What Effect Does Screen Pitch Have on Printing Quality?

The influence of screen spacing on printing quality is mainly reflected in three aspects: pattern clarity, registration accuracy and ink transfer effect. It needs to be dynamically adjusted according to tension, substrate characteristics, etc. (usually 2-3mm).

1. Positive influence

Improve pattern clarity

Increasing the mesh distance (such as 3mm) can enhance the resilience of the screen, speed up the stripping speed, and reduce smear caused by ink adhesion.

Example: Off-grid printing (h>0) is easier to obtain sharp-edged patterns than full-contact printing (h=0).

Optimize ink transfer

Appropriate screen spacing ensures uniform scraper pressure and avoids excessive thickness or thinness of the local ink layer.

2. Negative impact

Dimensional error and registration deviation

If the screen pitch is too large (such as >5mm), the screen will be stretched, resulting in pattern deformation and accumulation of registration errors during multi-color printing.

Data: High-precision printing needs to control the screen distance ≤ 1.5mm, and electronic printing even needs 0.1-0.2mm (stainless steel screen)

Process contradiction

If the screen spacing is too small (such as <1mm), it will easily stick to the screen, and the ink will stick around the mesh; if it is too large, the scraping force will need to be increased, which will aggravate screen wear.

Note: The mesh distance needs to be adjusted in conjunction with the scraper pressure. For every 10N increase in pressure, the mesh distance should be increased by 0.3-0.5mm to balance the resilience.