No matter which industry is used for silk screen printing, they are made of screens made of various materials, but there are some differences in the selection of screen and plate making technologies. This article only covers textile screens from several aspects. "Printing" and non-textile "screen printing" are slightly compared for reference. 1. Prepress processing 1) Textile screen printing. Pattern design, description of black-and-white color separation (ie, positive film), and generally continuous photolithography process, in addition to an independent flower shape, the main manual operation, high technical requirements for workers, lower work efficiency. Photographic materials need to use waterproof type. 2) Non-textile screen printing. The pattern is generally completed by photography or scanning. The color separation is mostly based on four colors. The vast majority of printing patterns are independent, and there is no step of joining plates. The photosensitive materials are mostly solvent-resistant. 2. Wire mesh material It is the main material of screen printing. The screen weaved with silk has long been replaced by nylon screen. Nylon screen has high strength, wear resistance and elasticity, but it is susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. Affecting the accuracy of the layout, polyester (polyester) screens are commonly used when printing high-end products. There are also wire meshes, such as nickel mesh for rotary screen printing and stainless steel mesh for circuit boards. There are a wide variety of screen sizes, ranging from 36 to 90 inches in width and from 80-500 mesh/inch, depending on the application. 3. Screen printing equipment Silk screen printing equipment is very complex, from simple family workshops to modern complete sets of equipment, there is a big gap, where only a brief distinction can be made. 1) The screen printing of textiles is divided into circular nets and flat nets. Flat net equipments include printing platen, automatic flat screen printing machine and rotary printing machine. The maximum width of the automatic flat screen is 3.2m, the length is about 60m, and the maximum color is 24 colors, which belongs to large equipment. The screen printing of textiles is generally continuous printing, even the handkerchiefs and tablecloths with independent patterns are also printed after continuous cutting. As a result, garments and T-shirts are mostly printed on turntables. 2) Non-textile screen printing equipment is more complicated, because of different substrates and has a unique printing method and special printing effects, according to the printing object to choose printing equipment. In general, there are desktop manual, semi-automatic, fully automatic flat screen printers and drum type, curved surface, and three-dimensional printing machines, and there are many special equipments, and the gap between the sizes of printing areas is also very large. Their common feature is the independent printing. The main method is (ie, one workpiece and one workpiece are printed separately). 4. Differences in printed materials Simply put, there is difference between water and solvent (commonly known as oiliness). 1) Textile printing is generally dominated by dyes, especially on silk fabrics, and corresponding dyes should be used according to different fiber properties. The technical process and ancillary equipment are more complicated. The printing paste used for printing is printed material, and some people call it "water-based ink". Due to the need of practicality, the color of textile screen printing must have a certain degree of fastness (not easy to fade), and at the same time, it has a large change in color. Therefore, the size and color of the textile are generally sold and stored separately. When used, printing is required. Pulp. There are also many special functional coating printing pastes, which are often not limited by the nature of the fabric fibers, so the screen printing of paints occupies a certain position. 2) Non-textile screen printing inks. This type of ink is almost all solvent-based, and its greatest feature is "speciality", which is what kind of ink is used to print what material; Second, the color of the ink is mostly sold as a finished product, such as four-color ink. There are also some special functional inks, such as foaming inks, bright inks, and fluorescent inks. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of screen printing inks, and we will not comment on them. 5. Postpress processing In textile screen printing process, post-printing treatment is very important. It must be fixed by high-temperature steaming or bake-drying to combine the dye with textile fibers to ensure the fastness of color. After fixing, it must be washed with water to remove the carriers and unfixed dyes in the printing paste, so that the color is bright and shiny. Even if the coating process is used for high temperature drying, it can be washed without water. The post-processing of non-textile screen printing, in general, is relatively simple, but it is also necessary to take some necessary treatments according to the quality requirements of printed products, such as the UV curing of UV inks.