Talk:Screen printing

Question
"While traditionally people have used silk screening for placing designs carefully on t-shirts, recently new methods have been adopted such as digital printing on shirts using common consumer-quality inkjet printers. " Any resource? this seems unfounded and a great way to encourage overenthusiastic readers to ruin their home printer.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.80.192.249 (talk) 03:31, 13 August 2009 (UTC) 152.132.11.72 (talk) 17:04, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

as a fine arts printer i am shocked that the writer pays no attention to history or process. The process described in this article is backwards and would likely result in a huge, inky mess and a streaked print. not only that, but there is no reference to the chemicals used in the process- i came here trying to find the name of a specific chemical that i used to use a long time ago so i could order more....no information! Also, need i say that Andy Warhol was not mentioned once? This article is shameful and misinforming. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.230.147.132 (talk) 03:26, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I think it would be useful to have more information about the materials used in screenprinting. (March 24, 2006)

As a commercial screenprinter I really don't see why this article has such a heavy "Graffiti" basis, that's just absurd to me —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

I went and looked up the actual patent for the rotary screen printing device and found that it was issued in 1970, not 1960. This has gone unnoticed for long enough that it is now all over the internet. -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.157.233.39 (talk) 01:08, 19 April 2010 (UTC) This is to anonymous user with ip adderess 142.107.100.96 who added the external link to Museum of Modern Art information on printing techniques and examples of prints: Thank you! The flash movie showing screen printing at that link, has answered all my questions about this print-making technique that had been bugging my brain for the longest time. Fantastic!

- "...the older term silk screening, which was replaced in the 1940s" - I'm going to change this since every artist I know still refers to "silkscreening" and "screenprinting" interchangeably, even though the screens aren't made of silk any more. ←Hob 17:06, 2004 Sep 3 (UTC)

Well, I ended up rewriting a lot of this just for clarity. I expanded the section on photo-screens since it's such a popular technique. I dropped the references to specific artists and brands of software, which I don't think were particularly relevant to the process. ←Hob 18:01, 2004 Sep 3 (UTC)

- Removed the link to HowStuffWorks page titled "How does silk-screening work?" because that page actually contains less information than the article already covers. I typically enjoy HowStuffWorks articles and often consider their simple writing style to be helpful, but this particular link fails to contribute to the article. GreggHilferding 06:52, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

- How did this turn into an advertisement for Bill Hood? I removed the reference to his school. There are hundrededs of schools around.

-

How about some discussion on how it may be used/applied? For example, "serigraph on panel" as used by Royo. -

Most people don't realize how easy, in-expensive, and effective it is to promote your business with screen printed products. Getting started with the equipment is fairly in-expensive, however, perfecting the art of burning screens is the difficult part. Once you get down how to properly burn screens, Screen Printing is a lot of fun and you can make a good living doing it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.233.129.47 (talk) 14:21, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.209.179.48 (talk) 02:19, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

I put in the "cite your refernces" item, as... the article says "only 5 people are consultants in the field". I'd like to know where that came from, among, other things. Protocoldroid 05:31, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

gold star Deutsch
I noticed the german version has been Starred and has some useful pictures. Can someone copy some of that over? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 208.186.134.103 (talk) 07:09, 24 February 2007 (UTC).

I think that it would be good to refer to when this style of art was used, eg Pop Art and the people who used it like Andy Warhol.

- "It began as an industrial technology, and a company called recingraphics is currently the industry leader American graphic artists in the early 1900s. " - this sentence makes no sense. What's in meant to mean?
 * Didn't make any sense to me either so I found the original text in an older version and changed it back. 130.238.131.229 12:28, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Stone printing and linkspam
I removed the following edit, because the link doesn't go anywhere, the description is almost unintelligible, and it doesn't sound like screenprinting to me. If you know of this technique and can describe in good english, and it is indeed a screenprinting technique, please let me know! I also removed three commercial links, which should be non-controversial under WP. Jkraybill (talk) 19:12, 12 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Stone Print:Where at first stone is set on the plastic paper with glue according to the printing design then with the help of heat press it is printed on fabric by temperature and pressure.

Historical additions
Added information about Andy Warhol, Ulano, and Vasilantone three notable individuals in screen printing that have contributed large innovations or changes in the industry. To answer the first and second major concerns, I added historical and process information along with references.

Added the obvious information about taxonomic, etymological and semantic debate and the various references to this unusual condition.

