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Stop the world, I want to watch
Fespa’s Sensations special effects portfolio shows screen’s ability to provide an added value premium to every other printing process
‘Doctor’ Kiddell explores the subconscious to prove that large, still images are what the human brain craves. Excellent news for producers of vibrant screen printed images.
So television is no good for our children. It disturbs their sleep, affects their hormone balance, could be a contributory factor in the development of autism, creates socially inept people etc etc.
That is what the medics are telling us. Several august papers have been published in the Lancet of late detailing the consequences of parking your child in front of the box or LCD screen to keep them amused. Have you noticed how when a child watches a screen they become completely immobile, transfixed by the moving images. The same to a lesser extent happens to adults. It seems that for the brain to manage the 2D moving images it requires a lot of processing power so it shuts down the motor functions. I am sure some neuroscientist will have a rational explanation but that is simply my opinion.
Thinking further on this topic, why do DVD players and even televisions have a ‘freeze’ function? It is quite simple: if you want to study a situation in detail you stop the action. Your brain needs time to process the information so you can make decisions rather than just react. Things change when you are relating to other people when watching moving images. An example is a crowd of football supporters watching a giant screen they replicate the mass hysteria of a real football crowd with all its violence and obscenities. So where the heck is all this leading?
Large format advertising. Generally this is viewed when the target audience is on the move, walking, driving, being driven. Going back to the DVD freeze frame: try to recall an incident and the brain presents you with one or several still images, so you can study them in detail. Similarly, if an advertiser wants to send a message in an instant, a stationary image is the most effective and cost effective way to do it, particularly if the audience is on the move.
82,000 advertising surfaces
Now there is no doubt that display screen technology is going to have a significant effect on the point of sale market. Kings Cross tube station is a case in point. The escalators, the platforms, the end wall of passage walkways are all being targeted as sites for display screen technology, also known as digital point of sale. Remarkably there are 82,000 advertising surfaces at this venue. Only 2,000 will be used for digital point of sale, the remaining 80,000 are available for printed media.
Then there is the small issue of equipment cost for 2,000 displays. £35 Million! That’s just the equipment, installation and software, not the content. This is serious money. Its success can only be judged over several years. There is no doubt that this, or similar initiatives, will prove to be a success but there is still a great deal of mileage in printed point of sale, particularly large format advertising. Which is where I come to large format screen printing.
The UK has the highest concentration of multi-colour large format screen printers in the world, 75 plus machines in companies throughout the UK. The events that give a lead to what is happening in this industry are the recent change of state of SIAS and the loss of SVECIA as a main line manufacturer of printing presses. Both manufacturers have hundreds of presses still in use in the UK, many of them large format multi-colour lines. Fortunately there are several able organisations that can service the equipment so printers should not be compromised.
The success story regarding large format multi-colour lines is Thieme, represented in the UK by Huddersfield-based Thieme KPX. Its MD, Bill Kippax, is bullish about the market, saying that Thieme has a nine-month order book for multi-colour lines. This order book is the longest in its history and he is selling several complete multi-colour lines in the UK, along with extending two colour lines to four.
It is fair to say that the situation regarding the other two manufacturers has benefited Thieme. It also shows that screen printing in the point of sale and packaging sectors is far from dead. Thieme’s success is a result of investment in technology and continuously seeking new markets for its industrial equipment. Screen printing is still the most effective way to lay down a controlled thickness of ink over a precisely controlled area. Bio-medical sensors, solar panels, electroluminescence, architectural glass and flat screen displays are all areas providing expanding opportunities for screen printing. The problem is a lack of European manufacturers, like Thieme, capable of taking the challenge and following its lead to take the screen printing process forward.
With the apparent rush towards digital and offset litho printing, at the expense of screen, it is easy to forget screen’s fine large format qualities. These include the ability to apply a substantial ink film and control dot gain. There are moves to create a screen printed image that matches offset litho standards, why? Why would screen printers want to reduce light-fastness and produce a print with less vibrancy? It is silly. Surely we should be demonstrating the impact of screen printing. In recent comparisons of the same image the screen printed version had far more punch than litho or digital. ‘Screen printing brings an image to life’, sounds like a good, valid slogan to me.
Have you noticed how you see more external posters losing their colour? People are being sold digital or offset litho images when they should have been screen printed. It’s market ignorance. As screen printers, it is our responsibility to make clients aware of screen’s advantages. From a sales perspective, screen could be sold as a premium process. ‘Anybody’ can print a digital image but it takes skill, experience and the right equipment to screen print effectively.
Special effects portfolio
An initiative that exhibits the new confidence of screen printing practitioners is the Sensations special effects portfolio launched by Fespa. It shows screen’s ability to provide an added value premium to every other printing process. The portfolio is an essential tool for any screen printer wishing to increase its product offering and market penetration. It demonstrates the wide range of inks that can be applied with screen printing.
Ranging from thermochromic to magnetic inks, Sensations is the most comprehensive example of screen printing special effects. Many of the inks are far more expensive than conventional screen printing inks and require slight changes in stencil configuration, courser mesh and thicker stencil build. The key issue is the finished print’s selling price which can be much higher then conventional printing. Ink suppliers can tell you what special effect inks they can supply. If you find the range limited call the DSPA’s Mike Turner (or yours truly) and we’ll point you in the right direction. If you want a copy of Sensations talk to Mike or myself.
The use and acceptance of digital control in printing equipment has helped resolve quality variation within a production run. It is stencil production where this precision must be matched.
As the foundation of screen printing, the stencil is where big strides have been made with: pre-coated mesh; capillary films that optimise Rz across a range of meshes; meshed frames that combine steel and polyester; and other subtle developments that assist screen printers in their productivity drive.
Increasingly, printers are using computer-to-screen to improve quality, efficiency and cost savings. Though these systems are a significant investment, payback can be swift. CTS now comes as ink or wax printed onto a coated mesh or direct exposure with focussed UV light or lasers. The equipment becomes part of the screen printer’s digital workflow. Companies to visit are Sefar, Kiwo, Luscher, Sign-Tronic, Proditec and Thieme etc.
Mesh reclamation can be problematic for screen printers, particularly with increasing environmental legislation.
With several screen reclamation equipment manufacturers in the field, I was impressed by the innovative approach of Chim, a French company specialising in environmentally sympathetic chemicals. It saw an opportunity for a solvent-free screen reclamation system. Surfactants, under high pressure, (140 bar) are used to remove ink residue, cured emulsion and, importantly, the stains that can remain after reclamation. Normally, these stains are removed with corrosive anti-stain preparations which can weaken mesh and cause disposal problems.
Chemicals in the Chim process are in a closed-loop. There is no need to top-up as the system monitors the number of frames and chemistry’s condition. The manufacturer guarantees over 95 per cent of meshes leaving the system are clean, dry and ready for coating, otherwise you get your money back! Chim is the only equipment supplier that also manufactures the chemicals: delivering clean and collecting contaminated material. Customers deal with one supplier who can customise the chemistry to suit.
The future is now
Screen printing machines that remember previous settings and automatically fine-tune for perfect registration. Dryers that feedback to the printing machine which adjusts to the ink and substrate’s drying/curing needs. Automation, process control, predictability are all techniques that are essential to success in the screen printing process. The future is here now.
