(silk-) Screen printing or serigraphy is a stencil printing technique that uses a piece of fine woven silk, polyester or steel mesh that is stretched over a frame (screen). The screen is first coated with a layer of photosensitive emulsion. It is dried in a dark environment before the image can be transferred onto it.
The design is prepared on a transparent film in black and white (no grayscale). This can be done manually by working with non-translucent black paint, ink, paper or chalk on transparent or translucent material. The image can also be printed digitally.
The screen is exposed with a UV lamp. The film is placed in front of the screen. The black image blocks the light, this part of the screen does not harden and is rinsed out. Where the image has blocked the light the screen is now open and ink can be pressed through it. This is done with a squeegee.
Screen printing can be done on different materials, the most commonly used are paper and textile.
Materials
Materials such as emulsion, various inks for paper and textile and films are available in our workshop. An A2 printer is available for printing positives. We have different screen sizes which can be used for printing images from A4 up to 170 × 110 cm.
Timeline
Prior to your project, discuss the timeline with one of our advisors.
* During the drying of the screen you can do other things: preparing the paper, mixing the ink, preparing the screen printing table.
** Screens for textile and larger screens require more drying time.
Preparation
We would love to meet you to see what we can do for your project. If we can help you further, we will discuss your process. You can print your films at our workshop. This is possible up to A2 at Make Eindhoven. Do you want to use a larger size? Please contact the workshop.
Investment
To see the up-to-date prices for the use of our workshop, please download the price lists. Prices for materials can be requested at the workshop.