subject: Screen Printing, Dying Art or Key Business Services [print this page] Screen Printing, Dying Art or Key Business Services
When you think of screen printing, thoughts may go to a large industrial unit, applying messy inks on to large paper in an un-efficient and not so energy friendly way. You may not even be sure what screen printing is, is it printing big screens for exhibitions perhaps? This competitive industry has a big part to play in the modern business world with an ever increasing demanding need to grab the consumer and business man's attention.
Signs affect our daily life's whether we know it consciously or sub consciously. Signs direct us in our travel to work, on our holidays, catch our eye with advertising slogans. They can help us find the services we need in times of emergency or times of enjoyment.
At the normal high street or out of town retail park or shopping centre, you just need to look around and see shops everywhere vying for your attention. These shops, the signs to get you to the shopping centres and even the petrol stations that give you the fuel to get there, all have one thing in common, they have "signs" from large to small to try and grab your attention.
Screen printing on to signs of all shapes and sizes and ranging in material from metal to wood, to plastics poses a challenge for the modern day screen printer. The demands of the marketers and shop owners mean that sharp, crisp and eye catching designs, with high quality finish are essential.
Printing on to textiles such as T-shirts, banners or other materials uses similar process to printing on signs. The art is to get the design and inks to bond to the chosen material. This is not dying the material put printing on to the fabric in differing colours and parts to get the chosen sharp pattern.
Screen printing is not just about printing on to large signs or banners. The skills used in the printing process are used for printing unusual or smaller objects. This type of printing is called "pad printing" or "3d surface" printing because a pad is made to print the design or logo on to the object or shape. Many of these shapes are in three dimensions not just a flat surface examples being toys, gifts or house hold goods.
The stages that a screen print process will go through are, a) create and agree the artwork, b) transfer this artwork on to a film or template, c) create a screen called a "silk screen" as they used to made from silk in days past, this holds the design, d) Choose the printing press method to apply the inks to the template e) after applying the inks allow to dry in a specialised drying process.
