Screen printing is a printing system where a mesh is used to transfer ink onto the material to produce the design. Business of screen printing is an old one. There are many screen printing factories found in Varanasi and the place from the ancient times has been noted as one of the best centers of handicrafts and as an important industrial Centre, Banaras sarees are one among the noted and preferred works that is produced by craftsmen of Varanasi which is not just famous in India but also across the world. Among the many activities of handicrafts like the brassware, copperware, ivory work, glass bangles, stone and clay toys, screen printing also stages a part in contributing to the art and is considered to be a step of an extension or an idea of makeover to that of block printing and other techniques. In screen printing technique there is a mesh that holds the design and ink is passed on through the pores that settle on the fabric and the designs get imprinted. The screen is constructed first with appropriate precaution making sure the design area to be flawless where the ink is passed and the area beside the design to be impermeable to the ink.
Customarily the method was called as screen printing or silkscreen printing because silk was used in the course previous to the development of polyester mesh. Presently, synthetic threads are generally used in the screen printing process. The most prevalent mesh in an extensive use is prepared of polyester. There are many meshes of nylon and stainless steel available to the screen printer. There are various kinds of mesh sizes that will decide the final result and the outlook of the completed designs on the required material. There are many screen printing industrial units at Varanasi and one such unit is the Devraj Print. Established in 1998, the factory is running successfully from seventeen years with a fore view of reaching greater summit in the coming years. Printing is carried on different kind of fabrics like silk, cotton, wool, nylon and so, producing materials for saree and other markets. Suits, stoles and other dress materials are printed with designs and sent to exporters. Like the process of block and hand printing, screen printing also is stamping of the ink onto the fabrics. There are more than thousand people connected directly or indirectly to the printing unit, from the initial creation of fabric, weavers, dyers, processing unit, finalizing section and dealers all connect to this printing unit. The raw fabric that the unit gets is sent to the dyeing section - RFD (ready for dyeing). The fabric gets bleached, when dyeing is not required it is directly worked on the table and screen printed. The colors that are used are acid colors, pigment colors and nonmetallic colors, depending on the kind of fabric preferred colors are decided. Once the printing is done it is left to dry and final stitches are completed and packed to send to exporters. Screen printing can be witnessed in the places like Farrukhabad, Bhagalpur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bombay, Bangalore and other places. The designs sometimes depend on the place of production, the style and concepts for designs originate from the residents. Exporters for Varanasi printers connect from places like Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Noida and further connect to countries like US, Europe, Japan and Korean countries. There are various products and even the sarees are screen printed with prodigious designs. The designs are created by set of designers, the designs can change according to the requirements of customers as well.
