Silkscreen printing is one of the most sought after printing services in Singapore. Before we share about the technical details of silkscreen printing, let us share with you 3 lesser known facts about silk screen printing services in Singapore.
Lesser Known Fact #1
1.Silkscreen printing was invented thousands of years ago
This method of printing was invented during the Song Dynasty in China. The concept was used to create the first version of printed money. Neighbouring countries soon caught on and adopted the art form. It began to be used in Europe in the 18th century. Over time, screen printing has been improvised and has been used to create a wide range of items from books, wallpapers, artworks to t-shirts.
Lesser Known Fact #2
2.Silkscreen printing plays an iconic role in film history
The first promotional silkscreen printed item was a t-shirt made to advertise The Wizard of Oz in 1939. It featured a simple logo of the film’s title and iconic text font. Fast forward today, design options have been expanded to allow the design of t-shirts with multiple colours, fonts and images.
Lesser Known Fact #3
3.Silkscreen printing is also known as serigraphy
This name was coined by a group of artists in 1930 to distinguish the artistic use of medium from its common commercial purpose. It’s taken from the Latin word for silk (seri) and Greek word for write or draw (graphein).
Silk Screen Printing – Stencil
Silkscreen printing works like a stencil, your artwork is transferred onto a mesh coated with a chemical. The negative areas (your artwork) is then washed away, to produce the stencil effect. Ink is then applied on the mesh and pushed onto the t shirt.
Types of Silkscreen Prints
Did you know that there are 2 types of silkscreen prints? They are direct silkscreen prints and indirect silkscreen prints (also known as silkscreen transfers). For big prints and larger quantities, the method of direct silkscreen printing would be most suitable. Prints that include finer details, the indirect silkscreen printing method would be most appropriate.
Besides solid colours, you can opt for a reflective silkscreen print! This is perfect for uniforms as it helps to increase visibility and provides some protection for the wearer. Reflective silkscreen print can be done on the fabric of safety vests. For aesthetic reasons, you can also make your artwork look more special!
Advantages of Silkscreen Printing
Like all printing techniques, silkscreen printing comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s talk about the advantages of silkscreen printing first.
Firstly, given a fixed setup cost, this method of printing enjoys economy of scale when printing in large quantities. Hence, the larger the quantity for printing, the lower the price of printing each t-shirt. Secondly, this method of printing saves time. The silkscreen printing process on a t-shirt takes about 5 minutes to produce while digital printing takes up to 25 minutes. Thirdly, silkscreen printing is durable and can last numerous washes.
Disadvantages of Silkscreen Printing
Moving on to the disadvantages. Firstly, given its fixed setup cost, this method of printing is expensive for small quantities as the fixed cost is spread across lower quantities of t-shirts. Secondly, silkscreen printing is not cost effective for orders with more than 1 artwork as it requires different screens for each artwork. Hence, for each different artwork, a new screen would have to be created for the printing process. This in turn would incur a higher cost. Vinyl printing would be more suitable for orders with different artwork prints.
Reach out to one of us today at Ark Industries, the provider of quality silk screen printing services in Singapore. Let’s get started with creating custom silk screen printed t shirts, bags and other apparel items. Call us at +65 6352 0988 or email us at info@ark.sg to find out more!
