How Do You Design A Multiple-Color Stencil For Silk Screen Printing?
A stencil is what the art on a silk screen is called when it’s ready for printing. To print more than one color, you need to think of each color as a separate layer and design accordingly. Create or obtain a color version of your design. Identify the darkest color in the design (usually black). Use tracing paper and a pencil to trace only the black parts of the design. This will be your “key” printer – the guide that all the other colors are keyed to. Black is often used to “trap” other colors – that is, outline them – and since it will be the last color printed, it will overlap anything it traps. Make a separate tracing for each of the other colors in your design (for example, if yellow and red are your other two colors, you’ll have three tracings: one for black, one for yellow and one for red). Place each of these tracings over the black and make sure they match up (register) reasonably well. Congratulations – you’ve just made a color separation. Transfer each tracing onto a separate
