Screen Printing Tips 2020

May 9, 2020

Author: Suresh Kumar

I was introduced to the Screen Printing method first time in the Year 1990 Month of May. I remember well, it was my school summer vacation time, just after I appeared my 10+2, Board Examination.

I joined a company internship, Since then, I always had a huge attachment to the Screen Printing Method.

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Since then, whenever I found a Screen Printed product such as PVC Sticker, Letterhead, Business Card, Invitation Card, Certificate, T-shirt, Sunpack Bill Book or any other Screen Printed Product even it made of Plastic, Paper, Fiber, Fabric or Wooden Printed materials etc I criticise.

I always used to look into the Quality of Printing and How skillfully it is done. Applying the Ink, Type of film, Printing Cloth, Film Exposure Unit and other related Raw Materials.

What mistakes are made, how it could be better? likewise question and answer.

Initially Screen Printing was done manually. But now Screen Printing is done both by the manual and semi-automated process.

China is the origin of this Printing Process. Due to a very affordable startup business point of view capital, space and manpower investment. This printing method has been adopted worldwide.

I would like to share a story with you all. In the year 1990, If I remember, the Screen Printing business in India was at a peak time. There was a little competition in the screen printing sector. The sale price per impression cost was high and expence was very low compared to the present time. Profit margin was very high.

Digital Printing process was not invented that time.

We are talking about a period of 30 years back. The most popular printing method of that time known as Letterpress and Screen Printing. Today, letterpress is disappearing from the market and on the other hand Screen Printing is still in the Industry but low in demand.

Screen Printing a very easy method and low-cost investment. The printing cost is based on work volume, printing area size and no. of printing color used. One can only print Opaque color at a time with the help of making a mesh of polyester/nylon synthetic fabric.

Add more printing color, required to make a new screen and print it more time.

We have been talking about the past and present of Screen Printing. Check how it would be in the future after 50 year

Top Screen Printing Product

There is uncounted product that can be printed through screen printing. I want to share some of them which are more demanding products in screen printing industries even in the age of digital printing.

Business Card, Letterhead, Envelope, Invitation Card, T-shirts, Sunpack, Wedding Card. Stickers Printing, Carry Bag, UV Coating, PVC Stickers etc. is done through screen printing.

Best tips of making 4 color screen printing frame

As you know screen printing color is a opaque (non transparent) when it comes to add more color it comes overlap (one color to another color) always print first color "outline none" and rest color atleast 1pt. thicker. You can optmize as per flexible stuff like cloth, paper, plastic etc.

Screen Printing major down point, more than single color printing, there is "no result 100% color registration mark accuracy" this is why we need out line thicker.

Screen Printing Mesh Types, Quality and It’s Perfect Uses

There are mainly two types of screen printing mesh made of NYLON and POLYESTER in the market etc. Each type of cloth is made for special quality of screen printing products. Higher mesh no. refers to high quality print and lower ink dot.

No.12 to 30 No. mesh used for very rough & tuff product printing Example Ceramic Tile, fine Wood Printing and apply Adhesive on the Paper, Foam, Card Board, etc. Whereas, for a thicker layer of adhesive or ink printing we consider lower No. of cloth is much better

These printed product usually seen a long distance off.

We use No.30 to No.60 is for the medium plain surface. For example Sun Pack Printing, Sticker Printing, T-Shirt Printing, and Wedding Card Printing.
When it comes to print a very sharp and accurate printing we suggest you to use No.60 to No.140, We do not use cloth for the fine quality of printing. For example Business Card Printing, Letterhead, Certificate, and Stationery Printing.

3 Most Popular Screen Printing Film Making Media

On the basis of Film Printing Quality, Durability and Cost Effective it can be divided. Everyone should use these three types of film for specific product printing for best quality, durability and cost-effectiveness

Direct Film
Chromolin Film
5 Star Film

Direct Film – Where there’s no issue of printing quality of a product Usually, this film process is used for high volume and recurring printing products, such as Carton Printing, Wall Printing, Tin Printing, Sun Pack Printing and Tin Plate Printing, etc. Overall Film making cost goes Rs. 20-25/- square fit.

You can produce more than 5000 copy by single direct film

Choromoline Film – It is used high volume and quality printing products even on the rough surface or plain like ceramic, paper, wooden ply ec.

It is a very hard film because it has the capability of high quantity printing products as it has two-layers (first direct film + chromoline layer) which makes it even harder film. We use this type of film especially for high quality and long-lasting screen printing. We mainly use this for UV Coating Film and Routine Printing Job. The cost per square ft goes not more than the 55/-square foot.

You can print through this screen printing film more than 50,000 pcs.

