May 06 2009
Product Review: Yudu Screen Printing Machine
In my quest to be a total craft nerd with all the cool toys, I recently purchased a Yudu screen printing machine recently introduced to the market by the fine folks at Provo Craft. I had to see what the hubub was for myself and then figure out if it was worth recommending to you, my lovely crafty wedding peeps.
For the record: printmaking is one of my crafting obsessions. I love doing it. I love teaching it. I adore other printmakers and buy a considerable amount of printy goodness every year. In 2000 I bought my first Print Gocco (and then sold it – doh!). A few years ago I picked up a Speedball screen printing kit. You could say that I have a decent background in the basics of print. I’m no expert, just a crafter who digs getting her fingers inky.
The Basic Info
The MSRP of the Yudu is $300, though you can get it online for around $200. {Oh My Crafts has it for 184.99 at the moment}. JoAnn and Michaels are also carrying the machines in store but do not yet allow their coupons to be used to buy the machine. You can, however, use their coupons to buy supplies – which you’ll need.
In the Yudu box you’ll find:
- Yudu machine
- Adult t-shirt platen
- Blank ink-jet transparency
- 110 mesh screen
- Squeegee
- 2 fl oz black ink
- Platen adhesive sheet
- Instructional DVD
- User manual
- Emulsion sheet
A quick run-down of the process (there are other steps and details in here but are not covered in this review):
- Place emulsion sheet onto screen.
- Place screen in dryer. Wait for it to dry.
- Put your artwork onto glass.
- Top that with emulsion screen.
- Burn artwork into screen.
- Rinse screen.
- Get your print on.
What I tested:
- Cardstocks – some scraps in my never-ending pile.
- Tshirt
- Silk pillow cover
- Metal flashing
- Wood veneer
What I love about the Yudu:
- Print area. The screens are 11″ x 14″ which is a great size for stationery and many other wedding crafts. By comparison, the ever-popular Gocco PG5, has a max print area of 3-9/16″ x 5-9/16.
- The all-in-one design of the machine. There’s no need to buy a lot of supplies just to get started and the all-in-one makes storing it easier than with my other screenprinting kit. The product design team at Provo Craft did a great job.
- Ease of use. Overall, this was pretty darned easy to use. There is a bit of a learning curve but I think even the timidest of newbies could get the hang of the Yudu with just a few tries. Read those instructions, kiddies!
- Handles large prints and designs beautifully.
- Prints great on wood, metal, and fabric.
- Yudu inks offer nice coverage and opacity.
- Screens are re-usable and were easy to wash out.
- The quality of the machine is very good and I think it’ll last forever.
- No special lightbulbs for the machine.
What I didn’t like:
- The machine itself is pretty big, about the size of a large scanner or all-in-one inkjet printer. For those of us who have very limited craft space, the Yudu footprint is cumbersome. However, it has the 11 x 14 print area so it really couldn’t be much more streamlined than it already is. If you’re used to the Gocco’s size, the Yudu will be an adjustment.
- The process is long. It took about 50-ish minutes to do a single print – not including the drying time of the print. Getting the emulsion set up and everything ready to go takes some time. Once you get going, doing multiple prints is pretty easy and quick.
- The supplies are not cheap. Screens run about $28.00, emulsion sheets (2 pack) are $19.00, 5 pack of transparencies are $6.00, inks are around $22.00 for a 3-pack. You’ll also need more platens (if you’re doing multiples of t-shirts), emulsion remover, blockout, adhesive sheets, registration panels, and then all of your clean-up tools, things to print on, etc. etc.
- Screens are available only in 110 mesh. I found that the 110 didn’t do well with small text and very fine detail. On my test of an invitation with 10 and 11 pt fonts (script and serifs), it wasn’t as clear as I would have liked. I’ve heard Provo Craft is working on different mesh sizes.
- It didn’t print all that great on some of the cardstocks I had. The ink was too runny on some of the cardstocks and this could totally be the cardstock itself rather than an ink/Yudu problem. I haven’t had a chance to go back and do more tests yet.
- The inks were drying REALLY fast for me on the day I tested so I had to hustle to get prints made before they clogged the screens.
- There aren’t that many ink colors available.
- The demo video is not very good.
