How to Expose a Screen

Hi everyone, it's Martin from Mekanika. In this video, I'm going to talk to you about the exposure stage. The exposure is the step that allows you to flash your design on the screen and then print it.

Once your frame is coated and dry, exposure is the crucial step in creating a beautiful stencil and will determine the finesse and quality of your future print.

Exposure involves flashing the emulsion with a light source, but not just any light source. It is the UV rays that cause the emulsion to react.

Once your frame is coated and dry, exposure is the crucial step in creating a beautiful stencil and will determine the finesse and quality of your future print.

For this stage, professional screen printers use exposers with special, expensive UV lamps.

In our case, we offer you an alternative solution based on a high-powered 500-watt high-power halogen spotlight, which actually sends out enough UV to make your emulsion react.

For those who work with the Mekanika kit, you will have received an Exposure kit to assemble yourself.

I'll show you how to assemble it...

Once your Exposure kit is assembled, all you have to do is install it on the press. All the set up is ready, we can now move on to Exposure.

We can now move on to exposure. Start by placing your frame on the printing plate with the outside of the screen facing upwards.

Then place your stencil on the emulsion layer, taking care to place the image to be printed in the reverse direction.

Next, place a sheet of glass or Plexiglas to ensure that the stencil against the emulsion, to ensure that the exposure is sharp and precise.

If you don't have a glass or Plexiglas plate, don't hesitate to tape, but be careful with transparent tape.

Once everything is in place, it's time to switch on your light source. Exposure time varies according to several parameters:

• the type of emulsion used
• the light source used
• the distance between the frame and the light.

For those using our Mekanika kit, the optimum time for 1 + 1 coating is 4 minutes.

The 4 minutes are up, so there's no need to waste any time. Stripping is simply the process of passing the frame underwater after exposure to reveal the logo.

Point the jet of water from your sink or hand shower at the frame and let the water run over the design for a few seconds, and your image will appear.

A sponge is not essential at this stage, but if used with care, it can help you remove all the emulsion properly. To be sure, inspect your frame under the light.

After stripping, there may still be a few small imperfections on your frame. In reality, these are holes in the emulsion which the ink to pass through during printing. And there's a trick.

Once you've identified all the holes, use a cotton bud to dab a little emulsion into them.

Then remember to re-cook your emulsion for at least four minutes.

If you're going to make a large series of prints, don't hesitate to re-expose your screen. This has the effect of strengthening your emulsion.

Now that your frame is insolated and stripped, you can move on to the printing phase.

It's time to start printing. Visit our article how to make great print to find out all our tips and tricks for successful first prints.