Screen Printing is a general term for placing an image onto a glass or plastic surface through a fine mesh screen. In order to screen print, technicians transfer a graphic directly onto the mesh screen, creating a stencil that can then be used to transfer the graphic onto a container's surface. Quest's Screen Printing techniques deploy stainless or polyester meshes to transfer designs with either ceramic or organic based inks to produce colored images. These images are cured using high temperature oven, ultraviolet (UV) light or infrared (IR) light.
Applied Ceramic Labeling (ACL)
Applied Ceramic Labeling (ACL) is an extremely durable application technique for glass containers only. ACL entails bonding ceramic inks and thermoplastic chemicals to a container's surface, producing designs that are resistant to chipping and flaking. There are, however, several legal and environmental restrictions on ACL's usage. CONEG, or the Conference of North-East Governors, and Proposition 65, prohibit the intentional use of bright colors (such as red, yellow, orange, and green) that contain heavy metals (such as lead, chromium, cadmium, and mercury). Furthermore, transparent colors are unavailable in Applied Ceramic Labeling.
Applied Organic Labeling (AOL)
Applied Organic Labeling (AOL) is similar in many ways to Applied Ceramic Labeling and offers a wider range of color possibilities than ACL, including opaque and transparent colors that are unavailable in ACL. Since AOL utilizes only organic inks, an extensive variety of bright colors can be obtained without violating CONEG or Proposition 65 regulations.
Precious Metal Printing
Precious Metal Printing is a process that uses precious metals to achieve elegant printing effects, especially suitable for glass containers. The inks used in Precious Metal Printing, typically contain precious metals such as gold, copper and platinum.
Ultra Violet (UV) Screen Printing
Ultra Violet (UV) Screen Printing uses inks that are cured by ultraviolet wave lengths. Availability of bright colors made without heavy metals is a major advantage of UV inks. For successful application of UV inks on a glass surface an understanding of surface preparation is required. Quest has developed a process for applying UV inks and has successfully deployed the process for commercial production on both high-speed and semi-automatic screen printing machines.
Source from http://www.questllc.com/knowbase_screenprint.html