Screen Printing: Introduction

Focus Educational CD-ROM 'on body' artwork is produced using the screen printing process. This is a versatile, low cost printing technique, widely used by industry and the art world. Most materials with a flat surface can be screen printed e.g. art print reproduction, shop display boards, CD-ROMS, posters, T-shirts.

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In this process ink or paint is transferred to the printing surface by being squeezed through a fine fabric sheet stretched on a frame. The screen carries a stencil which defines the image area. The process can be manual or mechanical and is suitable, as in the case of CD-ROMS, for production runs of several thousand items.

Screen printing is also known as silkscreen or serigraphy. Traditionally screens were made from silk but are now manufactured from plastics such as nylon. By using several stencils a number of colors may be employed in a single print.

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