Part 21 - Silk screen and cure
Channel: Eurocircuits
Date: 2014-05-08

Most PCBs have a component legend to show which component goes where.

Today we use ink-jet printers to image the legends direct from the board digital data.  Like a conventional paper printer the ink-jet printer sprays minute droplets of ink onto the panel to generate the image.  If a legend is needed on the second side the ink is tack-dried on a conveyorised heater and the printing process is repeated.  Ink-jet printing needs no set-up.  Previously we lost time preparing and cleaning silk-screens for each legend printing.  That is why the legend is often called the silk-screen.

http://www.eurocircuits.com/index.php/making-a-pcb-eductional-movies/49-silk-screen-and-cure