![TeeshirtCopyleft cadre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/TeeshirtCopyleft_cadre.jpg)
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer
ink
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...
(or
dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...
) onto a
substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking
stencil
Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface, by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object, to create a pattern or image on a surface, by allowing the pigment to reach ...
. A blade or
squeegee
A squeegee or squilgee is a tool with a flat, smooth rubber blade, used to remove or control the flow of liquid on a flat surface. It is used for cleaning and in printing.
The earliest written references to squeegees date from the mid-19th cent ...
is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh apertures with ink, and a reverse stroke then causes the screen to touch the substrate momentarily along a line of contact. This causes the ink to wet the substrate and be pulled out of the mesh apertures as the screen springs back after the blade has passed. One colour is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multi-coloured image or design.
Traditionally, silk was used in the process. Currently, synthetic threads are commonly used in the screen printing process. The most popular mesh in general use is made of polyester. There are special-use mesh materials of nylon and stainless steel available to the screen-printer. There are also different types of mesh size which will determine the outcome and look of the finished design on the material.
The technique is used not only for garment printing but for printing on many other substances, including decals, clock and watch faces, balloons, and many other products. Advanced uses include laying down conductors and resistors in multi-layer circuits using thin ceramic layers as the substrate.
History
Origins
Screen printing first appeared in a recognizable form in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
during the
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960–1279 AD).
It was then adapted by other Asian countries like Japan, and was further created using newer methods.
Adoption in the West
Screen printing was largely introduced to Western Europe from Asia sometime in the late 18th century, but did not gain large acceptance or use in Europe until silk mesh was more available for trade from the east and a profitable outlet for the medium discovered.
Early in the 1910s, several printers experimenting with photo-reactive chemicals used the well-known
actinic light
Actinism () is the property of solar radiation that leads to the production of photochemical and photobiological effects. ''Actinism'' is derived from the Ancient Greek ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖνος ("ray, beam"). The word ''actinism'' is found, ...
–activated cross linking or hardening traits of potassium, sodium or ammonium
chromate and dichromate
Chromate salts contain the chromate anion, . Dichromate salts contain the dichromate anion, . They are oxyanions of chromium in the +6 oxidation state and are moderately strong oxidizing agents. In an aqueous solution, chromate and dichromate i ...
chemicals with glues and
gelatin
Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
compounds. Roy Beck, Charles Peter and Edward Owens studied and experimented with chromic acid salt sensitized emulsions for photo-reactive stencils. This trio of developers would prove to revolutionize the commercial screen printing industry by introducing photo-imaged stencils to the industry, though the acceptance of this method would take many years. Commercial screen printing now uses sensitizers far safer and less toxic than bichromates. Currently, there are large selections of pre-sensitized and "user mixed" sensitized emulsion chemicals for creating photo-reactive stencils.
A group of artists who later formed the
National Serigraph Society
The National Serigraph Society was founded in 1940 by a group of artists involved in the WPA Federal Art Project, including Anthony Velonis, Max Arthur Cohn, and Hyman Warsager. The creation of the society coincided with the rise of serigraphs ...
, including
WPA
WPA may refer to:
Computing
*Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard
*Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing
* Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada
* Windows Performance An ...
artists
Max Arthur Cohn
Max Arthur Cohn (1903–1998) was an American artist, born in England. His family emigrated to the United States when he was two years old.
Cohn was one of the artists employed by the New Deal's Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the G ...
,
Anthony Velonis
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...
and
Hyman Warsager
Hyman J. Warsager (1909–1974) was an American artist known for his printmaking.
Biography
Warsager was born in 1909 in New York City. He attended the Pratt Institute, the Grand Central School of Art, and the American Artists School. He worked ...
, coined the word "serigraphy" in the 1930s to differentiate the artistic application of screen printing from the industrial use of the process.
"Serigraphy" is a compound word formed from Latin "sēricum" (silk) and Greek "graphein" (to write or draw).