I agree with the above the article continues to need additions and minor editing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Radio Flyer Reloader (talk • contribs) 18:59, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Tens of thousands of use cycles--at least
I removed the "citation needed" as it is a given that screens have a very long cycle life. I have been to factories where I have seen plastic bottles being printed by the thousands using tiny silk screen frames and mechanical rollers at about a rate of 20/min. The math is easy. I saw this when I was a long-haul trucker. I looked online for references, but oddly could not find any. Perhaps the "Information Society" as it is today is deliberately ignoring manufacturing.--John Bessa (talk) 17:59, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * The society at large, no, would not deliberately ignore manufacturing. The privileged few who rule over them? quite likely... Firejuggler86 (talk) 13:09, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Self promotion and advertising
Constant vandalism with self promotion and advertising links has become a problem. TOS guidelines for Wikipedia posted here:

External links: External links should be kept minimal, meritable, and directly relevant to the article. Wikipedia is not an advertising opportunity.

Conflict of interest: Do not use Wikipedia to promote yourself, your website, or your organization.

Vandalism: Vandalism is any addition, deletion, or change to content made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. It is inappropriate behavior for an online encyclopedia.

Sock puppetry: Do not use multiple accounts to create the illusion of greater support for an issue, to mislead others, or to circumvent a block. Do not ask your friends to create accounts to support you or anyone.

Autobiography: Avoid writing or editing an article about yourself, other than to correct unambiguous errors of fact.

Reliable sources: Information about identifying and using appropriate sources to comply with Wikipedia's Verifiability policy. RFR (talk) 08:47, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

image File:Silketrykk.svg
The image (File:Silketrykk.svg) depicting the screen and the ink is misleading. What is blue and white on the picture of the screen should be reversed. The blue pictured here is typically used to depict emulsion areas of the screen, closed areas where no ink goes through the screen. White is typically used to illustrate open areas of mesh where ink would go through. When I say "Typically" I mean in every other illustration of screenprinting ever made. On top of that mesh is often white and emulsion is often blue, but emulsion is never white and mesh is never blue. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.43.108.202 (talk) 18:46, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Printing Technique section strangeness & inaccuracy
I do so-called "fine art" screen prints to paper & this section is somewhat odd & even incorrect because it incorrectly generalizes from pronting to cloth. It brings up the pallet & pallet tape etc. at a strange (to me) place, First off, pinholing the screen after burning the stencil surely belongs before the pallet stuff. Second, the whole pallet busness has to do with printing to fabric. For a flat-stock. (paper, glass, acrylic, metal) screen printer its just a "table" and not a "pallet". For paper at least its either a vacuum table if you can afford it or a surface coated with a spray adhesive (if you can't afford a vacuum table). I may not have read this article closrly enough, but as very important practical matters in my experience in making a print are trapping (pre-press) and registration. Notmaqroll (talk) 23:50, 3 June 2012 (UTC)Shankar

rotary screen printing
I've just added the section on rotary screen printing, which is not well known but is industrially important in one or two niches. Two queries:

1. I don't really get the flow of the article very well, so I may have added the new section in the wrong place.

2. Stork were the dominant manufacturers of this equipment for very many years. I don't know whether that's still true today, and as a new editor I don't have a feel for WP's sensitivity or otherwise to trade names and commercial companies. If this is an inappropriate mention please delete it. Just to spell it out- I do not have any commercial relationship with Stork.

Gravuritas (talk) 23:23, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Holzer image
The included Adi Holzer image says that it is a "hand-colored etching". If I am not mistaken, this would indicate that it is not a picture of a screenprint, and so does not belong in this article. I'll remove it, or replace it with a screenprint example, unless someone can let me know why it fits here. Thanks! Doctormatt (talk) 21:38, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

This incorrect image is still in the article. This link shows that the image is a hand colored etching rather than a screen print. Rhaskell42 (talk) 14:25, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

semiconducting material
This phrase "One of the most critical processes to maintain high yield. " is not a sentence and I don't know what it means here.

IceDragon64 (talk) 14:41, 16 June 2015 (UTC)
 * deleted, and slightly cleaned up.
 * Gravuritas (talk) 15:04, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Etymology section is incorrect
Material located under the section heading "Etymology" contains information related to the history of the process, but other than a nod to the fact that the process once used silk as the screen material, no etymological information is given. Merriam-Webster provides this: "Origin of serigraph: Latin sericum silk + Greek graphein to write, draw" 67.1.219.69 (talk) 03:52, 28 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, merged into lead. Johnbod (talk) 10:03, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Screen printing. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110604023921/http://home.earthlink.net/~intothewoods/id28.html to http://home.earthlink.net/~intothewoods/id28.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 03:29, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

§ "Versatility" list
This is confusing. Some of the entries are of substrates themselves, whereas others are finished manufactured goods that are made with a given screen printed substrate. This should probably be two separate lists. 76.69.155.96 (talk) 00:30, 20 June 2018 (UTC)

Those "various terms for essentially the same technique"
In talking with several friends who were active in the art scene from the early 1960s to about the mid 1990s, I was told that the main differences among the "various terms" had to do with how many 'prints' were made.

