Screen printing’s versatility is evident in how it allows for printing on substrates of any shape, thickness and size. Today it’s common to see screen applications used in both fine arts and in commercial printing. The diameter of the threads and the thread count of the mesh will determine how much ink is deposited onto the substrates. Exposure and subsequent washout removes the coating from the image area, through which the ink will pass. Unexposed screens contain a coating through which ink will not pass. The printable image is created on the screen through exposure of the image in prepress. As ink is introduced onto the squeegee, the cylinder rotates and the ink is pushed out of the screen onto the moving substrate. The squeegee is mounted in a fixed position inside the screen cylinder. In rotary screen printing, the screen is formed into a cylinder. The squeegee moves over the course of the screen, forcing the ink through the fine mesh openings and onto the substrate. The screen is placed over the substrate and the ink is deposited at one end of the frame. Flat screen printing uses a porous mesh stretched tightly over a frame. The process consists of three elements: the screen, which is the image carrier the squeegee and ink. Originally a profitable industrial technology, screen printing was eventually adopted by graphic artists as a convenient method for duplicating work, and over the years, it has only gained in popularity. Centuries later, the process was given its first patent, in 1907, to Englishman Samuel Simon. Historians date its first usage to China’s Song Dynasty, which lasted from 960 to 1279 CE. Screen printing is one of the oldest forms of the print process. The versatile print method has found newer markets, like RFID and printed electronics, and can make for a profitable equipment acquisition.
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