My overall impressions:
I really, really like the Yudu and am happy to have it. I am eagerly awaiting other mesh sizes to see if they handle finer text and small detail better – an important thing for invitations/stationery design. Bottom line: If you’re serious about taking on screenprinting as a hobby or career, I think it’s worth the investment especially if you’re new to printmaking. If you’re considering only making your invites and a few other projects this is probably way too cost-prohibitive to make it worthwhile.
In comparison with the Gocco, I have to say that I like the Yudu better. Supplies are readily available for the Yudu, the print area is larger which allows opens up a whole new world of print possibilities, and the process seems more intuitive than what I remember from my Gocco days. (If you have Gocco-specific questions, please ask!)
Related posts:
- Do You Yudu?
- {Workshop} Screen Printing 101
- Product Review: Epson Artisan 800
- Help A Reader Out: Finding A Gocco
- DIY Letterpress Machine
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Great review! I’ve been anxiously awaiting to hear your thoughts, as a printer myself, I think the Yudu is the one thing I’ve been waiting for. I never attempted Gocco because of the small print area. I look forward to see the arrival of different mesh sizes.
Did you try this on metallic, coated cardstocks? Such as the Curious Metallics or Stardream line? My print projects seem to be exclusively on these coated stocks.
It sounds like it would be pretty easy for Provo to come out with a 2nd generation Yudu that corrects pretty much every problem you have – because you like the fundamental design. It’s pretty new, so they will probably come out with more inks and perhaps slower drying inks – although from the promotional material I’ve seen, its more for t-shirts than small cards and stuff.
I wonder if they’ll come out with a mini version – a stationary Yudu – that would be a little larger than a Gocco but smaller than this version (maybe with a 5×7 print area)- with finer mesh screens. That would probably sell well as a replacement/competitor for the Gocco, because I haven’t gotten the vibe that this is supposed to replace that.
I think like any first time product, its bound to have some bugs – I think I’ll probably wait a long time before looking into it (maybe once I have a craft room…).
Great review! I love my Yudu too. I’ve used it on fabric, cardstock, canvas, vinyl, and felt….worked great on them all, but I’m looking forward to playing with finer mesh screens on paper/cardstock too. I’m so glad that it’s as large as it is. It makes it much more versatile IMO.
The metallic ink is great, although I’ve only used it on fabric.
I am def. interested in getting one now. Thanks!
That review was so timely! We were just considering it for our invitations. Hearing about the difficulties with the fine detail and smaller fonts definitely steers me away from it for this particular project. Although I think that we’ll still end up getting one eventually because it’s just too fantastic that it’s an all-in-one design.
Jennifer, I haven’t yet tried it on metallic cardstocks. I’ll report back when I get a chance.
Great review! I saw this at Michaels or Joanns (can’t remember) and wanted it-thanks for the feedback!
Great machine! My friend has been using it for all her clients and it gets addictive. Works amazing on wood, metals, plastic etc. and you can do so much. Such a nice touch!
Great machine! My friend has been using it for all her clients and it gets addictive. Works amazing on wood, metals, plastic etc. and you can do so much. Such a nice touch!
I have been playing with my Yudu for a few months now and I’ve got to say I love it more each time I use it. It is very fun to have around – so many possibilities !!
And I too am eagerly awaiting that finer mesh screen………
Thanx for the great review! Im going to go order it from oh my crafts…I was hoping Micheals would honor the 40% off coupon. Too bad.
Do you know if you can use non-Yudu inks on the Yudu machine?
Yes, you can! Use only water-based inks. I like Versatex; others are reporting good results with Speedball inks.
I just use the silver ink to silk screen a florish on to the front of all of the envelopes for my daughters wedding. The silver ink is thicker then the others so, I didn’t have a problem with the ink running. The process went very fast, was able to get a couple hundred done in an hour. I used a Cricut mat on the platten to hold the envelopes and did 3 at a time. The detail was beautiful and my daughter love the personalized touch.
Thanks for the response. The ability to use other inks seems to open the possibilities. I’m don’t want to become completely dependent on one company to keep making supplies.
Is it possible to do multiple colors? Wondered if there was any option to use registry marks….?? (rather than spot colors of ink) I may be asking too much.
It’s looks like cool toy- I love my Gocco and now I want this.
How long do you think it would take to print a t shirt?
The ink took a good 2 hours to dry on the fabric I used (cotton-linen) for my trial. Add to that a 50 minute time to burn the screen (this has varied from project to project for me. Some have taken 20-30 minutes, others 50+). The actual printing is really fast – just seconds.