As detailed by Wikipedia in their article “Screen Printing,” this versatile printing technique involves using a mesh to transfer ink onto a substrate, blocking areas made impermeable by a stencil. A blade or squeegee pushes ink through the open mesh apertures onto the surface, creating a printed design. One color is applied at a time, making screen printing ideal for multi-colored images or intricate patterns.
Screen printing’s origins date back to the Song Dynasty in China (960–1279 AD) and later spread to other Asian countries like Japan. It was only in the late 18th century that this process was introduced to Western Europe, where it gained wider acceptance with the availability of silk mesh from the East. By the early 20th century, advancements in photo-reactive chemicals revolutionized the industry, allowing for the creation of photo-imaged stencils. This development was pioneered by Roy Beck, Charles Peter, and Edward Owens, who helped shape the modern commercial screen printing process.
Today, screen printing is not limited to garments but is widely used across industries, including for decals, watch faces, balloons, and even in advanced applications such as multi-layer circuit creation. Synthetic threads like polyester, nylon, and stainless steel have largely replaced traditional silk mesh, with different mesh sizes offering varied printing effects.
The introduction of “serigraphy” in the 1930s by artists like Max Arthur Cohn and Anthony Velonis helped distinguish the artistic use of screen printing from its industrial applications. This term has since become synonymous with the artistic side of the process, while modern screen printing continues to evolve with safer and more efficient methods.
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Article with all rights reserved, courtesy of wikipedia.org.