Screen Printing Process Characteristics

1. No Restriction on the Size and Shape of the Printing Substrate:

Unlike general printing, which is limited to flat surfaces, screen printing can be performed on uniquely shaped objects and concave-convex surfaces. Additionally, it can print on various oversized advertising posters, curtains, and draperies.

2. Soft Plate Surface and Low Printing Pressure:

Screen printing plates are soft and elastic, with low printing pressure. This allows printing on soft substrates like paper and textiles and fragile items like glass and ceramics without causing damage.

3. Thick Ink Layer with Strong Coverage:

The thickness of the ink layer in screen printing can reach 30 to 100 micrometers, providing exceptional coverage. It can even print pure white on an entirely black substrate. The thick ink layer imparts a strong three-dimensional effect to the printed images, unparalleled by other printing methods.

4. Applicable to Various Types of Inks:

Screen printing uses a wide range of inks, beyond the traditional definition of ink. These include pastes, plastics, paints, adhesives, or solid powders. Therefore, screen printing inks are sometimes called "printing materials."

5. Strong Light Resistance:

The broad classification of inks should be divided according to the printing plate type into letterpress inks, lithographic inks, gravure inks, and screen inks. However, such categorization is too general and not reflective of the entire reality. In recent years, with the continuous emergence of new ink varieties and designs, classifying them solely by plate type has limitations.

Besides plate type classification, inks are also classified by drying methods, such as oxidation-dry inks, penetration-dry inks, evaporation-dry inks, and solidification-dry inks. Furthermore, inks are categorized by product usage, such as book inks, tin printing inks, glass inks, and plastic inks. They are also categorized by product characteristics, such as security inks, glossy inks, photosensitive inks, transparent inks, and antistatic inks. Terms like alcohol-based inks and water-based inks reflect their specific characteristics.

Ink Types:

1. Offset Printing Inks:

The demand for offset printing inks is expected to steadily increase, with growth rates of about 5% to 6%, accounting for 40% to 45% of the market. The growth rate of rotary offset inks will be even faster.

2. Letterpress Inks:

The overall market share of letterpress inks will decline, but the share of flexographic inks will continue to rise, aligning with the development trends in developed countries like the USA and Japan.

3. Gravure Inks:

The gravure ink market remains stable, but there is an upward trend in the use of plastic inks, differing from the international trend due to environmental recycling concerns.

4. Screen Inks:

Market sales of screen inks are increasing, mainly due to the growing usage of metal, glass, and plastic screen inks. Moreover, advanced screen printing equipment has replaced outdated manual printing machines, further boosting the consumption of screen inks.

5. Specialty Inks:

The demand for specialty inks like spray printing inks, security inks, pearlescent inks, label inks, fluorescent inks, and phosphorescent inks will continue to grow due to market needs.

CNY Printer is a distinguished company dedicated to the manufacturing of high-quality, cost-effective roll-to-roll screen printing machines, heat transfer printing machines, flexo printing machines, 3D printing machines, continuous dyeing machines, and auxiliary devices for narrow fabrics, label ribbons, patches, elastic tape, webbing slings, lashing straps, and textile tapes. For a professional solution to enhance your business and help you save costs, please feel free to contact us at info@iprintingpress.com. We look forward to assisting you in achieving your printing and dyeing production goals.