A medium added to ink, diluting the pigment and reducing the ink deposit. With the addition of chino to plastisol inks, the print can achieve a lighter hand-feel.
Choke
The practice of making one layer slightly smaller than a layer applied later in the printing process. For instance, a white base would be made slightly smaller than the overlying red color to ensure that the base was not visible.
Discharge printing
A process, best used on 100% cotton garments, by which a chemical removes the dye in the underlying fabric during printing. The benefit of this method is that the printing, unlike standard plastisol printing, has a very light and soft hand-feel.
Discharge base
A white base applied with discharge printing to color garments. Using this base with full-color process yields a softer ink deposit than standard screen printing, especially when chino inks are used for the colors.
Halftone
Color and white dots that vary in pattern to simulate shades of the color. For example, a halftone of red would appear pink.
Plastisol
Ink type used in most screen printing applications. Plastisol contains pigment and a PVC binder. Once the printed garment is heated to 230 degrees, the plastisol ink is cured, and the print is durable, pliable and colorfast.
Screen mesh
The size of the space between threads in a screen through which ink is pressed in the printing process. The smaller the mesh, the more detailed the print.
Screen printing
The method of printing by forcing ink through a mesh stencil.