Historians of the New York WPA poster shop give sole credit to Anthony Velonis for establishing Silkscreen methods used there, a reputation bolstered by the publication of his 1937 booklet ''Technical Problems of the Artist: Technique of the Silkscreen Process.'' Guido Lengweiler has corrected this misunderstanding in his book, ''A History of Screen Printing'', published in English in 2016. Outgrowths of these WPA poster shops, at least two New York City studios in wartime started decorating ceramic tiles with fire-on underglaze applied by silkscreen starting as early as 1939: Esteban Soriano and
Harold Ambellan
Harold Ambellan (1912–2006) was an American sculptor. Born in Buffalo, New York Ambellan provided sculpture for New Deal-era projects and served as President of the Sculptors Guild in 1941, prior to his service in the U.S. military. Ambellan ex ...
's Designed Tiles.
The Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center says, "Screenprinting is arguably the most versatile of all printing processes. Since rudimentary screenprinting materials are so affordable and readily available, it has been used frequently in
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
settings and
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
s, and the non-professional look of such
DIY culture
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
screenprints have become a significant cultural aesthetic seen on movie posters, record album covers, flyers, shirts, commercial fonts in advertising, in artwork and elsewhere.
1960s to present
Credit is given to the artist
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
for popularising screen printing as an artistic technique. Warhol's silk screens include his 1962
Marilyn Diptych
The ''Marilyn Diptych'' ( 1962) is a silkscreen painting by American pop artist Andy Warhol depicting Marilyn Monroe. The monumental work is one of the artist's most noted of the movie star.
The painting consists of 50 images. Each image of ...
, which is a portrait of the actress
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
printed in bold colours. Warhol was supported in his production by master screen printer
Michel Caza
Michel may refer to:
* Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name)
* Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers)
* Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...
, a founding member of
Fespa
FESPA is a federation of trade associations and an organiser of exhibitions and conferences for the screenprinting and digital printing industry. The name originally stood for Federation of European Screen Printers Associations, but, with the ad ...
.
Sister Mary Corita Kent
Corita Kent (November 20, 1918 – September 18, 1986), born Frances Elizabeth Kent and also known as Sister Mary Corita Kent, was an American artist, designer and educator, and former religious sister. Key themes in her work included Christiani ...
gained international fame for her vibrant serigraphs during the 1960s and 1970s. Her works were rainbow coloured, contained words that were both political, and fostered peace and love and caring.
American entrepreneur, artist and inventor Michael Vasilantone started to use, develop, and sell a rotatable multicolour garment screen printing machine in 1960. Vasilantone later filed for a patent
on his invention in 1967 granted number 3,427,964 on 18 February 1969.
The original machine was manufactured to print logos and team information on
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
garments, but was soon directed to the new fad of printing on T-shirts. The Vasilantone patent was licensed by multiple manufacturers and the resulting production and boom in printed T-shirts made this ''garment'' screen printing machine popular. Screen printing on garments currently accounts for over half of the screen printing activity in the United States.
Graphic screen-printing is widely used today to create mass- or large-batch produced graphics, such as posters or display stands. Full colour prints can be created by printing in
CMYK
The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...
(cyan, magenta, yellow and black).
Screen printing lends itself well to printing on canvas.
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
,
Arthur Okamura
Arthur Okamura (February 24, 1932 - July 10, 2009) was an American artist, working in screen printing, drawing and painting. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was Professor Emeritus at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco ...
,
Robert Rauschenberg
Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...
,
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...
,
Harry Gottlieb
Harry Gottlieb (September 23, 1895 – July 4, 1992) was an American painter, screen printer, lithographer, and educator.
Biography
Gottlieb was born in Bucharest, Romania on September 23, 1895. He immigrated to America in 1907, and his family s ...
and many other artists have used screen printing as an expression of creativity and artistic vision.
Another variation, digital hybrid screen printing, is a union between analog screen printing and traditional digital direct-to-garment printing, two of the most common textile embellishment technologies in use today. Essentially, digital hybrid screen printing is an automatic screen-printing press with a CMYK digital enhancement located on one of the screen print stations. Digital hybrid screen printing is capable of variable data options, creating endless customizations, with the added ability of screen print specific techniques.
Method
![PrintLayers500px](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/PrintLayers500px.gif)
A screen is made of a piece of mesh stretched over a frame. The mesh could be made of a
synthetic polymer
Some familiar household synthetic polymers include: Nylons in textiles and fabrics, Teflon in non-stick pans, Bakelite for electrical switches, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in pipes, etc. The common PET bottles are made of a synthetic polymer, polye ...
