Screen printing is one of the most popular printing techniques used amongst a vast range of companies for printing designs onto various products. The screen printing process has been around for a long time and has evolved from simple stencilling to a complete merchanised printing method. Most often, the process is used for printing onto posters, fabrics and packaging. However, it has been adapted to a larger variety of items as the technique is much more advanced today.
It has been used for more than 100 years in the commercial and artistic sector and is mainly used for printing images and designs on T-shirts, tote bags, paper, wood, ceramics and other materials.
There are different types of silk-screen printing, depending on the aim and the printing process used. Among them, we can find serigraphy for the graphic design sector, serigraphy for the art sector and textile printing, which is what interests us most.
Screen printing is optimal for creating an increase in brand awareness through the use of different promotional products.
Screen Printing Equipment
In order to develop beautiful print images, some just as beautiful screen printing equipment is required. The production process involves the following tools:
- The printing press
- The Ink
- A Squeegee
- A flash cure unit
- A conveyor dryer
The printing press is the core piece of the screen printing process. Without it, we would not be able to start or finish the job. There’s options between manual and automatic machines, however, as mentioned, the automatic ones will allow the process to go much quicker and smoother. The ink also has varying aspects to it. For instance, you can choose between different types of ink: water-based and discharge inks or traditional plastisol ink.
Afterwards, we can select the colours for the screen printing ink based on the client’s preferred design and customisation. Then, a squeegee is used to get the ink across the screen and lay down the designed print. The last part of the printing process equipment is a flash cure unit which allows for the curing of the ink. It’s a fancy way of explaining how we are able to print white undertones or overlap with various colours.
Lastly, the conveyor dryer (as evident as the name is) heats the ink so that the print will remain long-lasting and perfect for when you receive it. And there you have it! Let’s explore the printing process now.
How Does Silk-Screen Printing Work?
In order to print using the silk-screen printing technique, different materials are used. To start with, the printing frame is created, or rather, the design is printed onto a sheet so that the ink can be transferred.
The frame is placed on the T-shirt and with the help of a scraper the colours are screened (one layer for each colour, up to a maximum of four colours).
Whenever applying a layer with the frame ink, it is left to dry and then can be used for another application.
In spite of its craftsmanship in recent years, silk-screen printing has become more modern, and there is now ink and machinery available that enables us to obtain results of superfine quality.
For this reason, nowadays there are more and more companies that decide to opt for silk-screen printing when creating T-shirts and other items with their logo.
Well, now that you know the ins and outs, we’ll show you some of the options you have to personalize products through screen printing.