11.02 Screen Printing

Check out a screen and sign the screen print loan agreement / contract.

Inks are kept in a cabinet labeled “Reproducibility.”

Since we are printing on paper be careful not to select a fabric ink since it has a dryer in it.

Different Screens have different size meshes, the size of the holes of the grid or crisscrossed strands. A #180 - #195 screen is good for using with photo emulsion and basic inks. This is equivalent to dots per inch (DPI) of screen printing resolution. For printing on glass or ceramics, a courser screen such as a #40 may be more ideal.

Specific inks for the Reproducibility course are stored in a labeled cabinet in the printshop. The inks are acylic based so need to be cleaned immediatly after use to avoid being dried onto tools and equipment. Fabric inks should be avoided until more experience is had with screen printing. After this project, talk to the printshop technical specialist about using your screen to print on fabric with fabric inks. Fabric inks have an additional drying agent in them. You can use unmodified acrlic ink on fabric but it will take longer to dry and it it recommended to iron it.