Our HIGH RESOLUTION is a two-component diazo photo emulsion for textile and graphic printing. This environmentally friendly emulsion can be used for printing with plastisol inks and almost all solvent-based inks. It impresses technically with its very high resolution and excellent resistance to harsh, solvent-based cleaners.
The emulsion is also highly abrasion-resistant, making it perfect for printing large print runs. Thanks to its high edge sharpness and excellent mesh crossing, this coating can also be used to expose very detailed motifs and the finest photo screens. With a solids content of 41 % before sensitisation and 37 % after sensitisation, the emulsion is well suited for coating by hand and perfect for creating a high, sharply defined print shoulder for textile printing. HIGH RESOLUTION delivers the best results on both white and yellow fabrics.
Available in 1 kg containers and in 4.5 kg buckets.
The photo emulsion should be stored at room temperature between 10 °C and 30 °C. The container must be protected from frost and direct sunlight. The shelf life before sensitisation is 1.5 years. Once mixed, the sensitised emulsion should be used within 6 weeks, but no longer than 8 weeks. If the sensitised photo emulsion is stored in the refrigerator, the shelf life is generally extended. When storing in the refrigerator, make sure that the emulsion is brought back to room temperature before coating.
We recommend processing the photo emulsion under yellow light.
Several screens can also be coated in advance if they are then stored in the dark. If required, they can then be exposed within 3 weeks. The screens must be dried again with warm air immediately before exposure.
Fill the bottle with the Diazo powder with 100 ml lukewarm water and shake well until the powder has completely dissolved. Then pour the entire contents of the bottle into the HIGH RESOLUTION emulsion container. Then stir carefully until the emulsion layer has turned a uniform green colour. After stirring, the sensitised photo emulsion should be left to rest for at least 5 hours or ideally overnight to degas. This allows the trapped air bubbles to rise out of the mass and prevent them from turning into ‘pinholes’ later on.
When mixing the emulsion, write the current date on the can in advance to keep track of when the sensitised emulsion can be used.
The screen printing frame to be coated should be dry and dust-free. It is therefore advisable to clean the screen frame with degreaser, such as our DEGREASER25, before coating and then dry and store it as dust-free as possible until coating.
The emulsion is first poured into a suitable coating trough until it is about half full. The emulsion is then coated first on the print side (outside) of the screen and then on the squeegee side (inside). If dark textiles are to be printed with the screen later, the print side can optionally be coated twice in succession, wet on wet. This builds up a thicker emulsion layer on the screen mesh. A correspondingly higher colour application is achieved during subsequent printing. A comfortable working position is recommended for coating, which allows the channel to be guided firmly and securely over the frame.
No master has yet fallen from the sky! Good coating is purely a matter of practice. The coating on the fabric should initially not be applied too gently, but with medium contact pressure. If the coating is applied with too little pressure, the worst case scenario is that too much emulsion is applied. The excess emulsion will then form lugs and drip off the screen. In practice, such thickly coated screens cannot be dried or exposed correctly. In this case, it is recommended that the screen be washed out and recoated. The aim is to apply a uniformly thin layer of emulsion.
After coating, the emulsion from the coating channel is poured directly back into the container to prevent unnecessary drying. The emulsion channel should be cleaned directly with water after coating. This applies in particular to the edges.
If the written word is not enough, you can also watch our practical YouTube video on the subject: Instructions for coating screen printing frames with photo emulsion
After coating, the screen is dried horizontally with the print side (outside) facing downwards. This allows the emulsion to sink deep into the mesh and form a pronounced printing shoulder. The light-sensitive emulsion must be dried in the dark or under yellow light. When drying, make sure that the humidity is below 35%.
Inadequately dried, moist emulsion is difficult to expose and, in the worst case, can lead to completely incorrect exposures. The emulsion then peels off in places or over large areas during development. We therefore strongly recommend always drying the emulsion layer at around 40 °C with a fan heater for 1 to 1.5 hours before exposing. These only cost a few euros and can be purchased in any DIY or supermarket. In professional operations, circulating air drying is carried out in a drying cabinet.
