Screen printing is the course of shifting a stenciled design on an even surface such as fabric and papers utilizing a mesh screen, a squeegee, and ink. To learn how does screen printing work, here is the complete procedure step by step to get any design printed with this printing technique.
Step1: Design Creation
To start the process of screen printing of a printing job, the first thing that printers do getting the required design to be printed on the asked surface. They get that design printed on a transparent sheet for making stencils latter on. Step 2: Screen Making
After getting the required design printed on the transparency sheet, screen printing experts always go for preparing screens compatible with the required design and texture of garment to be printed. For that, they get mesh screen coated with the emulsion and keep them in the darkroom for being dried completely. Depending on the size and environment, it may take an hour to a complete day to be dried thoroughly.
Step 3: Exposition of Emulsion
Once the screens are dried, the next step is to place the transparency sheet with printed design on the coated screen and exposing the emulsion against the bright lights. The light usually hardens the emulsion, so the covered parts of the screen remain in the liquid form. Depending on the number of colors of the final design, for each color, a separate screen is used to smear the ink layers accordingly. The light activates the emulsion and help printers to transfer the design on to the required printing surface.
Step 4: Stencil Making
After the exposition of the emulsion for a required time period, the uncovered areas of the screen become hard, and all the unhardened emulsion is essentially rinsed away. This helps printers to get a clear design on the screen to pass through the inks. They get the screen dried again, and this is how they make stencil ready to use for screen printing.
Step 5: Readying The Printing Surface
Once they are done with the screen burning and stencil making, they place screens onto the printing press and place the item being printed on the underneath the screen onto the printing board. There are multiple printing presses, including manual and automatic ones that all printers use to provide their customers with desired prints.
Step 6: Running The Press
After settling the screens on the printing press and items to be printed on the printing board, in screen printing, the next step is to run the press in which accordance with the screen colors the inks are added, and a squeegee is used to drag the ink on the length of the screens. It passes inks through the areas of stencil and designs to get the product printed. This is how does screen printing work and how most of the garments are printed with the technique.
Step 7: Drying The Product And Quality Assurance
After printing, the printed object passes through a dryer that treats the ink and provides a smooth and colorfast finish. The final product is also checked for quality assurance and is washed to remove any sort of residue before delivering it to the clients.
So, to know how does screen printing work, the whole explained process can help you in the best possible ways, and if you are into the printing business, it can also help you to have better results.
