The Art of Screen Printing and Its Application For Promotional Printed Pens

Screen printing has been around since the mid-900s AD. Traditionally, it was used for artistic or decorative purposes, dating all the way back to China's Song Dynasty. Today, however, when most of us think of screen printing, we probably picture a clear-cut logo on a t-shirt. While fabric is a common application, this type of printing is also frequently used to print on glass, paper, wood, ceramic, metal, and plastic. This versatility makes this printing process suitable for a view more variety of industries and most regular promotional pens are printed using this process.

Screen printing is a method by which ink is transferred through a woven mesh stencil to produce a sharply-defined image onto a substrate. Although manual screen printing is often used for artistic applications, an automatic screen printing machine is the logical choice for industrial purposes. Whether manual or automatic, the basic principle of screen printing is the same and involves five components: a screen of fine mesh made from synthetic materials such as nylon, polyester, or steel; a fill bar (or flood bar); a rubber squeegee; ink, composed of a solvent, pigment, and resin; and the printing surface, or substrate (promotional pens, in our case). Here's how it works:

The image to be printed is saved in vector (or outline) format and then transferred to a screen stencil.

The stencil, made of very fine mesh, is secured onto the screen printing machine, just above the printing area.
Promotional pens are loaded, either by hand or robotically, onto a conveyor with the barrel or clip to be printed facing upward. The conveyor belt inches forward incrementally as each pen is printed.

Ink is deposited on top of the screen and the flood bar is pulled from back to front, filling the mesh design with ink.
As the screen is lowered onto the substrate, a squeegee is drawn across the mesh from front to back, forcing ink through the screen via capillary action.

The screen is then returned to its starting position, ready for the next cycle.

The greatest advantage of automatic printing machines is their ability to imprint large quantities in a relatively short amount of time. Nearly all standard printed pens for example, can be printed at rates capable of 3,500 units per hour and, in most cases, multi-colour, close-registration Custom Printing Business printing can be achieved. This highly-efficient process means greater affordability, making screen-printed promotional pens the right choice for any budget.