, such as
nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
, and a finer and smaller aperture for the mesh would be utilized for a design that requires a higher and more delicate degree of detail. For the mesh to be effective, it must be mounted on a frame and it must be under tension. The frame which holds the mesh could be made of diverse materials, such as wood or aluminum, depending on the sophistication of the machine or the artisan procedure. The tension of the mesh may be checked by using a tensiometer; a common unit for the measurement of the tension of the mesh is
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
per
centimeter
330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Electromagnetic spectrum, measured by the Metre and its deriveds scales. The Microwave are in-between 1 meter to 1 millimeter.
A centimetre (international spelling) or centimeter (American spellin ...
(N/cm).
A stencil is formed by blocking off parts of the screen in the negative image of the design to be printed; that is, the open spaces are where the ink will appear on the substrate.
Before printing occurs, the frame and screen must undergo the pre-press process, in which an emulsion is 'scooped' across the mesh. Once this emulsion has dried, it is selectively exposed to ultra-violet light, through a film printed with the required design. This hardens the emulsion in the exposed areas but leaves the unexposed parts soft. They are then washed away using a water spray, leaving behind a clean area in the mesh with the identical shape as the desired image, which will allow passage of ink. It is a positive process.
In fabric printing, the surface supporting the fabric to be printed (commonly referred to as a pallet) is coated with a wide 'pallet tape'. This serves to protect the 'pallet' from any unwanted ink leaking through the screen and potentially staining the 'pallet' or transferring unwanted ink onto the next substrate.
Next, the screen and frame are lined with a tape to prevent ink from reaching the edge of the screen and the frame. The type of tape used in for this purpose often depends upon the ink that is to be printed onto the substrate. More aggressive tapes are generally used for UV and water-based inks due to the inks' lower viscosities and greater tendency to creep underneath tape.
The last process in the 'pre-press' is blocking out any unwanted 'pin-holes' in the emulsion. If these holes are left in the emulsion, the ink will continue through and leave unwanted marks. To block out these holes, materials such as tapes, speciality emulsions and 'block-out pens' may be used effectively.
The screen is placed atop a substrate. Ink is placed on top of the screen, and a floodbar is used to push the ink through the holes in the mesh. The operator begins with the fill bar at the rear of the screen and behind a reservoir of ink. The operator lifts the screen to prevent contact with the substrate and then using a slight amount of downward force pulls the fill bar to the front of the screen. This effectively fills the mesh openings with ink and moves the ink reservoir to the front of the screen. The operator then uses a
squeegee
A squeegee or squilgee is a tool with a flat, smooth rubber blade, used to remove or control the flow of liquid on a flat surface. It is used for cleaning and in printing.
The earliest written references to squeegees date from the mid-19th cent ...
(rubber blade) to move the mesh down to the substrate and pushes the squeegee to the rear of the screen. The ink that is in the mesh opening is pumped or squeezed by capillary action to the substrate in a controlled and prescribed amount, i.e. the wet ink deposit is proportional to the thickness of the mesh and or stencil. As the squeegee moves toward the rear of the screen the tension of the mesh pulls the mesh up away from the substrate (called snap-off) leaving the ink upon the substrate surface.
There are three common types of screen printing presses: flat-bed, cylinder, and rotary. A development of screen printing with flat screens from 1963 was to wrap the screen around to form a tube, with the ink supply and squeegee inside the tube. The resulting roller rotates at the same speed as the web in a roll-to-roll machine. The benefits are high output rates and long rolls of product. This is the only way to make high-build fully patterned printing/coating as a continuous process, and has been widely used for manufacturing textured wallpapers.
Textile items printed with multi-coloured designs often use a wet on wet technique, or colours dried while on the press, while graphic items are allowed to dry between colours that are then printed with another screen and often in a different colour after the product is re-aligned on the press.
Most screens are ready for re-coating at this stage, but sometimes screens will have to undergo a further step in the reclaiming process called dehazing. This additional step removes haze or "ghost images" left behind in the screen once the emulsion has been removed. Ghost images tend to faintly outline the open areas of previous stencils, hence the name. They are the result of ink residue trapped in the mesh, often in the knuckles of the mesh (the points where threads cross).
