Our search for quality long-lasting screen printed stickers stopped when we came across Sticker Robot. These guys really know what they’re doing when it comes to making stickers of all shapes and sizes. Their client list is huge and they deliver worldwide. Our customer experience with them was next to none and we can’t speak any higher words of their delivery speed and sticker quality. They kindly took some photos of our stickers in the sticker printing process, so you can all see what goes into the production.
When it comes to the quality of your stickers, we have found that there is an apparent difference between silkscreen and digitally printed stickers. Screen printed stickers are the most durable of all custom sticker printing methods and they just look amazing because the colours are so vibrant. The vibrancy is down to the ink being ten times thicker than digital ink, making them look so bright and vivid. These guys also have a specially printed backing for your sticker which is really thick like a postcard so your stickers don’t get bent and broken in your bag.
The first step in making silkscreen stickers is to make one set of transparent film for each color.
The film is “burned” into a fine silkscreen mesh which is coated with emulsion, an impermeable solution… impermeable until ultra violet light hits it.
The next step is to wash out the emulsion, essentially creating a stencil.
Detail of the press-ready cyan sticker screen.
Detail of the press-ready magenta sticker screen.
The press-ready silkscreen is taped off and attached to the press, where we add a thick coat of ink. think of this part as a very precise stenciling technique. the squeegee will force the ink through the screen and onto the (transparent) vinyl sticker material below.
After 2 passes of ink from 2 separate screens, the cyan and magenta ink is laid down.
Sticker Robot offers CMYK gang run printing, which means that our stickers are printed simultaneously with 30 or so other files. This saves lots of money for their customers.
Before the stickers are cut… a look at the clear vinyl sticker sheets.
Mmmm… transparent vinyl stickers. tasty. 3 coats of high gloss, clear UV ink is added as well, making for very durable, outdoor quality stickers. This is one key difference in silkscreen vs digital sticker printing.
Here’s that fancy sticker back printing we were talking about earlier. The backing is thick like a postcard, quite durable.
Stacks and stacks of our new custom, vinyl “people of print” stickers. yes!
marcroy@peopleofprint.com
