Screen printing – or screen printing. Printing technique consisting of the ink being pumped by the matrix. A matrix is a printing form (template) superimposed on a fine metal mesh woven or made of synthetic fibres.
The two main elements of screen printing:
A mesh is a rectangular frame usually made of aluminum, with a mesh stretched on it (previously used silk or cotton threads, and today made of nylon polyester or metal). When printing graphics, the most commonly used meshes contain from 100 to 150 fibers per cm2 (mesh meshes have diameters from 30 to 40 micrometers).
To print anything except the grid, we need a template, that is matrix’s. To prepare it you need to cover non-printable places (locking the holes of the screen printing mesh) There are several ways that depend on the type of paint, sieves, volumes and expected effects are used:
- manual application of the solution to the grid, which after drying forms an impermeable layer,
- drawing with ink or lithographic crayel on the surface of the mesh,
- templates cut from paper or film,
- coating the mesh with photosensitive emulsion, which after drying is illuminated in a dill
History of Screen Printing
The history of Screen Printing Screen Printing, a screen printing technique derived from the Far East. In the beginning, this method was used in Japan to decorate the kimon. The pattern cut out of paper was strained on a wooden frame with a mesh of human or animal hair. However, on the Islands of Fiji, the pouched banana leaves were used as a template. Screen printing has already begun to be used not only for decorating fabrics, but also furniture, walls and other objects.
This method developed the most in the United States, and it started multicolor printing from a single printing form. A great move forward was the invention of a SHELLAC film, called PROFILE, which made the preparation of templates faster and more accurate. However, it was soon replaced by cellulose film, used to this day. Initially, this method was used only in Polygraph. Screen printing provided through its form, flexibility in the selection of printing substrates, which was achieved – the variety of material, texture and shape, the use of different types of inks and the possibility of printing on fabric – FILMODRUK.
In the middle of the 20th century, screen printing spread throughout Europe. It is interesting that screen printing was used in underground printing works in Poland in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century. Over time, the Polish Association of Polish ScreenPrinters was born in Poland, whose aim was to disseminate the science of screen printing and novelties in this field, the current name of the Polish Association of Screen printing and Digital Printing based in Krakow, belonging to the fespa organization.