What is transfer printing and how does it work?
This method of transfer printing uses gel medium and a printout. I have only done this with inkjet prints, which I have always heard you shouldn’t use with transfer printing because of the way the ink is absorbed into the paper (as opposed to laser prints and photocopies, where the ink sits on the surface of the paper).
When was the first transfer print made?
Although England dominated the history of commercial transfer printing, the technique had first been used in Italy. A few maiolica pieces, probably from around Turin, mix printed and painted elements in their decoration. They date to the late 17th century, or possibly the early 18th; four surviving pieces are known.
What is a steel roller for transfer printing?
A steel roller for transfer printing with the resulting end product. Transfer printing is a method of decorating enamels or ceramics using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece.
What is transfer printing tea and coffee?
Transfer printing. A transfer-printed Wedgwood tea and coffee service. Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece.
What is pad printing used for?
Pad printing is a unique printing process used for transferring 2-D images onto 3-D objects. Like the name, this technology utilizes a silicone 'pad' to essentially pick up an image (such as your logo) and transfer it onto a designated object (your product).
What is pad printing on plastic?
Email a Plastics Specialist. Two color pad print. Pad printing is an indirect offset printing, or “photogravure”, process that is used to transfer a 2-D image onto a 3-D object via a silicone pad (hence the name).
How accurate is pad printing?
High-Quality Images. Pad printing is capable of transferring prints onto substrates with photographic accuracy. With line definition down to . 0001” (25µm).
How does screen printing work?
The basic process of screen printing involves creating a stencil on a mesh screen and then pushing the ink to create and imprint the design on the below surface. The most common surface used in screen printing is paper and fabric, but metal, wood, and plastic can also be used.
How is pad printing done?
Definition. Pad printing, also called tampography or tampo printing, is an indirect offset (gravure) printing process where a silicon pad takes a 2-D image from a laser engraved (etched) printing plate (also called cliché) and transfers it to a 3-D object.
What is laser printing technology?
Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively-charged cylinder called a "drum" to define a differentially-charged image.
Is pad printing the same as screen printing?
Pad printing is also excellent for printing on unusual shapes. The same goes for if you are printing on a 3D or uneven surface. If on the other hand the surface area of your item is quite large and you require a big print then screen printing will make much more sense.
What are printing plates called?
Flexo printing plates, often referred to as 'relief plates', are usually made from photopolymer material, while there are some still made from rubber. A relief plate means that the image is raised above the non-image area. The print is achieved by creating a mirror image in 3D with the photopolymer plate.
What do you need for pad printing?
What Pad Printing Supplies Do I Need? Pad printing machines require consumable items to complete the print process. Pad printing supplies consist of ink, solvents, hardener, and primers. A fine balance of ink, solvent, hardener, and primer is needed depending upon the application and adhesion requirements.
What are the three types of screen printing presses?
There are three common types of screen printing presses: flat-bed, cylinder, and rotary.
What are the different types of screen printing?
What Are the 6 Different Types of Screen Printing Process?Spot Color Screen Printing: Spot Color Screen Printing is the most common screen printing type of t-shirt screen printing. ... Halftone Printing: ... Grayscale Printing: ... Duotone Printing: ... CMYK Printing: ... Simulated Printing Process:
What is the difference between sublimation and screen print?
Screen Printing and Dye Sublimation: How They Work Dye sublimation is a technique for printing in which you use a special printer and a heat press to dye the T-shirt. Screen printing is a technique for printing in which you use a squeegee to press ink onto your T-shirt through a stencil on a finely meshed screen.
How long does pad printing last?
between 50,000 and 100,000 impressionsHow long should my pad printing pad last? Depending on how “rugged” a surface you're printing on, a pad should last between 50,000 and 100,000 impressions. Improper use, careless machine operation or stray grit however, can decrease the pad's life.
How are watch dials printed?
Let it be noted that this is generally not an automated process in fine watches; the dial maker generally hand-prints every dial. An excess amount of ink is applied over the etched surface, filling all of the recesses.
What is the gravure printing process?
Gravure printing (also called intaglio, pronounced with a silent g) uses an indented area of the plate from which to print. An excess of fluid is applied to the plate, and the excess is removed. This leaves the raised areas free of ink, and the ink is transferred from the depressed areas.
What is digital printing technology?
Digital printing is the process of printing digital-based images directly onto a variety of media substrates. There is no need for a printing plate, unlike with offset printing.
How are water soluble dyes used?
Water-soluble dyes are incorporated into a printing ink which is used to produce a design on paper. The design is transferred to a moistened textile using carefully regulated contact pressure. The dye transfers by diffusion through the aqueous medium. The method is not used to any significant extent at the present time.
What is transfer printing?
Transfer printing is the term used to describe textile and related printing processes in which the design is first printed on to a flexible nontextile substrate and later transferred by a separate process to a textile.
How to transfer embroidery designs to fabric?
This method has been used since the 19th century to transfer embroidery designs to fabric. The design is printed on paper using a waxy ink, and a hot iron applied to its reverse face presses the paper against the fabric. The ink melts on to the fabric in contact with it. This was the basis of the first commercially successful transfer process, known as Star printing, developed in Italy in the late 1940s. It is used in the so-called ‘hot-split’ transfer papers extensively used today in garment decoration.
What happens when you heat transfer a garment?
What happens is that the heat transfer machine releases the right amount of pressure, holds the garment in place and has a consistent temperature which allows the colour pigments to be transferred from one surface to the other. Heat transfer literally melts the image onto the fabric.
What is the adhesion force between a film and a textile?
