Capillary film is liquid emulsion spread on a plastic sheet and then dried by the emulsion manufacture. The film is sold in different thicknesses to control the thickness of the ink deposit and to bridge the holes in the mesh. The film is applied to the bottom of the mesh so that the ink passes around the threads of the mesh. The image is created by pure stencil material without the influence of the mesh. Images will have higher resolution when printed through a film product compared to liquid emulsion.
Liquid emulsion encapsulates the mesh producing an image influenced by the mesh.
Compact discs, for example, frequently are printed with a film product to produce better quality with fine details on the hard surface of the CD than is possible with liquid emulsion. The next time there is an order requiring fine details, particularly words, the value of capillary film will be evident if printed first with liquid emulsion in the screen and second with a film product like 20 or 30 microns thick on a mesh in the 200s's or 305. The film is sold in different thicknesses. Newer products from 90 to 1000 microns thick are now available to print the new high density inks. Printing one colour white ink on black shirts without flashing is possible when using a film stencil.