Stencil Duplicating

Equipment Required

Stencil Duplicator

Thermal copier (optional)

Electronic stencil cutter

Materials

Stencil

COPY paper

Ink

Cleaning Fluid

Method : The master in this case is a sheet of fibrous, porous material which has a plastic coating. Such stencils are often referred to as 'skins'. An image is cut into the coating either by:

A typewriter,

By hand using special styli,

By thermal copier

Electronically by use of electronic scanner.

Duplication

After preparation, the master is attached to the drum of the duplicator. Once in position, the paper backing sheet is removed from the stencil and the stencil 'inked'. As the machine is operated; the semi-absorbent copy paper is fed in and bought into contact with the rotating copy via a pressure roller.

The stencil duplicator is commonly used in offices where a large number of notices, circulars, price lists etc., are to be reproduced quite often. Such duplicators can be manually-operated or power-driven. They are available in the market under different brand names.

Use

In offices and educational institutions for bulletins, circulars, notices, etc.

Again, it is relatively inexpensive to produce individual copies, and the equipment is basic and easily maintained.

Copy Quality

Satisfactory

Colour

Multiple colours possible so long as machine rollers, etc. changed.

Economic Run

Advantages

This duplicating process is cheaper as compared to printing or other processes. Graphs, diagrams, etc., can be prepared easily on the stencil by using a stylus pen. Stencil can be altered easily by using correcting fluid. A good number of copies can be obtained within a short period of time. Photographic reproduction is possible with electronic stencils. Stencils can be stored and used again for more copies when required.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of stencil duplicating is that separate runs are required for two or more colours. However, complicated duplicators have been developed for impression in multiple colours simultaneously. Stencil duplicating proves quite costly if only a few copies (say up to 25) are required.