Mimeography, the simplest form of stencil printing, originated in the late 19th century. This process involves creating an image or text stencil on specially treated wax paper using a typewriter or stylus; ink is then applied via a roller over the stencil to produce the desired print on the substrate. Among the various forms of stencil printing, screen printing is the most widely used.
Screen printing involves stretching silk, synthetic fiber, or metal mesh over a frame and creating the printing plate through methods such as hand-cutting lacquer stencils or photochemical processing. Modern screen printing technology utilizes photosensitive materials and photographic plate-making techniques to create the screen (where the mesh openings corresponding to the image or text remain open, while the non-image areas are blocked). Applications range from oil paintings, fine art prints, posters, business cards, and book covers to product packaging, labels, textile printing, and printing on flat surfaces such as glass and metal.