Understanding Different Printing Techniques for Logo Printing

1. Basic Principles of Screen Printing

The basic principle of screen printing is to create many tiny holes in the screen stencil in the areas that need printing.

2. Screen Printing Process Flow

The screen printing process generally follows these steps: Creating the Screen Print Design → Making the Film → Exposing the Screen → Cleaning the Substrate → Printing → Drying → Quality Inspection → Finished Product Storage.

Among these steps, screen stencil production is the most critical. Once the stencil is made, it cannot be modified. If the design needs to be changed, the film must be adjusted and the stencil remade.

3. Applications and Color Varieties in Screen Printing

• Applications: Screen printing is widely used for various products’ logos, labels, text, and single-color designs.

• Suitable Surfaces: Screen printing is generally suitable for flat or slightly curved surfaces because the stencil’s tension is limited. It cannot accommodate significantly curved surfaces without deformation.

• Special Cases: Cylindrical screen printing uses a special screen printing machine for printing on rotational objects such as mineral water bottles and cosmetic bottles.

• Types of Processes: Screen printing can be done manually or with automated machines. Manual screen printing is entirely operated by hand. Automated screen printing can be either semi-automatic or fully automatic.

• Color Varieties: The number of colors in screen printing is not limited and is determined by the ink used. However, each screen printing pass can only print one color. For multiple colors, multiple stencils must be created, and the printing process must be repeated several times.

Generally, in manual screen printing, the number of colors at the same position should not exceed three to avoid positioning difficulties during multiple prints, which could compromise the desired effect.