Yudu Screen Printing System

From the first moment I saw the YUDU screen printing system on the market I knew I had to try it out. I am addicted to uniquely printed t-shirts and I figured with this product would help me expand my collection.

You can create your own designs on your computer, whether it is an actual shape, words, or a combination of both. You print your design onto a transparency sheet and then transfer that to the screen and print your design. Once you get it figured out, it is a fairly easy process.

My main complaint about this product is the directions that come with it. I thought it was going to be a complex process and was a little surprised when the instruction sheet was only 1 page long and it even included illustrations on that one page. The directions were short and sweet, but not quite complete... For example, the directions tell you that the screen preparation is done on the back of the screen, but it does not explain to you what side is the back. The instructional DVD that comes with the YUDU is a little more informative, but still left me with a few questions. To answer my questions I went online and found great instructions on the YUDU site. The tutorial they have posted here are much better!

Another problem I had with the directions came when I was preparing the screen for printing. The machine burns the image you printed onto an emulsion sheet, you then wash off the design and screen print; however, it took me 3 tries to get my design to work. In my first attempt, I did not realize there was a protective plastic sheet on the emulsion sheet that need to be removed. This was my fault because it was written in the instructions, but it was written as more of a side bar tip which I did not read. My second attempt failed, I believe, because the emulsion sheet was not completely dry when I burned my image onto the screen. In reading the online tutorial and tips, I learned that you should run the emulsion sheet through as many drying cycles as necessary until it is completely dry.

Once I found YUDU's online tutorial, using the YUDU really was easy. I was sailing through all of the steps with no problems, and not counting drying time for both the emulsion sheet and the finished product, the process was pretty quick. It took me longer to figure out what to print than to actually print it. It is a wonderful tool you can use to create and print not only your own t-shirts or other apparel, but also for home dècor, art prints, posters, cards, and much more.

This is not a small machine. The packaging size is 31.75" x 21.75" x 10.75" and there wasn't much room to spare around the YUDU screen printer. This is definitely not an inexpensive product (ranging in the $250 - $300 price range). The supplies are not cheap either. The YUDU does come with everything you need to get started and print one design, but you will definitely want to buy emulsion remover or extra screens so you can do more designs.

All that being said, I am so glad I bought this product and look forward to creating many great designs with it. The reason I only gave it a 3 star review instead of 5 was because of the poor directions and also the price. The bottom line though: Yes, it is big... Yes, it is a bit spendy... But it has so many creative possibilities!