Adhesion forces are developed between the film and the textile which are stronger than those between the film and the paper. The method has been developed for the printing of both continuous web and garment panel units, but is used almost exclusively for the latter purpose.
How is magic paper squashed?
The (magical) paper is later squashed against the fabric using a heat press. It is left this way for the amount of time is necessary for the heat to do its job. After the required amount of time has passed, the press if lifted and the garment is left alone to cool down.
When was the first transfer paper invented?
This was the basis of the first commercially successful transfer process, known as Star printing, developed in Italy in the late 1940s. It is used in the so-called ‘hot-split’ transfer papers extensively used today in garment decoration.
What is hot foil printing?
Printing with hot foil, or more simply called hot, is a direct reel printing system, in which the transfer of the contrast element is obtained with the combined effect of pressure, heat and release speed. The thermo-transferable contrast element is interposed between the printing form and the printing substrate.
What is a plotter?
The plotter is a device that specializes in printing large format media. It is the ideal output device for graphics and advertising thanks to modern technologies that allow the plotter to print in color and to cut out (cutting plotter).
What is screen printing?
Screen printing is one of the many printing techniques that are used to reproduce images or documents on any material. The term derives from the Latin seri (silk) and from the Greek γράφειν (gràphein, to write).
What is a rubber pad?
As already mentioned, the most widely used pads are made of silicone rubber. During the pick up of the ink film from the plate, the actual printing zone of the pad is carrying out a rolling motion as it is being compressed onto the printing plate. This rolling motion allows the air above the ink film to be pressed aside.
What is one component ink used for?
Generally, one component inks are used to print on thermoplastic substrates, such as Polystyrene (ABS and SAN), Polycarbonate, soft and rigid PVC, Polyethylene and Polypropylene. Since one component inks do not typically have a pot life, pad printing with these type of inks is rather easy in comparison to Two component ink systems (described below), since one component inks can be utilized for a longer period of time.
What is pad printing?
Pad printing is an indirect offset (or a gravure) printing process, where an image is transferred via a soft silicone pad onto the surface to be printed. Today there are two primary doctoring methods used. One being the old traditional open inkwell system (illustrated below) and two being the newer more widely accepted sealed cup system. For the sake of starting with the basics, we have illustrated the old "standard" method below.
How long does a two component ink last?
One "problem" in working with two component inks is the shorter pot life, which is limited according to ink and hardener type between 6 and 12 hours. Since the expiring pot life of the mixture is predictable, two component inks are widely used in industrial pad printing applications.
How did pad printing start?
The origins of pad printing can be traced back more than 200 years ago when the first off-set type of hand transfer printing was done using a bag of soft gelatin material to transfer the image. The first transfer printing plates were crafted from copper and were meticulously engraved by hand. Today they are photo-chemically etched onto hardened steel. This type of hand transfer was originally used in the transferring of images onto "blue" china plates and dinnerware. The first true industrial application using a mechanical pad printer was accomplished much later in Switzerland to imprint watch faces. Soon there after a German firm was known to have develop a pad printer and the first application was reported to be for the imprinting the multi-color eyes of the china dolls. This industrial process was implemented to help speed production along and eliminate intensive skills.
What type of ink is used for printing thermoplastics?
If extremely high mechanical and chemical resistance of the printed ink is required, it is recommended to use a two component ink system (ink plus hardener). These 2 component ink systems are suited to print thermosetting plastics (melamine, polyester, etc.) as well as thermoplastics e.g. Polyethylene and Polypropylene and a variety of metal, glass and ceramic substrates.
What is the etch depth of a nylon plate?
Obviously, steel plates are more expensive than nylon plates, but many customers choose steel over nylon for ease of production. The proper etch depth for the printing plates will vary, between .0006" to .0015". The most common etch depths range from .001" to .0012" (24 to 28 microns).
Overview
Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Pottery decorated using the technique is known as transferware or transfer ware.
It was developed in England from the 1750s on, and in the 19th century becam…
Process
The process starts with an engraved metal printing plate similar to those used for making engravings or etchings on paper. The plate is used to print the pattern on tissue paper, using mixes of special pigments that stand up to firing as the "ink". The transfer is then put pigment-side down onto the piece of pottery, so that the sticky ink transfers to the ceramic surface. Usually, several different tr…
Design history
The pottery and printmaking worlds were already closely related, with large numbers of prints being copied by painters on pottery, especially porcelain, for which prints, including book illustrations, were the main source of images. Early scenes, mostly relatively small and on larger pieces occupying only the centre of the piece, included genteel or pastoral couples or small groups, landscapes, cl…
History
Although England dominated the history of commercial transfer printing, the technique had first been used in Italy. A few maiolica pieces, probably from around Turin, mix printed and painted elements in their decoration. They date to the late 17th century, or possibly the early 18th; four surviving pieces are known. Between about 1749 and 1752, just at the time of the earliest English printeds, …
Manufacturers
Major 19th- or 20th-century English manufacturers include Crown Ducal, Enoch Wood & Sons, Royal Staffordshire, Royal Crownford, Alfred Meakin (Tunstall), Spode, Johnson Brothers, and Mason's. The process was popular in other countries including Germany.
• Sadler and Green tile, 1760
Further reading
• Joe Keller and Mark Gibbs, English Transferware: Popular 20th Century Patterns. ISBN 0-7643-2348-2
• Gillian Neale, Miller's: Encyclopedia of British Transfer-Printed Pottery Patterns, 1790 - 1930. Mitchell Beazley 2005, ISBN 1-84533-003-X
External links
• Transferware Collectors Club