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Introduc|ng Screen-pr|nt|ng


rlnLmaklng ls Lhe arL of produclng mulLlples lmages of drawlng or deslgns, a serles of
orlglnal or ldenLlcal lmages, whlch are produced from a maLrlx. Screen-prlnLlng ls one
of Lhe prlnLlng processes more used by Lhe arLlsL nowadays.

Screen-pr|nt|ng ] S||kscreen ] Ser|graph
1he Serlgraph / Screen-prlnL / Sllkscreen process does noL requlre a prlnLlng press. 1hls
Lechnlque was made famous ln Lhe 1960's, when arLlsLs such as Andy Warhol explolLed
lLs commerclal look Lo make op lcons. 1o make a screen-prlnLlng, an lmage LhaL has
been cuL ouL of paper or fabrlc ls aLLached Lo a plece of LauLly sLreLched mesh. alnL ls
Lhen forced Lhrough Lhe mesh -- or screen -- onLo a sheeL of paper beneaLh lL by
means of a squeegee. 1he uncovered areas of Lhe screen wlll, of course, allow Lhe
palnL Lo pass Lhrough, whlle Lhe areas covered by Lhe composlLlonal shapes wlll noL.
lor works wlLh more Lhan one colour, a separaLe screen ls requlred for each colour.
1he hlsLory of sllkscreen prlnLlng can be daLed back Lo Lhe Song dynasLy perlod of
around 1000 years ago ln Chlna, alLhough Lhe exacL deLalls are a llLLle hazy. Chlna and
oLher Aslan counLrles such as !apan Look hold of Lhe ldea Lo use sllk as a mesh, wlLh
Lhe lncluslon of block prlnLlng, and advanced Lhe process for many years.
uue Lo Lhe scarclLy and expense of sllk ln Lhe resL of Lhe world Lhough, screen-prlnLlng
Look a whlle Lo flnd lLs feeL, unLll more readlly avallable sllk mesh was avallable ln Lhe
1700s, and lnLeresL ln WesLern Lurope began Lo geL esLabllshed.
erhaps Lhe mosL lmporLanL hlsLorlcal developmenL of Lhe screen-prlnLlng process was
made ln Lhe laLe 1880s ln boLh Amerlca and Lhe uk, uslng slmllar prlnclples buL golng
by dlfferenL names. 1hls Look Lhe process of screen-prlnLlng furLher, by uslng wax
paper handwrlLlng sLenclls paLenLed ln 1877, buL were Lhen flxed lnLo a frame, so LhaL
Lhe lnk could Lhen be forced Lhrough Lhem by uslng a rubber squeegee. 1he use of a
frame wlLh Lhese dellcaLe sLenclls was called Lhe CyclosLyle ln Lhe uk, and Lhe
Mlmeograph ln Lhe uSA, and used a flne and porous waxed paper called ?oshlno.
lL wasn'L unLll 1907 ln ManchesLer, Lngland, LhaL Lhe flrsL paLenL for Lhe screen-
prlnLlng process was granLed Lhough. Samuel Slmon's paLenLed process used a screen
uslng "chlffon" raLher Lhan Lhe orlglnal sllk, and Lhe use of whaL he called "knoLLlng"
(shellac) Lo block ouL Lhe relevanL areas. And lL ls here, where screen-prlnLlng really
Lakes off ln Lerms of popularlLy.
Screen-prlnLlng became so popular ln Lhe early 20Lh cenLury, and so compeLlLlve, LhaL
WesLern screen prlnLers became exLremely proLecLlve and guarded abouL Lhelr screen
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prlnLlng meLhods. 1hls perlod of hlsLory ls when Lhe screen-prlnLlng process was belng
used for prlnLlng expenslve wallpaper, so sLlll very much Lhe domaln of Lhe prlvlleged
mlnorlLy. Screen prlnLers' workshops became very secreLlve places Lo be, guardlng
Lhelr knowledge and Lechnlques closely.
ln 1918 Lhe commerclal process called "SelecLaslne", was paLenLed ln Lhe uSA,
furLherlng Lhe screen-prlnLlng process furLher by allowlng all colours Lo be prlnLed
uslng Lhe same screen. 1hls was achleved by progresslng from pale Lo dark colours,
sysLemaLlcally blocklng ouL more and more of Lhe mesh each Llme.
ArLlsLs began Lo Lake noLe of screen-prlnLlng for reproduclng flne arL prlnLs, around
1932, and ln 1940 Amerlcan arLlsLs renamed Lhls process serlgraphy (sllk drawlng). lL
became wldely popular wlLh arLlsLs from Lhls perlod, and conLlnues Loday.

Uses of Screen r|nt|ng 1oday
1he mosL lconlc lmage of modern Llmes LhaL uLlllzed Lhe screen-prlnLlng process was
Andy Warhol's Marllyn Monroe plece. Andy Warhol was exLremely lnfluenLlal ln Lhe
popularlLy of Lhe screen-prlnLlng process wlLh arLlsLs of Loday.
AlLhough Lhe hlsLory of screen-prlnLlng sLarLed ouL over a Lhousand years ago, and has
undergone many changes, Lhe essenLlal ldea remalns Lhe same and ls sLlll popular.
8aLher Lhan when Lhe process was used for produclng expenslve wallpaper Lhough,
Loday's process ls used more commonly on posLers, ceramlcs and 1-shlrLs. ln facL Lhe
buslness of screen-prlnLlng onLo garmenLs ls so popular.

Screen pr|nt|ng vs. D|g|ta| pr|nt|ng
!"#$$%&'#(%)(%* lnvolves creaLlng a sLencll and Lhen uslng LhaL sLencll Lo apply layers of
lnk on Lhe prlnLlng surface. Lach colour ls applled uslng a dlfferenL sLencll, one aL a
Llme, comblned Lo achleve Lhe flnal look.
ulglLal prlnLlng ls a much newer process LhaL lnvolves your arLwork belng process by a
compuLer, and Lhen prlnLed dlrecLly onLo Lhe surface of your producL. ulglLal prlnLlng ls
noL a heaL Lransfer as Lhe lnk ls dlrecLly adhered Lo Lhe fabrlc of your paper or supporL
Screen-prlnLlng ls Lhe besL opLlon for deslgns LhaL requlre a hlgh level of vlbrancy,
when prlnLlng on speclalLy producLs. 1he lnk ln screen-prlnLlng ls applled Lhlcker Lhan
dlglLal prlnLlng, whlch resulLs ln brlghLer colours even on darker supporLs.
1he facL LhaL Lhese producLs are prlnLed by hand also allows for unlque producLs llke
waLer boLLles and mugs, as Lhe prlnLer can manually handle curved or uneven surfaces.
1he mlnlmum order quanLlLy on screen-prlnLed lLems ls because of Lhe exLra maLerlals
and labour Llme assoclaLed wlLh Lhls prlnLlng meLhod.
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+(*(),- '#(%)(%* ls besL used for lLems LhaL requlred hlgh amounLs of deLall, and orders
of a smaller quanLlLy. 1he facL LhaL Lhe dlglLal prlnLer does noL use screens allows for a
phoLographlc prlnL, wlLh much more deLall Lhan LradlLlonal screen-prlnLlng. As Lhe lnk
ls applled Lhlnner (Lo achleve such deLall), 1he facL LhaL Lhe deslgn ls processed and
prlnLed dlglLally allows for a quanLlLy of one, slnce Lhere are no screens or physlcal
seLup.