About the Screen Printing Process

Screen Printing (also referred to as silk screening, screen process printing, serigraphy) is a unique method of transferring or printing graphic images, and is considered by many to be the one of the oldest methods of printing.

It was first used by the Chinese and the Japanese to decorate clothing, reproduce artwork, and publish posters with the latest words of wisdom of the emperor.

Over 1000 years ago it was discovered that woven silk stretched on a wood frame, with a stencil image attached to the bottom with glue, could be used to reproduce the same image over and over on different materials by forcing ink or paints through the opening in the stencil. These days it is a little more complicated using photosensitive emulsion but the theory is the same.

Here's an extremely helpful screenprinting cartoon by artist and screenprinter Jacob Rolfe!