Stencils
![Ssc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Ssc.jpg)
A method of stencilling that has increased in popularity over the past years is the
photo emulsion
Photographic emulsion is a light-sensitive colloid used in film-based photography. Most commonly, in silver-gelatin photography, it consists of silver halide crystals dispersed in gelatin. The emulsion is usually coated onto a substrate of glas ...
technique:
# The original image is created on a transparent overlay, and the image may be drawn or painted directly on the overlay,
photocopied
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...
, or printed with a computer printer, but making so that the areas to be inked are not transparent. Any material that blocks ultra violet light can be used as the film, even card stock. A black-and-white positive may also be used (projected onto the screen). However, unlike traditional plate-making, these screens are normally exposed by using film positives.
# A screen must then be selected. There are several different mesh counts that can be used depending on the detail of the design being printed. Once a screen is selected, the screen must be coated with a
photosensitive emulsion and dried. Once dry, it is then possible to burn/expose the print.
# The overlay is placed over the screen, and then exposed with a light source containing
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
light in the 350–420 nanometer spectrum.
# The screen is washed off thoroughly. The areas of emulsion that were not exposed to light dissolve and wash away, leaving a negative stencil of the image on the mesh.
Garment printing inks
![Hand painted color separation on transparent overlay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Hand_painted_color_separation_on_transparent_overlay.png)
; Caviar beads: A caviar bead is a glue that is printed in the shape of the design, to which small plastic beads are then applied – works well with solid block areas creating an interesting tactile surface.
; Cracking ink: Ink may be so applied as to produce a cracked surface after drying. Similar cracking may occur unintentionally if the ink does not cure fully.
; Discharge inks: Discharge inks use zinc formaldehyde sulfoxylate (the zinc analogue of
Rongalite
Rongalite is a chemical compound with the molecular formula Na+HOCH2SO2−. This salt has many additional names, including Rongalit, sodium hydroxymethylsulfinate, sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate, and Bruggolite. It is listed in the European Cos ...
) to remove, or discharge, the dye back off the fabric. Cons of using discharge inks are that the process only works properly on dark fabrics that have a content of 100% cotton. Fabrics with under-dyes and fabric blends will discharge their dye to different degrees. The fumes resulting from the application and curing are pungent and strong ventilation and a face mask are commonly needed to relieve exposure. Pros to this process is that discharge is especially effective for distressed prints and under-basing on dark garments that are to be printed with additional layers of plastisol. It adds variety to the design and gives it that natural soft feel.
; Expanding ink (puff): Expanding ink, or puff, is an additive to plastisol inks which raises the print off the garment, creating a 3D feel and look to the design. Mostly used when printing on apparel.
; Flocking: Flocking consists of a glue printed onto the fabric and then flock material is applied for a velvet touch.
; Foil: Foil is much like flock, starting with an adhesive glue or plastisol ink base layer. Foil is finished by applying a thin sheet of reflective/mirror like material on top of the screened base, then heat pressed to set. The foil substrate does not adhere to non-screened areas of the design, and the balance of the foil sheet is discarded.
; Four-colour process or the
CMYK colour model
The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...
: Four-colour process is when the artwork is created and then separated into four colours (CMYK) which combine to create the full spectrum of colours needed for photographic prints. This means a large number of colours can be simulated using only 4 screens, reducing costs, time, and set-up. This processes utilises
halftone
Halftone is the reprographic
Reprography (a portmanteau of ''reproduction'' and ''photography'') is the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means, such as photography or xerography. Reprography is commonly used in catal ...
s. The inks are required to blend and are more translucent, meaning a compromise with vibrancy of colour.
; Glitter/shimmer: Glitter or shimmer ink is when metallic flakes become an additive in the ink base to create this sparkle effect. Usually available in gold or silver but can be mixed to make most colours.
; Gloss: Gloss ink is when a clear base laid over previously printed inks to create a shiny finish.
; Metallic: Metallic ink is similar to glitter, but smaller particles suspended in the ink. A glue is printed onto the fabric, then nano-scale fibers applied on it. This is often purchased already made.
; Mirrored Ink: Mirrored silver and gold are highly reflective, solvent-based inks. Mirrored inks can be prone to tarnishing over time.
; Nylobond: Nylobond is a special ink additive for printing onto technical or waterproof fabrics.
