can print the size of your final desired artwork. If you decide on a design that is smaller than the EZScreen you have, you can cut your EZScreens down yourself to get multiple stencils out of a single sheet.