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Materials and components
News Release from: MacDermid Autotype | Subject: Five Star
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 22 February 2008
Stencil film brings art to life
The world famous indirect stencil film is enabling a renowned Dutch screen printer working in India to create large format high quality prints from original works of art.
The world famous indirect stencil film from MacDermid Autotype is enabling a renowned Dutch screen printer working in India to create large format high quality prints from original works of art Thanks to the film's carefully balanced combination of resolution and versatility, the prints can be created extremely quickly and consistently, allowing tight schedules to be met with no effect on print quality
The printer, Peter Wilms, started his own screen printing business over 20 years ago and has worked with hundreds of European artists, creating accurate yet unique interpretations of their work.
A few years ago, looking for a new challenge, Wilms left the Netherlands for India, setting up the company, Art and Design Development (ADD).
ADD is now an established printing company employing a team of 20 and offering its services to painters and artists from around the world.
The screen printing method used by Wilms involves repainting by hand each of the colours of the original work of art onto an individual sheet of specially designed transparent film to create positives.
The positives are then transferred photographically onto a stencil film and the colour separations brought together using the printing process to create a complete image that represents the original.
With the film substrates such an integral part of the process, choosing the right material was vital to Wilms.
The film had to be capable of conveying his craftsmanship and that of his team on short runs of prints as large as 800 x 1000mm.
For this reason, he chose the Autotype Five Star indirect stencil film from MacDermid Autotype.
Indirect films enable stencils to be created quickly and simply for short run screen printing where quality is a priority.
Autotype Five Star is a red gelatine indirect film designed to balance resolution with ease of use, so that while definition is high enough for the smallest details to remain visible, the need for spotting to eradicate scratches and dust spots is minimised.
This is essential for Wilms and his team, whose reputation relies on their ability to work within often tight schedules.
A further reason for choosing the Autotype Five Star film was that it was essential that the film be able to represent the extremely vivid colours used by the printers to produce the level of aesthetic quality required.
The Autotype Five Star film proved ideal for meeting these requirements, developed for use with screens with medium to fine mesh counts, from 77 to 150/cm, and enabling stencils to be produced that combine a low EOM and a low Rz value to result in consistently accurate printing.
The results being achieved by Peter Wilms and his team using Autotype Five Star film speak for themselves.
The printers are performing up to 30 runs for each print, resulting in finished artworks that feature tones running into one another in the same way as the original oil, acrylic or water colours.
The level of quality is so high that Wilms sees the prints as independent pieces of art in their own right, as opposed to direct reproductions, having evolved from the original works.
The Autotype Five Star film has been a crucial element in this impressive achievement. Request a free brochure from MacDermid Autotype ...
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