Silk screen printing

Process Silk screen printing

The commonest method for decorating plastic bottles. Low initial cost, it offers versatility of decorating effects. Printing is obtained by forcing ink through a photographically treated screen. Flame treatment is often required prior to decoration.

Economical for one colour decoration and small runs. Double cost for two colours because each colour is applied in a separate step.

Epoxy-inks can be used for protection against scratching, and for use with products that attack standard enamel inks. Ultra-violet inks are very resistant to scratches and dries quickly.

Danish Name Serigrafi, silketryk

Category Surface treatments, Printing

Materials Inks:
Epoxy-ink
Enamel-ink
UV-ink
Substrates:
Plastics
Ceramics

Typical products Compact disc
Transparent label

Competing processes Pad printing

References D & C Serigrafi
Lerman Container Company
Willumsen A/S

Price notes These prices are for one colour printing. For two colour printing the operational cost is double, and so on. Usually for medium-small parts (part size is not a very important factor). The surface condition is instead very important for the operating time.

DKK/part*color	5 parts	500	10000
Smooth surfaces	150	2	0.3
Rough surfaces	150	2.3	0.45
Large (10m2)	750	650	500

Price date November 1996

Additional info Average operational costs [DKK/part*colour]: 0.50/0.80 (smooth/rough, manual); 0.25/0.40 (smooth/rough, automatic).
Cliché: 450 DKK. Machines set-up 270-300 DKK, paid only for production volumes lower than 1000 parts (manual), 10000 (automatic).

Photo Thomas Nissen (Computer graphics)