The Products of Screen Printing

Screen printing is a very flexible way of printing, because you can print large or small prints. You can also print onto a variety of surfaces. Can you imagine trying to run a tube of toothpaste through a printer? Toothpaste tubes are printed with screen printing. For this reason screen printing is sometimes referred to as the “print anything and everything process. ” Of course, it would not be appropriate for printing things like books, because of the high quantity. In this case some of the other printing processes would be more appropriate (for example, offset lithography). The process of screen printing we used in class is called on-contact printing because the screen and stencil contact the sheet the entire process. There are other types of screen printing, like with tubes of toothpaste, where this is not the case. This is called off-contact printing. In this reading we are going to learn about some of the products enhanced by screen printing. We use the word enhanced, because usually screen printing only helps make the product. For example, screen printing does not make a t-shirt, but it does enhance it by printing on it.

T-shirts are one common application of screen printing. The clothing industry uses screen printing on a variety of garments. We could use the same inks and prepared screen that we used in class to print on t-shirts. Screen printing is also used to make prints from poster size all the way up to billboard size. When making a print for a billboard there are several different screens prepared. Each screen prints a different section of the billboard. Screen printing is also used to print on plates and glasses. Even on “huggers” designed to keep your soft drink cool. As we mentioned in our reading on inks, screen printing is also used in making electronic circuit boards. Some of the electronic chips on the circuit board are also produced with screen printing. Do your recognize any of the products enhanced by screen printing in fig. 20?

The “scratch off” areas on some tickets are made with screen printing. Screen printing is used to print on vinyl. It is sometimes used on cardboard boxes, because it is easy to move the screen to the correct location. The wrapping paper around the presents you open are sometimes screen printed. One interesting method of screen printing consists of crushing glass in a liquid (vehicle). The crushed glass is screen printed onto tableware. Then the tableware (dishes) is put in a fire kiln. A kiln is like a big furnace. This melts or fuses the crushed glass to the tableware under high heat. From these examples, it is easy to see how screen printing enhances our lives by making

products more attractive and readable. Would you want to confuse the toothpaste with hand lotion? Screen printing makes many printing applications possible. The following is a partial list of screen printed items.

Products of Screen Printing

decals aircraft (exterior markings) caps, hats tableware plastics bumper stickers banners advertising posters battery labels

calendars towels ash trays curtains billboards flags shower curtains loose leaf binders electronic components ceramic tiles sweatshirts t-shirts invitation cards handkerchiefs oil change stickers catalog covers magnetic car signs drinking glasses + cups foam products carpets construction signs cardboard “black light” posters charts telephone dials +numbers card game layouts flexible vinyls pennants plaques cones dials roll labels dress material mirrors thermometers stadium cushions linen awards truck marking (18 wheeler) sportswear political posters political buttons watch faces brochure covers scales and rulers plastic radio tubes book covers beakers (laboratory equip.) printed circuits fine art greeting cards