5 Star Film – This is the Supreme Quality Printing Screen Film which we mainly for Business Card, Letterhead, Envelope and Invitation Cards, etc. To get the best printing result as we only use this for one time sharp printing. It costs Rs.60-70/-square ft.
Five star film durability depends on the quality of fabric wooven no of per square inch. I.E. higher no. fabric per aquare inch long lost.

While preparing a film the "Exposure Time" factor is very important if it is more than required it might be very hard to print text properly and if its less your film will be damaged.

Screen Printing Content Butter Paper/Negative Positive

We advise you to use negative-positive instead of making butter film when it comes to quality printing and long-term print. Using butter film comes with a drawback which is low-quality printing and lesser volume printing. Even though positive cost is higher than the butter film but the plus point is that you do not need to produce the screen printing film again and again.

Quality of screen printing ink and it’s drying time

There are 5 major types of printing ink:-

PVC INK – If we talk about the quality of this ink, it has a fully matte finish ink printing, mostly this ink is printed on uncoated paper material and it dries out within half an hour. After drying it you can feel printed letter little raised out. This is the cheapest quality of screen printing ink. We do not use it on shiny paper as the print might remove sooner.
VIYNOSHINE INK – It is applied on coated and shiny paper to get the best result. After drying out it leaves a glaze on the printed letter and it takes more time to dry out than the PVC ink and also costlier than the PVC ink. It doesn’t raise after drying out.
GLOSS INK – This type of ink is applied on coated and non-coated paper. It takes more than 24 hrs to dry out. It is the highest raised printing ink.
Plastisol Ink – It is basically a plastic ink which we use for printing on cloth fabric and treat it with heat process and fix it on the cloth. These inks give a very soft touch like rubberised
Water Based Ink- It is used only for fabric printing only, print feels soft and its a enveniroment friendly.

If you required high raised letter or artwork One can be apply embossed and de-bossed printing.

What are the essential things that make your screen printing quality imaging?

Use the best quality and appropriate mesh for each printing object.
Always use positive/negative in place of butter paper for making a film.
Never use torn cloth even if it is small.
Open a film to be printed is a game of exposed time to use digital to get the best result.
Every single time use screen printing cloth according to the printing object perfectly.
Use Best quality exposure unit.

How Does a Screen Printing Frame is Made?

A mess is stretched over the frame tightly with the help of quick fix, where a frame stands for a wooden or aluminum frame keeping the standard depth at least 1.5"-2.0" to keep ink inside and squeeze around the frame properly, we call this process a silkscreen frame.

A kind of concentrated liquid (Emulsion) potassium dichromate is applied on the screen to block the screen mess, after making silkscreen we have to prepare artwork which has to get print.

If you also want one, you can search Silk Printing Maker in Munirka Delhi on google search engine.How does screen printing method works, required equipment and raw materials?

Squeeze
Ink and ink dilute chemical (Amile and Nytro)
Rack to dry up product
Table with screen attachment
Tube/mercury bulb 2000 watt
The film sensitizer and emulsion
Nylon or polyester fabric
Film exposure instrument
Spray or running water tab
Bleach powder to washout used frames
Dryer
Gloves
Darkroom for making a film

Screen FrameTypes of Screen Printing

There are 3 types of Screen Printing Process

Flat Printing – We do 95% of screen printing through the flat screen printing process. Overall types of paper made products are printed on the flat-screen printing process. We also print single color cloth printing on plastic substance.

Round Screen Printing

Best Round Screen Printer in Delhi

Usually, this printing is done made of gloss or plastic bottle, which can’t be print through sublimation, variable data printing on plastic which makes gloss costlier. We can get multi-color printing on theses material at a very nominal price but make sure the data should be common.

Manoj Screen, Sidhipura, (M) 9711968802

Get Round screen printing on pen and novelty items from – Mukesh Kumar 9211022701

Rotary Printing

In flat printing, We can print all thin and thick flat items except paper, cardboard, t-shirt, wedding card, plastic panel, aluminum panel, etc.

We print round material, such as the bottle, pen, and all cylindrical items, in round printing. We can be print only one color at a time in this method. To add more color we need a separate screen.

There are various types of ink used in different types of objects. Some of them are water-soluble and some are toxic chemical-based.

PVC Ink
Vynoshine Ink
Gloss Ink
Plastisol ink
Water based ink

All these types of ink are used for specialized textile, paper, metal, and non-metal objects to get the best silk printing result according to longevity, fixing on object and price.

For textile printing, eco-friendly and water-soluble inks are being used.
We do printing on shiny material vynoshine ink for matching objects.
To get the letter raised printing we apply special ink known as Gloss Ink. It needs more time to dry approximately 24-30 hrs. Raised letter printing height comes up to 0.2-0.3 m and we can get more raised letter process as an embossed letter
For matte finish printing look apply PVC ink only.

