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I have a design I did in photoshop. It has a black/white smoky layer over a black background. I used opacity and blending to get the effect I wanted. A nice whispy cigarette smoke look.

My question is if this poses a problem for screenprinting? It has subtle variations in opacity. I'm not too familiar on screenprinting works. Does my layer have to have a trasparent background? Because I'm not sure how my smoke layer will look without it on a black background. It is designed for a black shirt. I wish I could post an image but I don't have webspace.

 

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GraphicsFactory

It's really difficult to tell without actually seeing it, and being able to pick it apart. But, in general, subtle shading differences are difficult to reproduce consistently, especially when printing manually.

If you want to screen print your design, you will need to print a "positive" film (transparency or vellum). To do that...
1. Make sure your image is at the size you want to screen print it at (you will need a large format laser or ink jet printer).
2. You should create your art at 200 to 300 ppi.
3. "Flatten" your image.
4. "Invert" it, so that the white will output as black on your film. Remember, you want a positive to make your screen.
5. Print your film at 35 to 45 lpi, at 22.5 degrees.
6. This film will work good for a 160 to 200 mesh.
7. Use a nice, tight properly exposed screen (preferably a retensionable).
8. Stir your ink really well, add a small amount of reducer if necessary.
9. Print with a sharp squeegee.
10. Set your off contact.

This should get you a pretty good print. But, even then, you may loose 10% to 15% of the detail.

Good luck.
Mike

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Mike Emerson, The Graphics FactoryFreelance Graphic Artist

 

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