Unit 18: Print-Based Techniques

Hand Printing Techniques Stencil Printing

WHAT IS IT? Stencil printing is a process by which a viscous material is deposited through the
aperture openings of a stencil onto a substrate. The configuration of the stencil apertures determines the basic layout of the deposits. For the printing process the stencil is aligned to the substrate and then brought in close to or in direct contact with the surface of the substrate. An angled blade, called a squeegee, is then used to drive the material across the surface of the stencil at a controlled speed and force as shown in the Figure below demonstrating the printing process for flip chip packaging. As a result of the print stoke the apertures on the stencil are filled with the printing medium. When the stencil is released from the substrate the resulting contents of the filled apertures are transferred to the substrate, thereby forming deposits. The substrate can be anything from a PCB, wafer, plastic sheet to ceramic tape. With one print stroke, millions of deposits can be placed onto the substrate surface. After printing the process can be repeated thousands of times with the same stencil onto further substrates thereby creating a high throughput process.

. Advantages

Disadvantages Cutting out the stencil is a delicate and time consuming process Drawing the stencil is a delicate and time consuming process

Where is it used? Stencil Printing can be used in hand made fanzines and it is mainly used by graffiti artists. Who has used it? Banksy and Blek le Rat What skills are needed? steady hand hand eye coordination able to competently draw

Cost

the most expensive tools would be a scalpel and a can of spray paint or a tin of normal paint. Equipment Paper or card Scalpel Paint Pencil/Pen

Speed of process The speed of the process depends on the difficulty level of the drawing you want to print. The easiest way and least time consuming method is to hand draw your stencil then cut But if you want a specific design and your drawing skills arent up to scratch then one might trace a picture from the internet, this generally slows down the process even if its fairly simple outline In order to achieve the best possible results you have to be as careful as possible when cutting or the entire process will be ruined by messy cutting How many can you make? Stencil printing is a hand-made process so it would be hard to make 100 copies that are exactly the same. Stencil printing is more of a one off technique.

Linocutting
Linocut is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for the relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller (called a brayer), and then impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by hand or with a press

Advantages Lino is an easy to work with surface It can be cut into easily

Disadvantages Mistakes are irreversible Difficult to achieve great intricacy

Where is it used? Linocutting was originally used in Germany in the early 1900s where it was used for wallpaper printing. It is also used for printing onto paper. Who has used it? Irving Amen Valenti Angelo Walter Inglis Anderson

 Carl Eugen Keel

What are the knowledge and skills needed? When linocutting you need to know how exactly to cut the lino with a certain technique because if done wrong then the after effects are irreversible Cost Linoleum is relatively cheap, but its the mounting onto the wood that costs the money. The cost for 12 pieces of unmounted 6 x 8 lino would cost around 10.

Equipment Pen Pencil Linoleum Paine of glass Ink Ink roller Linocutting tool Paper

Speed of process Linocutting is quite a time consuming printing technique; this is because you have to be careful when cutting into the lino because if you make a mistake it cannot be reversed. How many can you make? With lino there will never be an exact replica. It would be possible to make 100, but it would take a long time to complete.

Mechanical printing techniques Screen printing

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil to receive a desired image. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A fill blade or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink through the mesh openings to wet the substrate during the squeegee stroke. Basically, it is the process of using a mesh-based stencil to apply ink onto a substrate, whether it be t-shirts, posters, stickers, vinyl, wood, or other material. Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance. Ink is forced into the mesh openings by the fill blade or squeegee and onto the printing surface during the squeegee stroke. as the screen rebounds away from the substrate the ink remains on the substrate. It is also known as silkscreen, serigraphy, and serigraph printing. One colour is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multicoloured image or design.

Advantages Can be used on variable surfaces The print wont fade Very versatile

Disadvantages Difficult to mix colours. Difficult to print intricate

Where is it used? Its used on variable services such as tshirt, vinyl and wood Who uses screen printing? There arent any artists specifically that use stencil printing but its globally used for things such as mass tshirt printing What are the knowledge and skills needed? Screen printing is probably one of the easiest techniques seeing as you dont need any special knowledge or skills to do it. Cost To perform your own screening ritual an entire kit would probably cost around 90-100 for all the necessary equipment. However if you go to a professional you can pay less money Equipment A screen with a design on it A surface you want to print on Ink Squeegee

Speed of process The speed of the printing itself isnt very long but its the drying process that takes the longest. How many can you make? With screen printing, it is easy to make 100 exact copies because you dont have to make a new design every time so you can just carry on printing with the original screen.

Letter pressing
Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press. A worker composes and locks movable type into the bed of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type which creates an impression on the paper. In practice, letterpress also includes other forms of relief printing with printing presses, such as wood engravings, photo-etched zinc "cuts" (plates), and linoleum blocks, which can be used alongside metal type in a single operation, as well as stereotypes and electrotypes of type and blocks.[1] With certain letterpress units it is also possible to join movable type with slugs cast using hot metal typesetting. Letterpress printing was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. Letterpress printing remained the primary way to print and

distribute information until the twentieth century, when offset printing was developed, which largely supplanted its role in printing books and newspapers. More recently, letterpress printing has seen a revival in an artisanal form

Advantages Can be repeated Straight forward process

Disadvantages Slow process If you want photos and letter pressed words, the photos will have to be engraved to be printed.

Where is it used? It is used in printing words onto books, formal invitations, and business cards. Who has used it? Johannes Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and printer What knowledge and skills are needed? To create something using letter press printing, you need to know how to use a printing press.

Equipment Ink Printing press Individual printing press letters Paper

How many can you make? To make 100 copies of something using letter press printing is possible but it would take a long time to produce.

Digital printing techniques Photocopying A process whereby written or printed matter is directly copied by photographic techniques. Advantages
There are both advantages and disadvantages of the photocopier. An advantage is that a paper or document can be easily copied and a disadvantage is that it can aid in fraudulent document creation. Where is it used? Photocopying is a worldwide way of printing its used in offices all over the world as its an effective and constructive process Who uses it? The person that invented the photocopier and xerography process was a man named Chester Carlson. He did this around 1937 and in 1950 it became available commercially. Equipment Original process: He is best known for having invented the process of electrophotography, which produced a dry copy rather than a wet copy, as was produced by the mimeograph process. Carlson's process was subsequently renamed xerography, a term that literally means "dry writing." However now in order to photocopy you use a machine in which does the entire process for you with successful results Cost

a photocopier machine costs from around 200-400

how many can you make? with a photocopying machine you can make as many copies of your chosen image as you desire depending on the amount of paper and ink you have. Laser printing Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics by passing a laser beam over a charged drum to define a differentially charged image. The drum then selectively collects charged toner and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated to permanently fix the image. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers (MFPs), laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of the medium across the printer's photoreceptor. Hence, it proves to be a much faster process compared to the latter