;
Plastisol
A plastisol is a colloidal dispension of small polymer particles, usually polyvinyl chloride (PVC), in a liquid plasticizer. When heated to around , the plastic particles absorb the plasticizer, causing them to swell and fuse together forming a ...
: Plastisol is the most common ink used in commercial garment decoration. Good colour opacity onto dark garments and clear graphic detail with, as the name suggests, a more plasticized texture. This print can be made softer with special additives or heavier by adding extra layers of ink. Plastisol inks require heat (approx. 150 °C (300 °F) for many inks) to cure the print, except in the case of low cure inks.
; PVC and phthalate free: PVC and
phthalate
Phthalates (, ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften ...
free is relatively new breed of ink and printing with the benefits of plastisol but without the two main toxic components. It also has a soft texture and is being produced by most major suppliers.
; Suede ink: Suede ink is a milky coloured additive that is added to plastisol. With suede additive you can make any colour of plastisol have a suede feel. It is actually a puff blowing agent that does not bubble as much as regular puff ink. The directions vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but generally up to 50% suede can be added to normal plastisol.
; Water-based inks: these penetrate the fabric more than the plastisol inks and create a much softer feel. Ideal for printing darker inks onto lighter coloured garments. Also useful for larger area prints where texture is important. Some inks require heat or an added catalyst to make the print permanent.
; Water-based dye (ink): As opposed to a thicker 'Plastisol Alternative' this (ink) arrives as a concentrate which is mixed into a printing paste (thickener) to allow Screen Printing, this process is best used on light garments and as the dye is in the fibers themselves is often used for dish cloths, napkins and the like. This is similar to traditional
textile printing
Textile printing is the process of applying color to fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fibre, so as to resist washing and friction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but in ...
.
; High density: High density is a process which uses a type of varnish against a lower mesh count with many coats of emulsion or a thicker grade of emulsion (e.g., Capillex). After the varnish passes through to the substrate, an embossed-appearing, 'raised' area of varnish is created. When cured at the end of the process, the varnish yields a Braille effect, hence the term 'high density'.
Non-garment uses
![Maker Faire 2008 San Mateo 246](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Maker_Faire_2008_San_Mateo_246.JPG)
Screen printing is more versatile than traditional printing techniques. The surface does not have to be printed under pressure, unlike
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
or
lithography
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
, and it does not have to be planar. Different inks can be used to work with a variety of materials, such as textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, glass, metal, and plastic. As a result, screen printing is used in many different industries, including:
*
Balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...
s
*
Clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
*
Decals
A decal (, , ) or transfer is a plastic, cloth, paper, or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern or image that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water.
The word is short for ''decalcom ...
*
Medical devices
A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...
*
Printed electronics
Printed electronics is a set of printing methods used to create electrical devices on various substrates. Printing typically uses common printing equipment suitable for defining patterns on material, such as screen printing, flexography, gravur ...
, including
circuit board printing
* Product labels
* Signs and displays
*
Snowboard
Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...
graphics
* Textile
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
*
Thick film technology Thick-film technology is used to produce electronic devices/modules such as surface mount devices modules, hybrid integrated circuits, heating elements, integrated passive devices and sensors. Main manufacturing technique is screen printing (stencil ...
*
Pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
machines
In screen printing on wafer-based solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, the mesh and buses of silver are printed on the front; furthermore, the buses of silver are printed on the back. Subsequently, aluminum paste is dispensed over the whole surface of the back for
passivation and surface reflection. One of the parameters that can vary and can be controlled in screen printing is the thickness of the print. This makes it useful for some of the techniques of printing solar cells, electronics etc.
Solar wafer
In electronics, a wafer (also called a slice or substrate) is a thin slice of semiconductor, such as a crystalline silicon (c-Si), used for the fabrication of integrated circuits and, in photovoltaics, to manufacture solar cells. The wafer ser ...
s are becoming thinner and larger, so careful printing is required to maintain a lower breakage rate, though high throughput at the printing stage improves the throughput of the whole cell production line.
