There are many methods for direct printing on glass, mainly including screen printing, digital printing, pad printing and thermal transfer. The following is a brief introduction to these methods:
1.Screen printing
Process flow: Make a screen printing plate, print the ink through the screen printing plate onto the glass surface, and finally bake it to solidify the ink on the glass.
Features: thick ink layer, strong covering power, bright colors, rich texture, strong three-dimensional sense, and long shelf life. There are many types of applicable inks, and large-area patterns can be printed. It is suitable for hard and soft materials, as well as flat, curved, spherical and concave and convex surfaces. However, the plate making process is relatively complicated, and the printing accuracy and efficiency are greatly affected by human factors. Our workshop mainly produces this type of printer.
2. Digital printing
Process flow: Use a digital printer to print the pattern ink on the glass by jetting, without plate making, full-color one-time imaging. After printing, post-processing such as lamination or sintering can be performed as needed.
Features: No plate making is required, fast printing, rich colors, high image accuracy, and low scrap rate. It can be customized. It is suitable for large-scale projects with diverse designs and rich colors. However, the equipment cost is high, and the ink cost is relatively high.
Pad printing
3.Pad printing
Process flow: First, etch the designed pattern on the printing plate, and then transfer the pattern on the printing plate to the substrate through the rubber head.
Features: It is suitable for printing patterns of irregular shapes and small areas, with high printing accuracy, but the ink layer is thin and the color saturation is relatively low.
4.Thermal transfer
Process flow: Print the pattern and glue on the heat-resistant film, and adhere the pattern and glue layer to the glass by heating and pressure.
Features: Multi-color patterns can be transferred at one time, with accurate color registration, high color reproduction, and gradient color can be achieved. The finished image has a firm color, and has properties such as corrosion resistance, aging resistance, wear resistance, and high temperature resistance, but the regularity of the substrate is required to be high.