Contact printing

PRINTING
METHODS

Non contact printing

 MAJOR MASTER IMAGE REPRODUCTION
ANALOG PRINTING

BLOCK PRINTING

SCREEN PRINTING

ROLLER PRINTING

TRANSFER PRINTING
 BLOCK PRINTING
 Printing was originally done by
hand using wooden blocks with a
raised printing surface.
 A block of wood bearing a design with
the dye paste applied to the surface is
pressed on the fabric and struck with a
mallet.


 Design Preparation

Production of the original design document
 Laid on a smooth wooden block and fixed into place
 Craftsmen carve the original image into the block of
wood
 PRINTING ON FABRIC

Color paste is applied to block surface uniformly

Color paste on a woolen sieve on a waterproof fabric

Color paste is uniformly spread on top surface of the

woolen sieve using a brush.

Fabric is stretched over a printing table and fastened

with small pins.

Pressing on the sieve and then onto the fabric

5
The first textile-printing technique using
blocks with raised printing surfaces;
inked andHAND
thenBLOCK
pressed on to the fabric.
PRINTING

6
Each block has a wooden handle and two or three
holes drilled into the block release of excess print
paste.

Multiple colour designs are labour intensive

and require a lot of skill to register the
prints.

Colour variation is hard to avoid with this

method as print ink can vary in quality of
 SCREEN PRINTING
Screen is made of woven fabrics firmly attached to a
suitable frame

 Mostly of nylon/silk/polyester

 The screen is the image carrier made from a porous

mesh stretched tightly over a metal or wooden

frame.

 Reproduce patterns as per design

SCREEN, INK, SQUEEGEE
requirement.
 Screen production
(Major step in screen
printing)

(1) the selection of the fabric and the printed

design

(2) the choice the design’s repeat rectangle

Color separation
(3) the necessaryreproduction
involves color separation
of of the
design
the pattern for each color
on separate clear films with
opaque tracer. 9
Single color Multi color
 Screen Preparation Steps
 The screen is coated with a photo-sensitive emulsion.

A typical polymer is polyvinyl alcohol, its

crosslinking sensitized by ammonium dichromate.
Lacque
r
The coated screen is dried
 Exposed beneath diapositive for the given color

All operations take place in a dark-room!!

13
  The inked zones, corresponding to
particular color pattern, do not transmit
ultraviolet light used for exposure.

 The layer of polymer on the screen

beneath the pattern is thus not exposed
and does not crosslink.

 The rest hardens (become

 The non-exposed polymer remains soluble and can be
insoluble)
washed out, leaving the screen open in those areas.

 Any small holes in hardened areas on screen are painted over.

 MIXING PHOTO-EMULSION

 COATING

 DRYING

 PREPARING POSITIVE

 EXPOSING

 WASHING AND DRYING

 TYPES OF SCREEN
PRINTING

FLAT SCREEN PRINTING ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING

In flat screen printing, a screen on The tubular screens rotate at the same
which print paste has been applied is velocity as the fabric, the print paste is
lowered onto a section of fabric. A distributed inside a tubular screen,
squeegee then moves across the which is forced into the fabric as it is
screen, forcing the print paste through pressed between the screen and a
the screen and into the fabric. printing blanket (a continuous rubber
Flat screen printing can bebelt).
carried out by hand and
automatically by using different machines.

Rotary screen printing is carried out by fully continuous

machines.

16
 HAND SCREEN
PRINTING

Printing is carried out on a flat, solid table covered

with a layer of resilient felt and a washable
blanket.

Heat for drying the printed fabric may be provided either under the
blanket or by hot air fans above the table.

Fabric movement or shrinkage must be avoided in

order to maintain registration of the pattern.

The fabric to be printed is laid on the table and

stuck to the blanket directly, using adhesive.
Sometimes fabric and back-grey are combined before fixing
to the table (in printing light weight and knitted fabrics) to
avoid smudging of color on the back of printed fabric.

The process consists of forcing print paste

through the open areas of the screen with a
synthetic rubber squeegee (rubber blade contained
in wooden/metal support)
 The rubber blade is drawn steadily across the screen at a
constant angle speed and pressure.
 The screen is washed immediately after use. If this is not
done, paste dries on screen and clogs up design.
MANUAL
S
C
R
E
E
N
P
R
I
N
T
I
N
G
 SEMI-AUTOMATIC FLAT SCREEN PRINTING

The manual process has been semi-automated by

mounting the screen in a carriage.

In semi-automated screen printing, a mechanically driven

squeegee transfers the color.

Long tables, typically 20–60m long, are used, and some

provision is usually made for drying the printed fabric.

Very popular where the scale of

production is not large, or where capital
24
 FULLY AUTOMATIC FLAT-SCREEN PRINTING
• To increase the speed of flat-screen printing, it was
necessary to devise a method of printing all the
colors simultaneously.
• All the screens for the design (one screen for
each color) are positioned accurately along
top of a long endless belt (blanket) on top of
which is the fabric to be printed.

• The fabric is gummed to the blanket at the entry end

and moves along with the blanket in an intermittent
fashion, one repeat distance at a time.
• All colors in design are printed
simultaneously while the fabric is
stationary; then the screens are lifted
and the fabric and blanket move on.
• When the fabric approaches the turning point of the

blanket, it is pulled off and passes into a dryer.

