Screen Printing

History

By Wolfgang Heitkamp
Printing Training

1&2
Hand Screen Printing
 Screen Printing
Historical
Screen printing is an extension of
stencilling.
In previous centuries, the Japanese
developed the stencilling technique
for textile printing and brought it to
a fine art.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

A screen is simplified made of

open and closed areas.
The colour is forced by a blade
through the open area onto the
fabric.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Japanese
“Yuzen” screen

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

The ties used where human hair or

silk threads and where so fine that Japanese“Yuzen” screen

the colour spread underneath them.

This method was used in many countries in the 19th

Century for printing fabric.

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 Japanese“Yuzen” screen

Screen Printing
Historical

The development of screen printing to its modern form ran

parallel with improvements in the screen themselves.
Accurate printing of multi-colour designs require stable
screens.
Screen fabric made from silk or other natural fiber are
too hydrophilic to meet this requirement and water-
based print pastes cause these fabric to sag.
Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

The introduction of the synthetic

fibers, nylon and polyester as well as the replacement
of wooden frames with metal enabled stable screen to be
manufactured which maintained tension when wetted,
and much higher print accuracy.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical
Strong, stable screens enable the
hand-screen printing process to
be mechanized.
The first development was the introduction of a
moveable carriage, in which the screens are mounted
one at a time.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Print carrier

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Double blade squeegee

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical
A flexible rubber blade squeegee is
used to spread the print-paste
across the screen and force it
through the open area onto the
fabric. Robber squeegees
Long tables of 20-60 m are used.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Semi-automatic flat-screen printing is still

very popular where the scale of production is
small.
One colour is printed over the whole table length
followed by the next one etc…

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 Screen Printing
Historical

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing

Viero printing table

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical
In the 1950s fully automatic
flat-screen printing machines
entered the printing market.

- Buser
- Stork
Viero printing table
- Johannes Zimmer

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical
These machines printing all
the colours in a design
simultaneously along the top
of an endless blanket.
The blanket and fabric are
stationary while the printing
operation takes place and then Viero printing table
move on when the screens are
raised, so the fabric movement
is intermittent.
Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Stork flat-screen
printing machine
~1960

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Stork flat-screen
printing machine

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Zimmer printing
machine

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Buser printing
machine

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Reggiani printing
machine

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Fully continuous printing is best

achieved using cylindrical forms.
Many attempts have been made in
the early 50s to form flat metal
screens into cylinders, despite the
necessity of a soldered seam.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Schwed. patent

Screen, colour-roller and

middle axes
Aljaba
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 Screen Printing
Historical
The successful use of closely-woven
nylon fabrics in flat screen lead to
use these materials for cylinder
screens as well.
The “two-ply”screen consisted of
metal mesh inside and a woven nylon
sleeve outside.

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Schwed. patent

Screen, colour-roller and

middle axes
Aljaba
Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Rotations printing machine

Aljaba
1 Pressure bowl
2 Guide roller
3 Printing blanket
4 Fabric to be printed
5 Screen
6 Roll squeegee
7 Middle axes

Textile Effects
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 Screen Printing
Historical

Textile Effects
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 Rotary Screen Printing
Historical
The invention of seamless screens of
electrodeposited nickel was the really
significant step which lead to the rapid
expansion of rotary-screen printing.
Peter Zimmer introduced the galvano screen
in 1961.

In 1963 Stork introduced the lacquer screen.

Textile Effects
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 Rotary Screen
Printing
Historical

The Stork machine based on lacquer

screens introduced at ITMA 1963
was an immediate success.

Machines using magnet rod squeegees

as by Peter Zimmer have been very
successful in printing wide width
fabrics.

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Semi-automatic

Flat Screen

Printing
 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing
Hand screen printing this days is
mainly restricted to do colourations
or testing colours.

Especially in Asia small screens are

made to create different coloured
prints for testing the designs.

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing
Semi-automatic flat screen printing is
still done for the high fashion industry,
especially high quality silk prints with
sometimes more than 20 colours.

Part of this production will be done in future by the

Ink-Jet printing method.

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing
The Quality which can be produced by
this kind of technique is outstanding.
Long tables of up to 60 meters are
used.
The fabric is glued to the blanket either with water soluble
glue (PVA) or by using thermoplastic glue.

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing
The first colour is printed over the
whole table length followed by the
next colour etc..
The first printed colour is dry already
before the next is printed, which produces very sharp prints
especially in the case of fall-ons.
( “wet on dry”)

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing
For example, most of the high quality
silk scarves for the well known
fashion houses are printed by this
method.
Unlimited No. of colours can be printed.

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing

Textile Effects
RTC Printing
Asia / Pacific
 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing

Textile Effects
RTC Printing
Asia / Pacific
 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing

Textile Effects
RTC Printing
Asia / Pacific
 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing

Textile Effects
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 Semi-automatic Flat Screen
Printing

Textile Effects
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