Silk Print
Screen Printing – A Versatile Printing Process
Screen printing is also called as stencil method of print making. In this method, a design is imposed on the screen of fine mesh or silk by applying ink onto the printing surface through the mesh. Other names of the technique include seriography, silkscreen and serigraph.
Traditionally, the technique was known with the name silk printing as silk was used in the process. But, presently, synthetic threads are getting used for the process. In this article, we’ll discuss several things about the printing technique.
Printing technique
The screen developed from fine woven fabric known as mesh is stretched over the wood or aluminum frame. Nylon or steel is used for the woven of mesh. A non-permeable material is used to form a stencil to block off the screen area. Adding to it, the stencil acts as negative of the image to be printed on the screen.
Ink is placed on the screen top and the screen is placed over the paper or other substrate. And there is a fill bar which is meant to fill the openings of mesh with ink. The ink present in the mesh is squeezed to the substrate in the prescribed amount through the capillary action. The snap off action takes place when the squeegee is moved towards the rear of the screen. And this leads to leave the ink over the surface of substrate.
There are three different kinds of presses which are used for the printing. Such presses are called ‘cylinder’, ‘flat-bed’ and ‘rotary’.
Stencil for screen printing
Numerous ways are there to prepare stencils for printing. One of the methods is to cut the design from any non-porous material followed by attaching it to the screen bottom. Another method is to create a negative image directly over the screen with the help of filler material. And the most advanced method is the photo emulsion technique.
Versatility
Unlike lithography or other techniques, screen printing doesn’t require any pressure over the substrate. And inks can be used to work with various kinds of materials like wood, textiles, glass, paper, metal, plastic and several others. In different industries, the said printing technique has been benefiting like clothing, medical devices, snowboard graphics, decals, signs & displays, textile fabric and much more.
Materials required
A number of materials are there that are required for the kind of printing. Some main materials are caviar beads, flocking, discharge inks, gloss, glitter, shimmer, mirrored silver, PVC, suede ink, water-based inks and lots more.
Hence, the article will help one to have clear concepts about the versatility, techniques, materials and preparation of stencils required for screen printing.
About the Author
Instant Imprints is located in Mississauga, Ontario and is known as one of the largest chain of screen printing operations in the world.
How to silk screen print in 4 minutes!
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