Yudu Personal Screen Printer Review

Traditional silk-screening can be messy, time consuming, and an all-around pain for the average hobbyist or small business owner.

The Yudu Personal Screen Printer simplifies and condenses the processes for printing without the intimate know-how or skill needed for traditional silk-screening.

While there’s a small learning curve in handling this screen printer, it makes up for it by taking up little space, being cost effective, and saving you a mess that comes with traditional silk-screening practices.

But is it the right option for you?

Here we break down all the good and the bad of this system, so you can make the most informed buying decision.

Yudu Personal Screen Printer: The Details

In a Nutshell

• Product Dimensions: 32in x 21in x 11x
• Weight: 31.7 lbs
• Plate size: 15-2/5in x 22-1/2in x 1-1/5in
• Manual or Automatic: Manual

Features

Works on Fabric and Paper

The Yudu Personal Screen Printer is an all in one personal silk-screening system that’s easy to use on fabric and paper-based products.

This includes printing designs onto t-shirts, art prints, cards, and whatever else you can think of.

It connects with your computer to print out your unique designs and gives you power over every step of the process.

Plenty of Accessories

No need to worry about running around your craft store trying to find all the right materials.

The Yudu Personal Screen Printer comes with the printing machine, mesh screen, emulsion sheet, squeegee, t-shirt platen, platen adhesive, blank ink-jet transparency, and two-ounce bottle of black ink to get started right away.

You will need to eventually purchase more emulsion sheets, transparent sheets, and ink, but this is a great start, especially for beginners.

Specialized Ink Included

The Yudu Personal Screen Printer works by printing the specialized ink onto transparent screens through the printer.

By connecting it to your computer, you’re able to easily send your unique designs to your printer.

While any ink can be used to print onto the transparent screen, this isn’t the case for its paper, as normal paper will not work the same even if you use the ink from Yudu.

Stencil Creation

It also comes with the emulsion feature, which means it burns the design into the emulsion sheet to create your stencil.

From then on, you can reuse that emulsion sheet over and over again, as much as you want. The only concern in printing often is the screen.

It’s suggested to buy one or more extra, as then you’ll be able to have one on hand as they dry after being cleaned.

No Bleeding Effect

Then on the top is the actual screening process in which you clip in your canvas, whether its paper or fabric, with a platen to ensure your work doesn’t bleed down.

By using your stencil and generously applying the ink, all you need to do is use the provided squeegee to wipe away the excess.

All of this comes in one container, making it extremely efficient in comparison to the small space it takes up.

Yudu Personal Screen Printer Review

The Positives

Cheap and Effective

You’ll be hard pressed to find a cheaper screen printer with the same kind of quality that the Yudu Personal Screen Printer provides.

While some prefer the hands-on experience of traditional silk-screening, not everyone has the ability to commit both the time and money needed for it.

It even makes the process of creating a “stencil” on the emulsion sheet worry-free, which was previously perhaps the most time consuming part of screen printing.

The screen, on which you apply the ink to the stencil in order to print it on your product, can handle up to two or three uses before a quick wash is needed to ensure a clean transfer.

Great for Beginners

Despite the bit of confusion that comes with the instructions for this machine, this is still a great screen printer to get introduced to a new hobby.

Once you get past the setup, it’s pretty easy to use and allows you to try printing on a variety of products with a variety of designs.

The fact that it comes with all its accessories means less confusion in figuring out what you need right away, and lets crafters jump right into making new projects.

The price also makes it easy to dive right in, without waiting to save up, or putting a hole in your bank account.

Great for Small Businesses

While we wouldn’t recommend this screen printer for someone heavily pushing out products, this is a great starter for a small business.

The size is manageable and allows you to create quality products quickly.

Though if you’re looking to turn your new side-project into something bigger, you may be looking for an upgrade sooner than later.

Size

For the price, you’ll be getting a machine that’s big enough to tackle a variety of projects, without it needing its own room.

Many screen printing systems are big, bulky, and use up a lot of space. For those working at home or with limited space, this screen printer takes up less room, without affecting quality.

