Silk screen printing for smooth results

Silk screen printing - also known as 'serigraphy'- is one of the oldest printing methods and still enjoys popularity today. If your business is considering printing options for its marketing collateral - particularly signage and fabric printing - it's well worth exploring.

What is silk screen printing?

The silk screen printing process involves pushing ink through a fine fabric screen. These screens were traditionally made of silk, but are now made of synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester.

The screen, which is stretched onto a frame, is treated to form a stencil, meaning its fine holes are left open in the areas that are going to be printed, while the areas that are not to be printed are sealed.

Printing is completed with a squeegee, which is used to squeeze the ink through the fine mesh of the screen onto paper or other materials. 

Uses of silk screen printing

Most of us are familiar with silkscreen printing on T-shirts, but its applications are virtually endless. Being one of the most versatile printing techniques, silkscreen printing is appropriate for a wide variety of substrates, including:

• textiles and fabrics such as nylon and cotton
• wood and metal
• glass and plastics
• paper and cardboard. 

Typically, silkscreen printing is used on clothing and textiles, posters, signage, labels, merchandise and electronics.

A versatile printing solution

The main advantage of silkscreen printing over other printing techniques is that the press can print on stocks of any shape, thickness and size. And because of the simplicity of the application process, a wider range of inks and dyes is available.

Creative applications

Silkscreen printing lets a greater thickness of ink be applied to the stock, allowing effects that aren't possible with other printing methods. For example, it can be used to print over old designs and off-cuts to create interesting patterns and images that are cheap and eco-friendly.

Printing efficiency

While silkscreen printing was traditionally a slow process, the development of automated and rotary presses has allowed for continuous operation and has increased production rates dramatically.

Silkscreen printing costs 

Silkscreen printing has higher set-up costs compared with other printing techniques, but because the production speed is much faster, large quantities of the same image are able to be printed quite cheaply.

In other words, for print runs over 200, the set-up cost is quickly surpassed by the production speed.

Smooth as silk

Whether your business needs a large run of signage printed, some branded T-shirts for a promotional event, or just wants to get a bit more creative with inks for that 'wow' factor, consider silkscreen printing. 

Modern techniques mean it is time and cost effective, as well as incredibly versatile, so talk to a silkscreen expert today about how to make your next print job as smooth as silk.