Screen printing is the process of transferring a stenciled design onto an even surface, such as fabric and paper, utilizing a mesh screen, a squeegee, and ink. To learn how does screen printing works, here is the complete procedure step by step to get any design printed with this printing technique.
To start the process of screen printing a printing job, the first thing that printers do is get the required design to be printed on the surface. They get that design printed on a transparent sheet for making stencils later on.
After getting the required design printed on the transparency sheet, screen printing experts always prepare screens compatible with the required design and texture of the garment to be printed. For that, they get a mesh screen coated with the emulsion and keep it in the darkroom to dry completely. Depending on the size and environment, it may take an hour to a complete day to be dried thoroughly.
Once the screens are dried, the next step is to place the transparency sheet with the printed design on the coated screen and expose the emulsion to the bright lights. The light usually hardens the emulsion, so the covered parts of the screen remain in a 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 helps printers to transfer the design onto the required printing surface.
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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 the stencil ready to use for screen printing.
Once they are done with the screen burning and stencil making, they place screens onto the printing press and place the item being printed 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 the desired prints.
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After settling the screens on the printing press and the items to be printed on the printing board, in screen printing, the next step is to run the press in which, by the screen colors, the inks are added, and a squeegee is used to drag the ink on the length of the screens. It passes ink through the areas of the stencil and designs to get the product printed. This is how screen printing works and how most of the garments are printed with the technique.
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 screen printing works, the whole explained process can help you in the best possible ways, and if you are in the printing business, it can also help you to have better results.
Do you want to have a detailed overview of how screen printing works and what steps it involves to print garments? Learn here all the procedure step by step.
