Abstract
Screen printing is a printing method with flexible plate surface characteristics. In addition, since the appearance of electronics industry the screen printing has been demanding high quality and definition. However, Screen printing is a method for taking ink through mesh opening because screen mesh tends to restrict quality of screen printing. In particular, the biggest problem compared with other printing type is halftone reproduction characteristics. Halftone reproduction characteristics for screen printing depend on screen mesh and opening. Dot losses or dot gains are observed through various types of screen mesh because thread of screen mesh interfere with the movement of the ink. Excessive dot losses or gains can affect the tonal range. Furthermore, this problem can result in other problem such as bad contrast and gray balance. Therefore, it is an important factor to use proper screen mesh for halftone screen printing. However, domestic screen printing industry relies on worker's experience in field rather than depending on objective data although standardized specifications and optimal printing conditions are required for screen printing. For this reason, it is important to stipulate standard condition for domestic screen printing industry. Therefore, it was examined to find tonal range by mesh opening in halftone prints process of screen printing used domestic paper and ink in this study. In addition, TVI(Tone Value Increase) characteristic was observed by comparing to the manuscripts and prints of the dot area ratio. Furthermore, contrast value and gray balance were confirmed for each condition of the printout. Conditions for the proper selection of screen mesh screen for the quality of the prints were also examined, compared with the international standard of screen printing, ISO 12647-5.