Top 3 Branded Screen Printing Ink QualityHigh-Quality Screen Printing Ink

Sunglow Ink Company
Rainbow Ink Company
Kohinoor Ink Company

The above 3 brands are master ink maker companies according to my experience I never got any complaint about color to remove from an object, during printing sessions, concentration, or dilution, etc. These brand ink are available in each variety and packing such as 300 gm, 500 gm, and 1000 gm.

If we compare pricing you will find it a little costlier but indirectly it is cheap and the best option.

How to prepare to screen printing mesh?

First of all, we design through handmade or computer.
Prepare a silk mesh according to content and object where it is going to be print.
Get a print on tracing paper or make positive of it.
Make an emulsion with potassium dichromate chemical ration of 20: 1 so that we could apply it on the frame with the help of squeezed equal coating and keep it to dry out properly in a darkroom.
Keep tracing paper on the potassium dichromate then apply it properly dry out it on silkscreen, keep in mind that it must be airless between the screen and tracing paper you can apply oil such as kerosene oil to adhere with screen.
Get it to expose in the sunlight or mercury bulb depending on the content that how bold is it? It might be for 1 minute to 1.5 minutes according to the density of light.
Remove tracing paper and apply speedy running water till potassium dichromate removes (unmasked) from the content area and remain became harder (masked)
Leave frame to dry out.
Apply top coat on the unwanted hole on the screen.
So the screen is ready to print. The ink passes through an unmasked area with the help of squeezed and the rest area remains as substrate color.

Artwork Ready Image

Small letter printing up to 8-10 pt requires very high-quality. Nylon cloth comes in 500-600 INR per meter. The gap among threads is very close and the printing quality products are very neat and clean.

We use this cloth mainly for letterhead printing, Business Card, Invitation Card, Envelope Printing, etc.

Sunpack and cloth banner nylon screen qualityScreen Printing Sunpack

We apply adhesive manually from making strong stickers gap between threads that are very far and can easily pass high volume adhesive. Mostly we use no.3o cloth for screen printing sunpack and Guming works. The price per meter starts from INR 75 to 100.

T-shirt Printing, Tiles Printing, Sunpack, Cloth Banner etc mostly printed this quality of cloth.

Apply Adhesive Screen ClothStrong Adhesive Stickers

keep it on the screen and expose it in the light for the specific required time, when the screen covered with artwork (Text or image required to print) comes into the exposure that we totally washout by water force, at last, the remaining area (out of text and image) becomes harder. Then the screen is ready for printing. The object you want to print you have to keep it beneath the screen and when you will apply the ink and press the frame with the rubber in order of that the ink will pass out on the object in the layer of the artwork that you required. Therefore the final print is ready. If you want to print more design than one colour you have to make each separate silkscreen.

High Quality Screen Printing Exposer Lamps

For making a film we need sunlight or Film Exposure bulbs, sometimes what happens is that working in the sunlight hurts so you can get the best exposure bulb from "Durga Trading Corporation" Bhagirath place Chandni Chowk New Delhi 110006, Tel: 91-11-23864126, 23873867 E-mail: durgatrading@gmail.com

How to select a silk printing cloth quality for long variety of products?

There are various types of products made by silk Printing

Fine PrintingFine Screen Printing Cloth

A. Business Card

B. Letterhead

C. Envelope

D. Tag and Label

Bold Content Printing

Sunpack
Wedding Card
Wall Printing etc.
T-shirt Printing
Gumming Screen
Cartoon Printing
Carry Bag

The printing quality of the product is based on the quality of the fabric which we use in screen printing.

Depends on color fabric light or dark according choose cloth no as 50 on the ward where 50 stands for threads per inch darker threads lower no to get the best opaque color.

Printing on Paper and Cardboard

3. The reason why we must follow screen printing?

Can be print any thickness.
Basic setup cost is less compared to offset printing.
Sooner turnaround.
Any type of stuff can be print (Wood, Cloth, Paper, Plastic, Metal, Rubber, Foam etc.)

5. Important software knowledge for screen printing

Coreldraw
Photoshop
Indesign
Illustrator
Pagemaker
Quarck

Professional designers use this software for work and you must be knowledgeable enough about this software if want to be a professional screen-printer.

Screen printing V/S offset printing :The advantage

Low processing cost
No boundary of material thickness
Minimum turnaround period
Can print material odd and even
Low cost per unit

Disadvantage

Image and content low-quality printing
Very slow printing speed
Limited print-ability size
Very difficult to match the registered color
Color consistency unequal

The screen printing method is a very short and low investment process, we can only print a single opaque color at a time if you want to add more colors as your choice so you have to do it again and again as mentioned above.

In the Screen Printing method, even it may be round, curved, even or odd surface we can print it for low volume.

