Focus on Screen Printing AWT World Trade Light reading for screen printers
A great way for screen printing startups and smaller shops to reduce costs and gain greater control over production is to bring screen making operations in house. LED technology reduces operating costs with lower energy consumption and signifi cantly longer lamp life. Importantly for exposing operations, LED light does not degrade over time with use like other light sources, instead providing consistent high-quality output for longer service times.
In choosing an exposing unit for your shop, three important questions arise:
• What kind of emulsion will you be using? • What kind of artwork will you be exposing? • What is the volume of your operation?
The answers to these questions can help you determine the optimal exposing unit and light source for your particular application or applications.
Screen printing emulsions cure when exposed to UV light. Photosensitisers in the emulsion respond to the ultraviolet light and bond with the resins in the emulsion, hardening the emulsion on the screen.
Pro Light LED
The three main types of emulsion used in screen printing are diazo, SBQ, and dual-cure emulsions. Diazo emulsions typically must be manually mixed before use, and may take longer to fully expose. SBQ emulsions require no mixing and cure very quickly when exposed to UV light. Dual-cure emulsions combine characteristics of both diazo and SBQ emulsions and must be mixed, although they generally cure faster than diazo emulsions. Almost as important as the type of emulsion being used is the nature of the artwork being exposed. If the images you print tend to be simple, with large blocks of colour and no fi ne lines, halftones, or very small print, then a light source that has less available UV light will be suffi cient for exposure in most cases. For such projects, units utilising LED tubes can be effective and reliable, while also keeping costs down. More complex artwork involving fi ne lines, halftones, small-point fonts and other artistic subtleties may require an upgrade to a more concentrated source of UV light. Under such conditions, higher-output units utilising single-point LED lamps as opposed to LED arrays deliver professional results, with crisply defi ned images and even faster exposure times, while still providing signifi cant savings over mercury halide systems. A fi nal consideration is the quantity of projects or jobs that your workshop or studio is producing. For many smaller shops, the slightly longer exposure interval of tube-based LED exposing units may not be a signifi cant factor, and the cost benefi ts of economical LED tube technology remain decisive.
Using LED technology to expose screens presents several distinct advantages for screen printers and LED will continue to displace other light sources as the technology is further refi ned. LED lamps are safe, generating very little heat, and easy to use. LED lamps are affordable and extremely economical to operate in comparison with other light sources, with signifi cantly longer lifetimes. Depending on specifi c operational parameters and requirements, most screen printers should be able to leverage today’s cost-effective LED solutions for their exposing operations. Deciding on the optimal exposing unit for your workshop will require consideration of the specifi c characteristics of your artwork as well as your operational parameters.
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It is ideal for companies looking to increase productivity and reduce operating costs, all with a reduced ecological footprint.
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www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk June 2025 | 45 |
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