For example, a serigraph run of the exact same picture/painting of the exact same size was always 99 or less. If 100 or more were done, it was called a screenprint.

I know this falls under "oral history," but surely this difference is mentioned/covered in a book somewhere.

And if these differences can be verified, I think they should be included/mentioned in the article.

What do the rest of you think? 2600:8800:784:8F00:C23F:D5FF:FEC4:D51D (talk) 16:19, 15 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Well, seeing as how the section in question already cites nothing...why not just add it? If someone decides to challenge it, then a source can be sought out; but as it currently stands, that bit of trivia is no less legitimate than whats already there. Firejuggler86 (talk) 13:01, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Can anybody provide a source for this?
History (last paragraph): The Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center says, "Screenprinting is arguably the most versatile of all printing processes. Since rudimentary screenprinting materials are so affordable and readily available, it has been used frequently in underground settings and subcultures, and the non-professional look of such DIY culture screenprints have become a significant cultural aesthetic seen on movie posters, record album covers, flyers, shirts, commercial fonts in advertising, in artwork and elsewhere

The paragraph above is quoting a statement made by The Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center but I found it unverified. Apollogone (talk) 05:18, 2 November 2020 (UTC)

questionable citations removed
Removed 2x questionable citations

Garment printing inks Section

Four-colour process or the CMYK colour model "This processes utilises halftones" - this is a massive part of CMYK printing, and which I linked back to the appropriate Wiki article.

Water-based dye (ink) - This section doesn't even exist and is an entirely different ink to water-based ink. As opposed to a thicker Plastisol Alternative this (ink) arrives concentrate which is mixed into a printing paste (thickener) to allow Screen Printing, this process is best used on light garments and as the dye is in the fibers themselves is often used for dish cloths, napkins and the like. This is similar to traditional textile printing.

Plastisol - Description is incomplete without: "except in the case of low cure inks."

Automation Section To print multiple copies of the screen design on garments in an efficient manner, amateur and professional printers usually use a screen printing press, which is a colloquial term as most screen printing machines are vastly different from Offset Printing Presses. Many companies offer simple to sophisticated printing presses. These presses come in one of three types, Manual (also referred to as Handbench), Semi-Automatic, and Fully Automatic. Most printing companies will use one or more semi-automatic or fully automatic machines with manual machines for small runs and sampling.

Whilst Manual Screen Printing can be done with Carousels, Handbenches (both of which are often referred to colloquially as presses) or even on to tables. Semi and Fully-Automatic machines are broken into two main categories; Flatbed Printers [15] (Poster, Art Printing or other flat substrates) and Carousels and Oval Machines (Garments and other apparel, amongst other textiles). Both which are fundamentally similar in terms of automation but differ in areas such as physical footprint and upgrade paths. [16].

These machines are much faster and use either pneumatic pressure generated by air compressors or use electric motors to draw the squeegees, rotate and raise or lower pallets removing much of the manual labour from the task - resulting in significant reductions in operator fatigue as well as more consistent results.

Update, sorry the Low Cure ink page is also a direct supplier - I have removed citation and not replaced as I cannot locate one where they are not trying to sell the ink, however the distinction is important as there is no blanket cure temperature for all inks.

Does anyone have a citation that is not a direct supplier for this?

Megabuffalo (talk) 01:19, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

= More Sources for Info =
 * I don't have the time to edit it in now, but here are some more links, and a few books they mentioned, in order to have more cited sources
 * "Agents of Change: Silk Screen" by Artland Magazine
 * This mentions the book "The Complete Book of Silk Screen Printing Production by J.I. Biegeleisen"
 * "Documenting the Screen Scene: ‘A History of Screen Printing" by Screen Printing Magazine
 * This mentions the book "History of Screen Printing – How an Art Evolved Into an Industry"

Eric Lotze (talk) 12:24, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

= Coatings Before the Modern Photo-Reactive Stencils=
 * I have done no research into this yet, but i wonder what coatings were used prior to the invention of photo-reactive stencils (and that could be potentially used as an alternative to them)
 * I was thinking materials like Shellac and Paraffin wax / Beeswax ? Using Cut Paper coated with one of those substances, to make something akin to the plastic stencils used in Mimeographs is another option
 * Granted then one would either need another stencil to make the pattern, or perhaps hand peeling/picking at it, but i thought that may have been / could have been a thing nonetheless

Eric Lotze (talk) 12:32, 20 March 2023 (UTC)