Automation
To print multiple copies of the screen design on garments in an efficient manner, amateur and professional printers usually use a screen printing press, which is a colloquial term as most screen printing machines are vastly different from Offset
Printing Presses
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
. Many companies offer simple to sophisticated printing presses. These presses come in one of three types, Manual (also referred to as Handbench), Semi-Automatic, and Fully Automatic. Most printing companies will use one or more semi-automatic or fully automatic machines with manual machines for small runs and sampling.
Whilst Manual Screen Printing can be done with Carousels, Handbenches (both of which are often referred to colloquially as presses) or even on to tables. Semi and Fully-Automatic machines are broken into two main categories; Flatbed Printers (Poster, Art Printing or other flat substrates) and Carousels and Oval Machines (Garments and other apparel, amongst other textiles). Both which are fundamentally similar in terms of automation but differ in areas such as physical footprint and upgrade paths.
These machines are much faster and use either pneumatic pressure generated by air compressors or use electric motors to draw the squeegees, rotate and raise or lower pallets removing much of the manual labour from the task - resulting in significant reductions in operator fatigue as well as more consistent results.
With printed circuit boards
In
electronic design automation
Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing Electronics, electronic systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools wo ...
, the silk screen is part of the
layer stack
A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich struc ...
of the
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in Electrical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a L ...
(PCB), and the top and bottom sides are described in individual
Gerber file
The Gerber format is an open ASCII vector format for printed circuit board (PCB) designs. It is the de facto standard used by PCB industry software to describe the printed circuit board images: copper layers, solder mask, legend, drill data, et ...
s like any other layers (such as the copper and
solder-stop layer
Solder mask, solder stop mask or solder resist is a thin lacquer-like layer of polymer that is usually applied to the copper traces of a printed circuit board (PCB) for protection against oxidation and to prevent solder bridges from forming b ...
s).
Typical names for these ''service print overlays'' include
tSilk
/
bSilk
aka
PLC
/
PLS
or
TSK
/
BSK
(
EAGLE
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
),
F.SilkS
/
B.SilkS
(
KiCad
KiCad ( ) is a free software suite for electronic design automation (EDA). It facilitates the design and simulation of electronic hardware. It features an integrated environment for schematic capture, PCB layout, manufacturing file viewing, S ...
),
PosiTop
/
PosiBot
(
TARGET
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
),
silkTop
/
silkBottom
(
Fritzing
Fritzing is an open-source initiative to develop amateur or hobby CAD software for the design of electronics hardware, intended to allow designers and artists to build more permanent circuits from prototypes. It was developed at the University o ...
),
SST
/
SSB
(
OrCAD
OrCAD Systems Corporation was a software company that made OrCAD, a proprietary software tool suite used primarily for electronic design automation (EDA). The software is used mainly by electronic design engineers and electronic technicians to ...
),
ST.PHO
/
SB.PHO
(
PADS
Pads (also called leg guards) are a type of protective equipment used in a number of sports and serve to protect the legs from the impact of a hard ball, puck, or other object of play travelling at high speed which could otherwise cause injuries t ...
),
SEVS
/
SERS
(
WEdirekt)
or
GTO
/
GBO
(Gerber and many others
).
See also
*
Batik
Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...
*
Gocco
is a self-contained compact color printing system invented in 1977, by Noboru Hayama. Gocco became immensely popular in Japan and it is estimated that one-third of Japanese households own a Print Gocco system. The printing mechanism is that of s ...
*
Ink jet
Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper and plastic substrates. Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008, and range from small inexpens ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Biegeleisen, Jacob I. Biegeleisen (1972). ''Screen Printing: A Contemporary Guide to the Technique of Screen Printing for Artists, Designers, and Craftsmen''. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. .
* Chieffo, Clifford T. (1979). ''Silk-Screen as a Fine Art : A Handbook of Contemporary Silk-Screen Printing''. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. .
* Lengwiler, Guido (2013). ''A History of Screen Printing''. Cincinnati: ST Media Group International. .
* MacDougall, Andy (2008). ''Screen Printing Today: The Basics''. Cincinnati: ST Media Group International. .
*
Saff, Donald; Sacilotto, Deli (1979). ''Screenprinting: History and Technique''. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. .
* Zahn, Bert (1935). ''Silk Screen Methods of Reproduction''. Chicago, Illinois: Fredrick J. Drake & Co. Ref. 1942.1694.
External links
*
{{Authority control
DIY culture
Printmaking