16/06/2010 by admin.

Screenprinting is a variety of stencil printing. A gauze screen, fixed tautly on to a rectangular wooden frame, is laid directly on top of a sheet of paper. Printing ink is spread over the upper side of the mesh and force through it with a squeegee so that the ink transfers to the paper on the other side. The material of the screen is usually silk but it can be cotton, nylon or a metal mesh.

The design is applied to the screen in various ways. The earliest technique was simply to cut out the masking stencil of paper and attach it to the underside of the screen; another simple device is to paint out areas of the screen with a liquid that sets and blocks the holes in the mesh; but there are numerous other ways of masking that can be used to produce different effects. One important development is the use of photo stencils, which allow the artist to incorporate photographic images into the print. The screen is coated with bichromated gelatine and placed in contact with a photographic negative. Light is then shone through the transparency on to the guillotine, which hardens under exposure but remains soft where protected by the black areas of the transparency. When the exposure is completed, the soft areas can be washed in way with warm water, leaving the hard exposed gelatine to act as a stencil.

Artists screen prints have almost always been printed in colour. Since a single screen cannot easily be inked in more than one colour, this is usually done by successive printings, using a different screen for each colour.

A screen print can usually be distinguished from a lithograph by the wove pattern of the screen which is impressed into the surface of the ink. Compared with other printing processes, it is relatively crude, since the mesh of the screen does not allow much finesse in drawing. This has been overcome to some extent by using photo stencils, which break down images photographically by means of a half tone screen into gradations of tone. On the other hand, screen printing deposits a much thicker charge of ink onto the paper than other methods, and this produces a picture and more vivid range of colour.

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21/01/2009 by admin.

Screen Printing used to be the only alternative to embroidery and probably got the whole concept of modern day corporate clothing started. It has been around for over 50 years and is tried and tested.

It is very versatile and can print most colours onto most colour garments!

The big problem with screen printing is the setup charges. For every different colour in the design you want to print, you have to create a screen. This in turn costs something like £15 to £30 each screen!

So before you start paying for the printing you could easily have a bill for over £60.

This problem is diluted when you want to print large quantities of garments. To be cost effective, you need to be talking in terms of over 100 items. The unit printing cost is very low. But be  very careful when you get a quote because you could get a price for printing only, with the screen costs showing up on the bill when the job is done.

The resulting quality is usually high, though you will be aware of a texure where the printing has taken place.

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