As you may know, screen printing has been around for over 100 years and is arguably the most versatile of all the printing processes. I have personally been in the screen printing industry for 20+ years and knew nothing about it when I started back in the 90’s. Today, I know quite a bit about the process and materials without having a lot of hands on experience printing. Although I must tell you that I have ran a printing press a couple times, after it was set up of course, and it was a lot of fun!
OLD SCHOOL LOOK
In our industry, sometimes a client wants the look of the screen printing process and not a digital look. This is where we can really shine. One of our niche markets is the arcade/pinball industry. We have printed hundreds of graphics for as long as I have been here, sometimes using the original films. I must say that even though the printing presses and technology have changed over the years, the outcome is still virtually the same. These projects are a lot of fun. In fact, we just finished printing several hundred custom marquees for one of our clients using solvent inks. They turned out awesome!
COLOR MATCHING
With screen printing we are able to color match to a printed sample or a PMS color more closely than digital printing. This is because our inks start out as solid primary colors, not CMYK, and can be mixed to create new colors. Most of the time, we have a formula to follow to get the desired color. Sometimes all we have is a sample to match. In that case, we find the closest PMS color and add mixing colors until we get the color we are looking for. This reminds me of cooking with a recipe. If you use the correct amount of the listed ingredients your dish will come out delicious!
BETTER PRICE POINT ON LARGER VOLUME ORDERS
It is true that the more you order, the cheaper they get. At least in the screen printing world that is. Once the upfront work is done, such as the artwork, film and screens, these costs are amortized over the quantity ordered. So if you have a small quantity it will seem rather expensive, but if you have thousands of pieces the setup costs will virtually go away.
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Well said!