To create a printed design, screen printers force ink through a stenciled mesh screen. You’ve probably worn or used screen-printed Fabric and products without ever realizing it. Since the method is widely employed across many industries. This method goes by a few other names, including serigraphy and silk screen printing, but it’s fundamentally the same thing.
THE ADVANTAGES OF FLAT-BED SCREEN PRINTING
Cost-effective
Low-cost flatbed screen printing presses are one of the many benefits of automated flatbed screen printing. Decorating fabric that is woven or knitted is a breeze with the help of flatbed screen printing fabric.
It’s also a cheap means of printing designs on a wide variety of materials. Including terry towels, single jerseys, silk sateens, and more, with a color palette that may go as high as 24. Screen printing on ornamental textiles became more accessible and high-quality with the invention of flatbed printing in the early 1900s. Flatbed screen printing still has a considerable advantage over rotary screen printing due to the low cost of flatbed screen printing equipment.
Screen printing on flatbeds is ideal for mass production since it needs the creation of a screen for each color in an artwork. Automatic flatbed screen printing technology becomes more affordable as the number of clothes ordered grows.
Versatile
The versatility of flatbed screen printing machines is a major selling point for them. In terms of versatility, flatbed screen printing is unparalleled since it can be used to print on so many different materials. Printing on flat surfaces is possible using a flatbed screen-printer.
Since all screen sizes are compatible with flatbed screen printing, a wide range of design proportions is possible.
New Inks and Shades
One of the benefits of flatbed screen printing is that it may be used with any ink system and any ink deposit. When using a flatbed screen printer, you have the option of increasing the ink thickness so that you may print on a wider variety of fabric and designs.
More than 12 colors may be printed with a flatbed screen-printer. While the color palette for rotary screen printing may go up to 20, the process is usually limited to 12 colors or less due to setup challenges.
Increased Success
The output quality of flat-bed screen printing is higher. Better registration, more color options, and larger sizes are all possible with flatbed screen printing. To print each color and design motif, a flatbed screen printer uses a separate, individually fabricated screen.
Printing on a flatbed screen creates a discrete area rather than a continuous design. With the help of automated flatbed screen printing technology, both detailed lines and whole surfaces may be produced.
Because of this, printers may produce higher quality output, including increased color gamut, higher volume, and more fidelity in fine detail.
Large volumes of the print paste may be applied to each screen with many squeegee strokes. Flatbed screen printing trumps rotary screen printing in terms of design sharpness and consistency.
It may be difficult to create intricate one-pixel line, spray, or dot patterns with a rotary printer, but a laser exposure machine with flatbed printing might be able to. Screens may be made in a timely manner using this method since the printing is done on a flatbed screen specifically for each individual client.
Differences in Measurement
A major perk of flat-bed screen printing is the flexibility it provides in terms of design size. The most revolutionary step was making offset printing more like screen printing, by combining the two processes into a semi-rotary press.
That’s why it’s possible to use a broad variety of screen sizes using the flat screen printing method. In rotary screen printing, the usual circumference or diameter is 641-1018 mm, since the diameter is how designers produce pattern repeats.
Cutting Down on Pollution
Color waste is minimized in flatbed screen printing since it is done by hand. Because the flatbed printing press facilitates the transmission of color from the drum to the rotary screen, rotary screen printing results in higher color waste than flatbed printing.
Simplicity
The simplicity of flatbed screen printing is a major selling point for this method. As the screen moves slowly up and down in a flatbed screen printing press, pinholes are less likely to appear in the printed material than they would be in a rotary screen printing press.
The rapid rotation of the screen and the continuous use of the equipment necessitates the frequent placement of pinholes in the rotary screen. Therefore, the screen must be taken off the machine and polished to get rid of the pinhole. Once the machine has been restarted, it may resume making products as before.
Ink can be removed from a flatbed screen in 30 minutes or less, making it more convenient for use in screen printing. It might take more than 30 minutes to make and print only one revolving screen.
THE DISADVANTAGES OF FLAT-BED SCREEN PRINTING
Moving materials presents greater difficulty.
Flatbed screen printing is inferior to conventional methods in terms of supplies and inventory control. Post-print processing includes drying machinery.
The use of a rewinding device, finishing, or other printing operations in conjunction with the flatbed printing press is sometimes necessary to complete the process. Transferring the printed sheet to the finishing area takes extra time and effort when using a flatbed or multicolor in-line printing machine.
To print and assemble
Flatbed screen printing fabric has a drawback when it comes to combining prints. It’s possible to print on a range of different materials using a flatbed screen printer, even tougher ones that might damage a rotary machine. When comparing in-line combination printing on rotary displays with flatbed screens, there is one key distinction:
Printing on a flat surface vs. using a rotary screen
Given the diversity of screen printing methods, we’ll focus on the distinctions between flat and rotational processes.
- Printing on a vertically revolving screen necessitates a flat screen. But the rotating screen is round and spins.
- In flat-screen printing, squeezing is a common method. Only one roller is required for rotary screen printing.
- Fabrics with a narrow width may benefit from flat-screen printing (45-50 inches).
- Rotary screen printing is utilized on the reverse side of a wide-width cloth.
- Only six or eight colors may be used in flat-screen printing patterns. But with rotary screen printing, you may use as many as twenty-four different colors in a single layout.
- In comparison to other printing methods, flat-screen printing has a lower production rate. On the other hand, compared to flat screen printing, rotary screen printing may triple output in a given amount of time.
- The lower cost to acquire flat-screen printing equipment makes them the more cost-effective option. Much of the first-time cost of a rotary screen printer is attributable to its high initial investment costs.
- Due to their cheap cost and high production, rotary screen printing machines are now widely used in the textile sector.
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