Screenprinting Today: The Basics

SCREEN PRINTING TODAY

By Andy MacDougall.
© 1999 MacDougall Screen Printing Ltd.

All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission

• Screenprinting around the world is a widely used specialized printing process. Ongoing improvements to equipment, techniques, and materials have allowed today's screenprinter to reproduce graphic images on a multitude of different materials, not just the commonly associated products such as T-shirts, bumperstickers, or art prints.
  
  
• Because of its ability to lay a controlled layer of any type of ink on a flat surface, repeatedly, with a minimum of cost and complicated press set-up, screenprinting is the preferred method of imprinting metals, plastics, glass, or wood when a permanent durable image is required. Many large manufacturers mass-producing consumer products made of these materials use an in-plant screening department, or send parts out for specialty finishing.
  
  
• Careers in the screenprinting field are wide ranging. Modern shops will have art departments requiring skilled production artists familiar with the latest in computer graphics and film preparation for screenprinting. In the printing shop they will require workers skilled in screenmaking, ink mixing, manual and automatic press operations, post-printing finishing, etc.
  
  
• Improvements in equipment and techniques over the last 25 years have kept screenprinting in a viable and expanding position in the fast changing graphics and imaging industry.

WHY USE SCREENPRINTING?

• Screen printed inks are the most durable and lightfast available compared to most of the other printing processes.
  
  
• Screen inks are available to adhere to a wide range of materials, and can also be formulated as metallic, florescent, glow-in-the-dark, electrically conductive, as glass frit, as glue, etc.
  
  
• Screen inks are brighter and more opaque than those used in other printing processes.
  
  
• Compared to other printing technologies, screenprinting has very low capital costs for initial set-up.
  
  
• Because of the simplicity of the process, it is easily adaptable to a wide range of uses and applications, especially when it comes to printing 3 dimensional objects, parts, and different materials.
  
  
• Screenprinting is not as restricted by size of print, length of production run, or thickness and type of printable material as other printing processes.
  
  
• The screenprinting process is equally adaptable to labour intensive situations or fully automated systems while remaining economical in both.

DRAWBACKS TO USING SCREENPRINTING

• When compared to highspeed litho presses or other automated printing processes, screenprinting can be seen as very slow and labour intensive.
  
  
• Traditionally, images must be converted to film, then exposed on the stencil, then set up and printed. New digital imaging, especially in short runs, often allows for cheaper unit costs with higher resolution when compared to screenprinting.
  
  
• Some inks and chemicals used are highly toxic.
  
  
• Quality standards vary widely. Many printers are poorly trained and badly equipped.
  
  
• Fine details and half-tone or process colour printing are harder to print because of technical limitations in the process.

What is it used for?

IN-PLANT PRINTING / CONSUMER GOODS

Examples of consumer products using screenprinting as an integrated part of manufacturing:

• Control panels on washers, dryers, stereos, backlit instrument panels on cars, machines, etc.
  
• Heater systems on back windows of cars, pinball and video games, frosted or decorated glass shower doors
  
• Ceramic tiles, mugs, plates, beer bottles, lab beakers and coffee pots, shampoo and lotion containers
  
• Hockey sticks, skis & snowboards, basketball backboards, decorated tablecloths & patio umbrellas, wooden gift boxes
  
• Radiant heating panels, circuit boards, membrane switches, keyboards and telephones, compact discs, wallpaper
  
• Plastic, metal, wood, fabric, leather, and other material.

GARMENTS & TEXTILES

In the garment and textile field, screenprinting is used to print t-shirts, hats, jackets, and other articles of consumer wear. Most patterned cloth found in fabric stores or used in shirts, dresses, or bedlinens, has been screenprinted.

SIGNS & COMMERCIAL GRAPHICS

The widespread use of plastics or vinyls in outdoor promotional advertising, and the demands of marketers and advertisers for large durable images create a huge demand worldwide for screen printed graphics.

• Billboards, chain store signage, gas station pump toppers, large sale posters at grocery and department stores, transit ads on buses and bus shelters
  
• Logos on boards at hockey games, banners and graphics at car races, football and soccer games, ski races
  
• Road signs, traffic control devices, license plates and stickers, car and truck graphics
  
• Displays and exhibits for museums, science centres, movie houses
  
• Advertising specialties

FINE ART

Screenprinting is the process used to produce limited edition serigraphs. Some artists work on their own, designing and printing the work themselves in their studio. Many artists choose to work with printers who specialize in limited edition screenprinting.

PROSPECTS FOR GROWTH AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES

In North American commercial screenprinting shops, which include in-plant, general and specialized graphics, as well as garment printing, the industry overall experiences growth in the 10-15% per year rate. This has been going on for many years, and screenprinting companies worldwide consistently outperform other segments of the graphic trades in growth. Screen printers are the largest users of the new large format digital imaging systems in North America, integrating existing screenprinting with the expanded opportunities and uses of these new graphic reproduction systems.

• As the shift in our economy to more value-added and secondary manufacturing of consumer products continues, the demand for the ability to put images, instructions, or markings on prototypes and production runs of items will increase. Individuals and companies prepared to service these needs will experience demand for their services on an expanding basis.
  
  
• The growing world tourism market demands a wide variety of new and novel imprinted items on an ongoing basis. Many of these items can be manufactured and screenprinted by localized small cottage industries, with very little capital outlay for equipment.
  
  
• In most large cities throughout North America and the world, because of the widespread lack of skilled screenprinters in the job market, a trained printer is a valued and rare commodity. Individuals with the proper skills usually find work once they know where to look.
  
  
• Training and re-training opportunities for physically and socially disabled individuals abound in the screenprinting industry. Hands, eyes, good judgement, and desire to excel are the four necessary ingredients to do well in this industry.
  
  
• The screenprinting business is almost exclusively made up of companies started by printers. The entrepreneurial printer with the desire to run his or her own company can easily start a home based or small business on a shoe-string budget, and grow with the customer base.
  
  
• Screenprinting is a recognized 'legitimate' form of Limited Edition art printing, and is an excellent and challenging area of fine arts. Many artists use serigraphs to reproduce multiples of their work for a wider market. Canadian West Coast native artists Robert Davidson, Bill Reid, and Roy Vickers, or other contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Christopher Pratt, and Frank Stella have used screenprinting to make their mark in the international art world. Many artists will turn to screenprinting as a creative outlet, especially with the advent of waterbase ink technology and the ever expanding capabilities of the medium.