screen printing
Screen Printing is applying ink on various surfaces such as fabrics, plastic, or metals, etc. Typically artwork is created then printed onto screens through a photographic process that (burns) the image into the screen. Where the artwork has been imaged onto the screen ink will pass through. The rest of the screen remains (hard) and does not allow ink to pass through.
Color Separation
When the print has multiple colors they must be separated into their individual colors and a screen created for each color. The most common type is spot color separation where individual colors are placed separately on screens and lined up with registration marks so that the colors all line up and produce the completed design correctly.
Typically workflow for screen printing and color separation involves creating the artwork, then creating comps (Placing the design on the substrate – tshirt in this example) with a photo editing program such as Photoshop. This allows a customer to see what the design will look like when completed.
Once the design is approved by the customer color separation begins. Each individual color is printed as black on a transparent film.
When ultraviolet light passes through the transparent parts of the film it hardens the emulsion on the screen to create a barrier to ink flowing through. Where the film is black no light reaches the screen emulsion leaving it (soft.) When water is sprayed through the screen after the photography process the soft areas where the black was on the separation wash out leaving open areas on the screen for ink to pass through.
