In today's world, there is a huge focus on making products that have a great look and feel about them. In our daily life, we use countless number of products that have a focus on graphic overlays. Thin and versatile, these sheets are widely used to make every design look better. They are available in a wide variety of designs, shapes, patterns and colors. While a large number of printing technologies are used by graphic manufacturers, the most popular one is screen printed overlays. Using this printing technique, a large amount of ink is deposited on the screen that goes on to deliver a high quality aesthetic appeal.

Due to this vibrant and luxurious feel of Screen Printing Overlays, a number of businessman and product manufacturers are making huge investments in this technology.

What Are Screen Printed Overlays?Screen Printed Overlays are unique printed texts and symbols that can be found on devices such as remote controls, electronic appliances, etc. They impart a unique identity to the products and are an ideal option to boost the aesthetic appeal and promote the brand of the products. In addition, printed overlays are very useful as they give information about the functions of a particular device or equipment.

Materials That Are Used For Manufacturing Overlays

There is a long list of materials used for manufacturing screen printed overlays. Most common among them are polyester, PVC and polycarbonate. These materials are highly resistant to corrosion and abrasion. They are also resistant to environmental factors such as moisture, dust and UV rays. Though polyester and polycarbonate are the dominant materials used in the fabrication of these overlays, but vinyl films are also being employed by several makers. This is because of their cheaper value. However, it is advisable to use vinyl films in low finish applications as they are dimensionally not much stable as compared to the alternative materials, which may be simply affected by the solvents and alternative corrosive chemicals.

Commonly Used Screen Printing Processes

Most people prefer them as screen printing signage since overlays are very durable and can be used indoors as well as outdoors. In the printing process, colors are printed separately and can be matched to a Pantone Color Specification (PMS) or to a customer-supplied sample, as per the requirement. There are broadly three types of screen printing processes being used by most of the overlay designing companies. They are:

• Digital printing which is a 4 color process offset printing for larger quantity thin plastic signs, membrane switches, and other graphic overlays.
  
• Dome labeling which includes custom 3D labels meant for high visibility nameplates.
  
• Roll stock labeling that includes high quality labels for a variety of applications.
  

To conclude, Screen Printed Overlays are the best example of technology being extensively used at commercial front and the same is expected to expand even farther.