Located within Grafica’s premises in Vasai, the new DMI facility was inaugurated on 5 June after a year and half
The re-booted DMI training facility is air-conditioned, clean and complete humidity controlled
DMI has, since its previous sessions, won many national and international awards including ASPT and FESPA students' competitions for educating printers
The multistorey facility is fully loaded with automatic and semi-automatic screen printing machines, complete screen making set up that includes pneumatic fabric stretching clamps, screen dryer, automatic emulsion coating system, screen exposing unit, digital press for film output, ink kitchen, drying/curing equipment,advanced colour management system and QC tools
Nano PrinTex, Nano Print and Nano Print Plus are Grafica's "super stars" at the institute
Bhargav Mistry(l), first opened the training institute in 2006. Over the years, as screen printing has evolved, DMI has stepped up. Mistry says, "The workshops will focus more on textile and advanced screen printing. We will remove the word 'moire' from screen printing."
Amid friends from the offset print industry (l-r): Manoj Mehta of Manipal Utility; Anand Limaye, India Printing Works; Tushar Dhote, Dhote Offset Technoktafts and Mistry
Grafica took the opportunity to acknowledge the long-standing partnership and associations with allied manufacturers and suppliers. In the pic: Mistry felicitates Anil Brahmbhatt of Mumbai's Skyscreen India. The other members felicitated were Nikhil Ahuja, and the Sericol team, among others
The first workshop in the new facility at DMI was conducted between 8 to 10 June. The topic: Advance screen printing process with UV special effects inks and varnish
The special attraction at the workshop included a wine bottle box; made from wooden substrate (MDF) which includes halftone screen printing with UV special effect inks and varnish
The workshop began with the basics. The black and white design of the wine bottle box and the certificate were created
The participants take a closer look at the registration marks. The pre-press training includes file handling, Photoshop, Illustrator, and colour management
The pre-press 'How To(s)'at the workshop: CMYK file correction
, process colour halftone screen printing, compensate dot gain using advance pre-press techniques, print fine lines and halftones with consistency, complete theory on colour management
All the workshops at DMI are conducted in Hindi for the attendees' and operators convenience
Setting industry standards for the creation of the perfectly stretched screen
The making of the perfectly stretched screen. This entails stretching the fabric and mounting it on a frame to its true tension
The four-step process: Clamp the fabric down - Raise the frame thereby stretching the fabric - Repeat at least three times - Glue the fabric and remove from the machine
The screen making tutorial includes much more than fabric stretching and emulsion coating. How to reclaim the screens and avoid ghost image plus the importance of high-quality screen and consistency is stressed upon
Coating the screen until a thin coat of emulsion is left behind
Simple tips on how to expose the screen
Washing out the emulsion using a power washer to spray the entire surface of the screen with water. To begin with, this is done with low pressure from a distance
After the emulsion is washed out the screen starts to open up and the positive areas start washing away
Over the years, Bharagav Mistry (in the centre) has evolved from a manufacturer of Grafica equipment to a key influencer for screen printing
Grafica's semi-automatic screen printing machine, Nano Print at work. Nano Print comes with a stainless steel vacuum bed print area of 15x20
Being perfect about the fine line and halftone print
The workshop is designed with special focus on getting the proper adhesion on substrates using UV inks
According to Mistry, the three-day full-day workshops are a medium to share knowledge, see new types of UV inks, varnish, glitter inks, metallic, pearl and special effect UV inks
DMI will also host a Rojgar Yojana which could provide screen printing skills and gainful employment in Maharashtra
The takeaway: A wine bottle box; made from wooden substrate (MDF) which includes halftone screen printing with UV special effect inks and varnish was created at the workshop
The class of June'15: The first batch at the revamped DMI Institute. The basic to advance courses are repeated every month so that all members from an organisation can attend the workshop in turns
The participants get screen-printed certificates; paper including multiple UV special effects inks and varnish, example, glow in dark, thermocromatic inks, glitters, mirror inks, high density screen printing, micro embossing, various UV textures and much more
Screen Printing: Reinvented, resurgent
The re-booted Dhirubhai Mistry Institute (DMI), Grafica's industry initiative, is one week and one workshop-old. Since its establishment, the institute has been challenging print persons to dig deep and make professional changes on the shopfloor.
With education impartment as its core, DMI's emphasis is skill development and knowledge sharing. The stories behind the screen...