• The soiled blanket is washed and dried during its

return passage on the underside.
PRODUCTIVITY
 Correct fabric placement is vital for accurate
registration of the different colored patterns.
 A slight pattern overlap prevents a white gap
between two printed colors.
 PROBLEMS IN FLAT SCREEN PRINTING

The main fault in screen printing is poor pattern

registration

 Inaccurate screen placement

 Inaccurate fabric movement

 Fabric slippage on the blanket (poor

adhesion)
Marks on areas already printed are caused by the
frame
Distortion of screen
crushing mesh
the paste by drag
beneath of
it while the paste
is still moist
squeegee SLOW PRINTING PROCESS [5 -10m/min]
30
 LOW PRODUCTION RATE
 Number of squeegee passes

More than one pass is used to achieve uniformity and

adequate penetration, especially in blotch areas, for
thick fabrics or irregular surface
 Repeat size
Squeegee takes longer to move
along the screen where the repeat
distances are large
 Efficiency of the dryer
If the dryer is short, or if temperature in dryer is too low,
printing speed will have to be reduced in order to ensure
the printed fabric is adequately dried. 31
 ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING

The process involves initially feeding fabric onto the

rubber blanket. As the fabric travels under the rotary
screens, the screens turn with the fabric.

Print paste is continuously fed to the interior of the screen

through a color pipe.
As the screen rotates, squeegee device pushes print paste
through the design areas of the screen onto the fabric.

As in flat-bed screen printing, only one

color can be printed by each screen.
After paste application, the process is
the same as flat screen printing.
By converting the screen-printing process from semi-
continuous to continuous, higher production speeds are
obtained.

Typical speeds are from 45-100 mpm for rotary screen printing
depending upon design complexity and fabric construction.

Continuous patterns such as linear stripes or plaids are possible.

Rotary screen machines are more compact than flat screen

machines for the same number of colors in the pattern (less floor
space).

Size of design repeat is dependent upon circumference of the

screens. 34
 Glue streaks – from the rubber
blanket
 Color smear
 Color out – from a lack of print
DEFECTS
paste
 Creased fabric
 Pinholes in any screen
Damage to the screen leading
With print designs, color application must be
to misprints
correct the first time, because printing defects
Lint on the fabric causes pick-
cannot be repaired.
cannot be repaired. 35
 Limitations Specific to Rotary Screen Printing

Long process set up time for

color and pattern change

Screen production is slow and

expensive

Screens require considerable

storage space
36
 Improvements in Rotary Screen
Printing
The use of microprocessor control systems
have allowed for printing that is more accurate,
has reduced print defects, and allows for
increased productivity.

New techniques for recovery and reuse of unused

print paste have reduced dye and chemical costs and
the pollution load on waste treatment systems.

Printing Quality
Cost Reduction
Environmentally Friendly
Engraved roller printing is a modern continuous
printing.

In this method, a copper cylinder (print roller) is

engraved with the print design by carving the design
into the copper.

The print design development and color separation are

 Once each roller (one roller per color) is engraved, It
is loaded on the main cylinder of the machine.

 Each roller is fed with print paste by a furnish roller

rotating in a color box full of print paste.

 As print paste is applied to print roller, a stationary

doctor blade scrapes away all surface print paste
leaving only embedded in the design etchings.

39
 Fabric is fed to the machine, backed by a greige fabric
to absorb print paste flow through, and backed by a
cushioning print blanket.

The backing greige is often discarded, but

the print blanket is washed, dried, and
reused.
 Printing occurs as the fabric swipes print paste
from the print roller as it passes between the roller
and the main cylinder.
 The high cost of copper rollers, expense of engraving process, and possible
distortion of fabric during printing have led to its reduced use.

 The fine design detail possible with this technique has

always been its main advantage.

42
 TRANSFER PRINTING
 Heat transfer printing is a technique where paper is printed,
followed by the transfer of the design from the paper onto the
textile fabric.

 Commercial process involves printing release paper with

pigments.

 The design on paper is placed onto the

fabric, heated so that the pigment binder
softens, releases
Transferring an from
image to fabric from athe
paperpaper, and
carrier. When
heat and pressure are applied to this paper the inks are
adheres to the fabric.
44

 Heat transfer printing is clean and environment

friendly
New development
 Design in the form of electronic file on
computer

Computer is linked to printing machine

PRINTING
DIGITAL

Conversion of electronic design data in

the form of analog image with the help
of dots.

No need of design screens, block or

design rollers.
Ink jet printer
PRINCIPLE Directing small droplets of ink
from a nozzle onto printing
substrate.
Droplets are combined together on the
substrate to create images.

Positioning of droplet is controlled by

signals from computer.
As it streams into the printing nozzles the ink
Dropletstream isformation
broken into dropletsinvolves
application of a controlled pressure
Different technologies for application of pressure on
liquid ink
on liquid ink in its reservoir
 STEPS
Master design

 Scanning

 Transfer of design data to ink jet printer with the

help of software

Printing onto surface (Non

contact printing)
 CONTINUOUS JET
SYSTEMS

HIGH VELOCITY BREAKS THE INK STREAM INTO

DROPLETS
 BUBBLE-JET OR THERMAL INK-JET SYSTEMS

 Bubble-jet or thermal technology is a well known

technology.

 Relies on a thermal pulse to generate the ink

drop.
 BOILING THE WATER CONTENT OF THE INK AND THE
RESULTING STEAM PRESSURE FORCES A DROPLET OF INK
OUT OF THE NOZZLE.

(1) Computer signal heats resistor to a high

temperature (> 360 °C)
 Crystal expansion apply pressure on ink to eject the
drop from nozzle

Piezoelectric jet printer

 METHOD PERIOD ORIGIN
Block Ancient India
Roller Printing 1785 Scotland
Manual Screen 1900 England
Auto. Flat bed 1940 Switzerland
Rotary Screen 1963 Portugal
Transfer Printing 1968 France
Inkjet 1990 USA
 WORLD PRODUCTION SHARE

 Rotary Screen Printing 60%

 Automatic Flat Bed 18%

 Other methods 22%