SCREEN PRINTING VS DIGITAL PRINTING

Here at Sovereign, we offer two types of printing methods – screen printing and digital printing.

There are benefits to both methods, however, each method has different advantages meaning that some jobs are better suited to being screen printed, and some are better being digitally printed.

SCREEN PRINTING

• Cost-effective for large print runs
• Better suited to simpler designs
• Solid spot colours including fluorescents and metallics

Screen printing starts by preparing a stencil on a tightly stretched mesh screen and then smoothing ink through the mesh, transferring the stencil design to the substrate.

We can print directly onto a variety of substrates including Self Adhesive Vinyl, Polycarbonate, Acrylic, Foamex, Correx, PVC, Photoluminescent and Dibond as well as many others.

Each layer of coloured ink must dry before the next colour is applied. The ink is dried by either hot air or cured with UV light.

Screen printing works especially well for external signs and graphics due to it’s high-pigment level that prolongs the life of the print.

Screen printing also has the ability to print spot colours.

DIGITAL PRINTING

• Best suited to small print runs
• Variable customization options for sequential numbers
• Quick set up and turnaround time

Digital printing uses large, wide-format printers to apply ink directly to the substrates in a similar method to an office printer, just on a much bigger scale!

Digital printing works by mixing four colours: magenta, cyan, yellow, and black into shades or gradients that make up the image.

This printing method works especially well on detailed and intricate designs including ones with gradients or photographs; screen printing would not be able to achieve this high resolution.

Digital printing can produce prints on a much larger scale than screen printing can, and the print run can be faster once set up.

We have recently invested in a new, wide-format printer, the Canon Colorado 1650 which is part of a new generation of printers that will enable us to work more efficiently while lowering our environmental impact. You can read more about it here.

Unsure which printing method would be most suitable? Contact us today and a member of our team will be more than happy to talk you through your options.