| If you are screen printing as a hobby, you may | | | | the emulsion. The image on the film becomes the |
| have tried several ways to create your stencil. One | | | | stencil on the screen, allowing the ink to pass only |
| such way that has been popularized on the internet is | | | | where the image is. Films are commonly made of |
| the screen fill method. Essentially, the screen fill | | | | transparencies on a paper much like tracing paper, or |
| method involves painting an image on a screen using | | | | on specially coated acetate sheets that can be |
| a filler that dries and becomes your stencil. Once the | | | | printed with an ink jet printer. |
| stencil is created, the screen is used the same way it | | | | While there are a few types of photographic |
| always is with screen printing: it is positioned on the | | | | emulsions, including capillary films, diazo, photopolymer, |
| fabric, and a squeegee is used to push ink through it. | | | | and dual cure, the light sensitive emulsion that is |
| Wherever the holes have not been painted over, the | | | | probably the most useful to the kind of printer that |
| image is created when the ink passes through the | | | | might consider the screen fill method is the dual cure |
| screen. | | | | emulsion. The reason why the dual cure is a suitable |
| While some may consider the screen fill method | | | | substitute is because someone who would use the |
| simple and inexpensive, there are several drawbacks: | | | | screen fill method most likely is looking to do a short |
| | | | print run if they are using waterbased inks(less than |
| 1. It is extremely time consuming. | | | | 1000 pieces), they want to make a quality screen |
| 2. When you make a mistake painting the filler, it can | | | | that can be recycled, and they want as few steps as |
| be quite aggravating to try to fix. | | | | possible to create the screen with as little expense. |
| 3. It is tedious. | | | | Coating screens with photographic emulsion is a |
| 4. If you want to reproduce the screen you have to | | | | fairly quick and painless process once you get the |
| do the whole process over again. | | | | hang of it. While there are some best practices and |
| 5. Line work and small type are pretty much out of | | | | trouble-shooting tips that can shorten your learning |
| the question. Fortunately, there is another method | | | | curve, even without much experience most people |
| for creating stencils on screens that solves all five of | | | | pick it up quickly. The one main drawback of the |
| the above problems, and it is also relatively | | | | photographic process is that you need a light source |
| inexpensive on a per screen basis: the photographic | | | | to expose your screen. Fortunately, with the right |
| method using light sensitive emulsion. | | | | set-up, you have a large variety of choices including |
| Basically, the photographic method involves making | | | | the sun. |
| a film, and using it as a light barrier when exposing | | | | |