Screen printing is one of the early methods of printing. It involves the passing of ink or any other printing medium through a mesh or 'screen' that has been stretched on a frame, and to which a stencil has been applied. The stencil openings determine the image that will thus be imprinted.

Screen Printing

Screen printing was a technique first used by the Chinese. They used human hair stretched across a wooden frame to form the screen. To that they attached a stencil made from leaves stuck together into different shapes. This was probably the first application of screen printing ever. Different areas on the screen were blocked out for different color inks, thus resulting in a multi-colored image. This technique became hugely popular for printing signs and posters in large quantities.

Equipment Used In Screen Printing

No matter what kind of screen printing machine you have, there is some basic equipment that will be required. The stencil or screen is of prime importance since it determines the design and image output. It refers to the frame, the mesh and the photosensitive material on which the image is created. The Squeegee is the rubber held in a rigid handle. Ink of course.

The substrate or surface on which screen printing can be carried out are too many to be named. Any surface that can be stretched and printed on is a surface for screen printing. The CD covers you see are all screen printed. Beautiful cotton fabrics, silk and polyesters can all be screen printed on. Posters, signs, flyers, advertisements on buses, t-shirts and even watch dials are screen printed. Thus there are many applications of screen printing.