In the field of printing and apparel, silk screen printing is the most commonly used printing technique. So why should you choose this type of printing for uniform T-shirts? We provide Dallas screen printing service we will introduce everything about screen printing to give you a more general overview!
What is screen printing?
Silk printing is a printing technique with simple printing methods, beautiful and eye-catching colors, creating highly aesthetic products. Silk printing is a name given by workers and comes from the mesh of the printing frame made of silk. But later, this printing was also used with different materials such as cotton fabric, chemical fiber fabric, and metal fabric, so it was also called screen printing.
Screen printing is done according to the same principle as ink oil printing on stencils, which means that only a part of the ink is absorbed through the printing screen, printing on the material in the areas that need to be printed, while the areas that do not need to be printed will be covered. again with specialized chemicals that do not allow ink to penetrate. This t-shirt printing technology is applied on many different materials such as nylon, fabric, glass…
Classification of screen printing techniques
Regarding the classification of screen printing techniques, there are many different classifications. Depending on the criteria each classification is based on, there will be different printing techniques. Below are some classifications based on different criteria.
Classification according to how printing molds are used
Based on how the printing mold is used, there are the following types:
- Silk screen printing on manual printing table
- Screen printing on a printing table has some operations mechanized
- Silk screen printing on automatic printer
Classification according to mold shape
Based on the mold shape, there are 2 types of printing techniques:
- Printing technique using flat mesh mold
- The printing technique uses a rotating drum-type circular mesh mold
Classification by printing method
Based on printing method, there are the following types:
- Direct screen printing : is a type of printing on products where the background color is white or light color, the background color does not affect the print color.
- Unattached screen printing: is a type of printing on a product with a background color, the ink color must be able to destroy the background color and attach the color to be printed on the product.
- Backup screen printing: prints products in color but does not use debonding printing
What do you need to prepare for the T-shirt screen printing method?
Current screen printing technology has many different classifications. But no matter what printing technique is used, it is necessary to prepare some necessary materials and supplies to ensure the printing process on the product can be carried out.
Materials to be printed
The material to be printed on is what you want to print on. Such as t-shirts, paper, glass, metal, wedding invitations, watch faces, ceramic tiles.
Printing mold
A printing mold is a frame used for printing, made of wood, rectangular or square depending on the material to be printed. The printing mold is used to position the printing mesh. Which is where the ink is stored, allowing the ink to pass through and penetrate the material to be printed.
Printing Grid section
The printed mesh is made of silk or any material. It consists of 2 parts: The part that allows ink to pass through (printing element) and the part that does not allow ink to pass through (non-printing element).
Printing ink
As a printing material, it is viscous and not liquid like other inks to print on the material to be printed. Printing ink is produced according to each basic color and each color is separated separately. When printing, the artist will use these colors mixed together in certain proportions to create the color tone they desire.
Wiper bar
The wiper bar is an indispensable material when using screen printing technique . This bar is made of wood and has different lengths depending on the printing mold. The use of this bar is to spread the ink evenly so that it penetrates through the printing mesh layer, penetrating through the material to be printed.
Print table
The printing table is a place to place and fix the material to be printed. To prevent the material to be printed from moving, causing difficulties during the screen printing process, a layer of glue will be applied to the table top to fix the table top to the material to be printed.
Why should you choose silk printing when printing uniform T-shirts?
Use silk printing method when printing uniform shirts because they have the following advantages:
- Outstanding, eye-catching colors, creating beautiful finished products: with this printing technique, beautiful, clear images are created that appeal to the viewer’s vision. This is one of the advantages of screen printing that many customers choose to print t-shirts.
- Creating products with high durability and longer usage time : T-shirts are easy to use, easy to coordinate in many situations such as wearing to school, going out, at home or as a company uniform. With such high frequency of use, using silk screen printing will help the shirt be more durable, less likely to peel or fade, and prolong the life of the shirt.
- Save printing costs : although this printing technique is done manually, printing time is faster and printing in large quantities so it will be cheaper than other printing methods.