HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FROM STENCILS TO ROTARY SCREENS PRINTING
The technique of stencil printing, initially used for simple patterns on walls and for lettering, was developed into an intricate craft for fabric printing in Japan [8]. In the 17th century the idea of tying together parts of the stencil with human hair initiated the development. Then in 1850 in Lyons the first use of silk gauze as a supporting stencil base was employed, and the technique soon became known as screen printing. This proved to be the answer to the requirements of the couture business, partly because the designers found it well suited to their needs, but also because strong, bright colours could be obtained with minimal restriction on repeat dimensions. The use of hand screen printing grew in the period 1930 to 1954 and was ideal for the growing quantities of man-made fibre fabrics, especially the knitted fabrics. With the successful mechanisation of flat-screen printing and ultimately the use of rotary screen machines, the days of the copper roller machine were numbered. In 1990 the worldwide production from the latter was estimated to be only 16% of the total, while 59% was from rotary screens. In the UK the switch from copper roller printing was initially slow but then accelerated, the technique’s share falling from 90% in 1960 to only 6.6% in 1992. In the same period the output from rotary-screen printing grew from perhaps 1% of the total to 82.8%. Thus the machine introduced in 1785 dominated the industry for some 160 years, but is now fast disappearing. The use of copper rollers is still important in the gravure method of printing in colour on paper. The dimensional stability, uniform thickness and surface smoothness of paper make it possible to achieve a much greater precision than is possible on textile fabrics. Even in the paper printing sector, however, cheaper methods have captured a significant fraction of what was the market for gravure machines. This is relevant to our consideration of textile printing in relation to transfer printing, which provides a valuable approach to garment printing and for the printing of polyester fibre fabrics, and which currently holds about 6% of the total market.
The technique of stencil printing, initially used for simple patterns on walls and for lettering, was developed into an intricate craft for fabric printing in Japan [8]. In the 17th century the idea of tying together parts of the stencil with human hair initiated the development. Then in 1850 in Lyons the first use of silk gauze as a supporting stencil base was employed, and the technique soon became known as screen printing. This proved to be the answer to the requirements of the couture business, partly because the designers found it well suited to their needs, but also because strong, bright colours could be obtained with minimal restriction on repeat dimensions. The use of hand screen printing grew in the period 1930 to 1954 and was ideal for the growing quantities of man-made fibre fabrics, especially the knitted fabrics. With the successful mechanisation of flat-screen printing and ultimately the use of rotary screen machines, the days of the copper roller machine were numbered. In 1990 the worldwide production from the latter was estimated to be only 16% of the total, while 59% was from rotary screens. In the UK the switch from copper roller printing was initially slow but then accelerated, the technique’s share falling from 90% in 1960 to only 6.6% in 1992. In the same period the output from rotary-screen printing grew from perhaps 1% of the total to 82.8%. Thus the machine introduced in 1785 dominated the industry for some 160 years, but is now fast disappearing. The use of copper rollers is still important in the gravure method of printing in colour on paper. The dimensional stability, uniform thickness and surface smoothness of paper make it possible to achieve a much greater precision than is possible on textile fabrics. Even in the paper printing sector, however, cheaper methods have captured a significant fraction of what was the market for gravure machines. This is relevant to our consideration of textile printing in relation to transfer printing, which provides a valuable approach to garment printing and for the printing of polyester fibre fabrics, and which currently holds about 6% of the total market.
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