You will, however, need more than a sliver of counter-space to accommodate this machine. And it’s not exactly light, weighing in at just over thirty pounds, so be aware if you plan on working in a small apartment or in a space that means you’ll have to move it around a lot. 

But for the most part, the Yudu saves on effort, time and space in trying to fit a print screen in your studio or home.

No Mess

Perhaps the best quality of this product is the lack of mess it produces.

Any quick search on traditional screen printing reveals a messy, hands-on process not suited for those that can’t afford a big mess to clean up afterwards, or where any accidental staining and excess scraps are something to be avoided at all costs.

There might be a bit of a mess if you attempt to do more than one color at the same time. It is better recommended that you use separate emulsion sheets for the different colors, as to avoid a mix and unnecessary mess.

Experience Builder

While this machine is relatively easy to use once you get it up and running, it will definitely give beginners and hobbyists more experience in handling screen printers, and dealing with the overall process.

This machine is great, but not perfect and its versatility will give users the chance at troubleshooting their own projects based on their needs and wants.

The fact that this machine is built to be durable also gives you the chance at figuring out your own solutions without damging the machine entirely.

If you’re looking to continue your journey in this hobby, this machine will give you the legs to do so.

The Negatives

Poor Instructions 

Those unfamiliar with other screen printers may find the learning curve to be too much work to figure out, even with the manual.

Those familiar with traditional silk-screening may find the process too different and difficult to switch to.

For some, the manual is more confusing than it needs to be, the instructional video even worse.

Thankfully, in this day and age, you can find a “how to” video to just about anything, and that includes instructional videos that work with this screen printer better than the instructions provided.

When it comes to learning the finer tuned bits, such as how wet the screen needs to be before you apply ink, or how much ink you really need to use, these are things you learn through luck, time, and error.

Poor Ink

The ink provided by Yudu for the screening process may not print on all surfaces, including most metals or glass. If used, the ink has the possibility of not initially printing or washing away.

In some cases, depending on the fabric it’s printed on, the ink may not handle being washed very well.

One solution is to use absorbent fabrics, as opposed to 100% polyester, as well to check for the proper amount of time it needs to be exposed to the printing process.

Also, this can be avoided by buying other brands of ink than Yudu.

Screening ink can usually be found at any chain arts and crafts store, not to mention in more colors than just the black color which comes with the printer.

Customer Service

There’s a small mention of a limited warranty included with this screen printer, which is great, if they had more details.

What does it cover? How long does this warranty last? To answer these questions, customer service usually lends a hand. However, customers have found the company to be really lacking in this department.

Customers have been bounced around to different departments and team members, or have been given vague (sometimes rude) answers in regards to their issues.

Overall Verdict

For those that intend limited use, this is the perfect compact screen printer.

Together, its price, ease of use, and the scope of its ability is best suited for the hobbyist or small business owner that creates a variety of products in which screen printing is only a small part.

Not everyone needs the biggest, best screen printer on the market, and if screen printing or silk-screening isn’t your only hobby, then there’s no need to look much further than the Yudu Personal Screen Printer.

For those that are looking for a printer to use very often or to make large quantities of printed goods, further consideration of the pros and cons should be taken.

This is not a complete substitute for traditional silk-screening, just like no digital version of a traditional skill is, so one shouldn’t order the Yudu Personal Screen Printer expecting it to be a digital traditional silk-screen. Instead, it’s an effective alternative.

Where to Buy the Yudu Personal Screen Printer

Fair warning, the Yudu Personal Screen Printer won’t be easy to track down.

It’s always a good idea to check specialty and crafting shops for your best chance at finding screen printing products and accessories. However, they don’t always have the specifics you’re after.

Online outlets usually have the answer in these scenarios, but the Yudu Screen Printer doesn’t make itself easy to find.

But thankfully, it’s readily available for purchase on Amazon.

That’s it for our review on the Yudu Personal Screen Printer. Tempted to give it a try?