ELI5: What Is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is a fun and clever way to push colorful ink through a special mesh screen to print pictures or words onto everyday objects like your favorite t-shirts, tote bags, and posters.

Imagine you want to draw a bright star on a piece of paper, but you want it to look perfect every single time. You could cut a star-shaped hole out of a piece of cardboard, place it on your paper, and color over it with a crayon. When you lift the cardboard, you have a perfect star!

Screen printing works almost the exact same way, just with a few cooler tools:

• The Stencil and Mesh Screen: A fine mesh fabric, like a screen door on your house, is stretched tightly over a frame. Parts of this screen are blocked off so ink cannot pass through, leaving open holes that form your picture, just like a stencil.
• The Squeegee: This is a flat, rubbery tool shaped like a windshield wiper.
• The Ink: Thick, colorful paint gets poured right onto the screen.

You see screen printing all around you every day! It is used to make:

• The bright pictures on your holiday pajamas and sports jerseys.
• The artwork on canvas shopping bags.
• The designs on coffee mugs and water bottles.
• Cool concert posters hanging on bedroom walls.