There are three main methods to prepare your screen with your design in order to screen print. The simplest and quickest is designing and cutting a paper stencil. The second is using drawing fluid and screen filler, and the third is using photo emulsion to expose your screen. The first two methods can easily be done at home and it is these two methods that we are going to learn about in this book, so you can screen print with confidence.
Stencil printing is perfect for simple designs and silhouettes that lend themselves to a block colour with minimal detail to cut out. You can be quite adventurous with paper cutting, and there are some amazing examples of paper cutting artists in the industry today. But since this is a temporary method that you can only print from in one sitting, it seems a shame to go to the trouble of being very intricate in your cutting only to have to throw the stencil away at the end of your printing session. If you want a lot more detail in your design you are best working with the screen filler method. There are, however, ways of using stencils in a more permanent way by cutting them from acetate paper or a print and cut film. These materials are quite expensive so you may want to try your design out with newsprint paper first.
The screen filler method takes a little longer to prepare but it does allow you to produce a more detailed image, and is also a more permanent method. If you want to keep a design on your screen to use again, this is a better choice.