The printing substance has a large variety. Visiting Card, Envelope, Letterhead, T-shirt, Invitation Card, Sun Pack, and many more items can be printed at economical rates.

For the last 2 decades, digital printing demand has been enhanced. The experts say we can see future click here

How much capital-required investment in Screen Printing Startup Business?

It doesn’t require much money for screen printing startup business.

You can start your screen printing business INR 1,00,000 to 125000/-

This capital is enough but make sure before starting your business you should research your market where you want your business established.

How much a good screen printing practitioner deserves a salary?

Now a screen printing expert salary starts from Rs. 15,000-40,000/- depending on the work experience he has. A person who does work as a supervisor gets Rs.40,000 plus.

Finally you can say, it depends on screen printing practitioner competency and comapny size of employer.

A standard size and screen printing frame material made of?1. Wooden Screen Printing Frame

Fast-moving frame are 8?x10?, 12?x18?, 15?x20?, 20?x30? Usually, you can buy it ready-made. These Frames are made of wooden. For manual printing purposes, we use a smaller size frame.

If you require a custom size email to us at Suresh_shivanient@yahoo.com2. Aluminium Metal Screen Printing FrameScreen Printing Aluminium Frame

These frames come with heavyweight and automated screen printing methods are especially used for textile printing, UV coating, high breed coating, etc. This frame’s lifespan is over a year. The weight of a metal frame goes higher compared to a wooden frame.

What is the perfect size screen printing frame?Screen Printing Frame Sizes

A perfect frame size stands for a frame that helps to make maximum production on a specific size of object printing. A-frame requires a bigger size from the object we have to get print it as to move squeeze freely and ink as the bigger size it produces low production.

Think before you start your screen printing start-up business!

Research your local market
Avoid residential location if you start in a metro city
The printing area must be ventilated as the chemical used in screen printing are toxic.
Hire a skilled screen printer.

How many print produce a screen printing cloth?

The production capability of cloth first depends, on the quality of material if its nylon or polyester.

Secondly what no. (dence cloth wooven) mesh is. Usually, a cloth lasts up to 10,000-20,000 impressions onward an impression count as the quantity of printing object.

How to remove unwanted screen printing colors from the fabric?

Well, Screen printing diluter is known as a nytrobengine and Amile that make concentrate ink into the low concentration form of ink.

Take 2 white cloth pieces and wet the first piece of cloth with the amile and keep the second one on its backside of fabric unwanted screen printed, rub the amile wet cloth on it. repeat this process until it remove properly.

How to wash and reused screen printing frame perfectly?

There are various factors because of which ink does not washes out properly. Some of the reasons which I want to share with you:-

Using low quality of screen printing cloth.
Improper use of tape before printing.
After screen printing printer lefts ink in the frame etc.
Especially when you are applying gloss color ink you shall wash out the frame instantly.

These are the major factors. If you want to come over it, there are some tips you must follow:-

Use good quality of screen printing cloth.
Always use certified material (bleach powder, detergent, sponge etc) to wash out the ink
After finishing the printing work extract out the ink properly from the screen printing frame and wipe out dilute.
When ink is hard, you apply a chemical on it and leave it for a long time.
When the film is too hard to wash, apply sodium carbonate (caustic soda liquid) that makes it easy to wash chemicals but make sure for little time otherwise it may harm your screen printing cloth.

Pain Point of Screen Printing

Where the screen printing is in the budget printing process it has some pain points related to the quality.

There is a limitation to print in big size accuracy

You can’t get a print gradient in screen printing compare to digital or offset printing.
Smaller text size printability.
It requires enough space to dry out the printed items.

How does sublimation printing differ from screen printing?

Sublimation printing proces done through computerized digitally printed on polyester coated paper with sublimation ink in the presence of specific temperature and heat press.

It is done only substance made of polyester or polyester based material only. No required processing cost. It gets no time. For variable data printing sublimation printing is the best option.

Where screen printing can be done on any stuff made of, is printed seperate opaque color with the help of concentrate liquid ink pushed through mesh.

It takes time to properly dry-up. Required minimum processing cost. It takes longer time to finish. Add more print color you need new mesh and extra time. Bulk quantity screen printing method is awesome!

Best Screen Printing Material Supplier in Delhi

J. N Arora Trading Company

3802-3803, Charkhe Walan, Chawri Bazaar, Delhi (India) 110006

E: mail: rajivarora@jnarora.com

Note: J. N. Arora is a company that manufacturer ink and trade across India. This is the shop where you can find any types of screen printing material they have so many branches in the case out of stock particular they can provide you the best.

Gulati Store Moti Nagar

It’s a very old shop I know it from the Year 1990,

Are you facing a problem with the screen printing method or want to start a screen-printing business?