Screen printing stencil production

摘要

A coated film product comprises a support base 3, a stencil-forming layer 1 and an intermediate release layer 2. The stencil-forming layer is a blend of two grades of polyvinyl alcohol having different degrees of hydrolysis. The stencil-forming layer is imaged by dropwise application (for example using an ink-jet printer or plotter) of a crosslinking agent 4 which hardens the stencil-forming layer to resist washing out with water. The hardened areas remaining after washing out are however sufficiently tacky for the washed-out film to adhere to the screen mesh by application of pressure and, after removal of the support base, form the stencil layer of a screen-printing screen.