If coated but unexposed frames are stored for many days in cupboards, boxes or cartons, they should definitely be dried again at 40 °C before exposure. This is the only way to ensure that the often barely perceptible (residual) moisture can evaporate from the supposedly dried layer. Remember: emulsion attracts water. In a damp environment (basement, cold workshop, bathroom), it tends to attract moisture from the room air.
Note for beginnersParticular attention must be paid to drying the emulsion. Only a completely dry emulsion can be exposed perfectly. A good 80% of problems with subsequent exposure and even decoating are due to incorrect or insufficient drying in advance.
The frame with the well-dried and evenly applied HIGH RESOLUTION emulsion can be exposed with all commercially available exposure units. The exposure time varies depending on the exposure unit, the layer thickness of the emulsion and the distance of the exposure lamp to the screen.
In the semi-pro and DIY sector, compact exposure units such as our exposure lamp UV LED 10 W (article number: BL0001) are usually used for exposure. Alternatively, 400 watt halogen exposure units can also be used. With the usual 2/1 or 1/1 coating and a distance between screen and lamp of approx. 50 cm, the following exposure times result:
| tissue colour | Exposure time with exposure lamp UV LED 10 W | Exposure time with exposure lamp Halogen 400 W | Exposure time with UV LED- vacuum exposure table |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 12 to 13 minutes | 12 to 13 minutes | 1:50 minutes |
| Yellow | 14 to 15 minutes | 14 to 15 minutes | 2:20 minutes |
A practical video guide to semi-pro exposure can be found in Part 4 - Exposing photo emulsion | do it yourself screen printing of our comprehensive screen printing guide.
The ideal exposure time can easily be determined using a strip exposure test or an exposure calculator (article number: KALKU1).
After exposure, the motif is washed out directly. To do this, first apply water to both sides of the screen stencil without applying pressure. The stencil should then soak for about one minute untouched under yellow light or very weak artificial light. The motif should already settle slightly and become easily recognisable. After the soaking time, you can start to rinse the motif with higher water pressure. Finally, the screen is rinsed thoroughly once again with a soft jet of water to rinse out the last emulsion residues (sludge) that are difficult to see with the naked eye. The emulsion should now feel firm and no longer greasy. If the layer still feels slimy or if pieces of the stencil come off unintentionally and in shreds, then the exposure time was insufficient or it is very likely that the emulsion was not completely dry before the exposure. If the motif is almost impossible or very difficult to rinse out, the exposure film was too translucent, the exposure time was too long or the rinsing was done in daylight or strong artificial light.
If the screen stencil has been successfully developed and the screen has dried again, it can be post-exposed. The finished frame with the desired motif is therefore placed under the exposure unit once again and re-exposed for 3 to 4 times as long as it was previously exposed - without the exposure film, of course. This post-curing makes the screens more resistant to abrasion, harsh cleaning agents and the solvents in the screen printing inks. In addition, a well post-cured emulsion can later be decoated much more easily and even without a high-pressure cleaner.
The decoating can be carried out with our decoater ULTRASTRIP25. The screen is first completely cleaned of colour residues, especially at the edges of the motif. We recommend using a suitable screen cleaner such as INK REMOVER or ECO SCREEN WASH for plastisol inks. The ready-to-use decoater is sprayed generously onto both sides of the screen. Leave it to work for 3 to 4 minutes and then rub with a decoating sponge. The softened and dissolved emulsion is then rinsed out of the fabric at high pressure (ideally with a high-pressure cleaner). In practice, it is common to degrease the frame immediately after decoating, allow it to dry and store it dust-free for the next coating.
If stubborn emulsion residues cannot be removed despite correct decoating application, this is often due to insufficient drying of the emulsion before exposure. Failure to post-expose can also lead to decoating problems. We have summarised in this link how to avoid problems during decoating and what measures can be taken to remove the emulsion residue anyway.
If the exposure does not work straight away, there are usually simple causes that can be easily resolved. The most common problems for beginners have to do with too thick a coating, incorrect drying of the emulsion or arbitrarily set exposure times. We have produced a troubleshooting YouTube video to help you solve these typical beginner's mistakes: Solving problems when coating / exposing emulsion
Problem not included? Then we will be happy to help you find the cause. For a precise analysis, it is very helpful if we receive a few meaningful, high-resolution photos of the problem at info@siebdruck-versand.de. We are also happy to advise you by phone on 0391 / 243 587 53.
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