T-Shirt Forums - View Single Post - Full Color, 4 Color, 6 Color, Seps, halftones oh my!

Powakai · August 23rd, 2007

I consider myself an expert at full color printing. It is actually very easy once you get it down. The only two aspects; will you be printing on white, natural, ash or on "darks"? And you have to have some experience with Photoshop and its quirks and be able to imagine what is going to happen at the press. I try to get as much detail in the black screen as possible; that way I can flash all the previous colors once, print the black and BAM! nice crispy detail and you don't have to futz with the job while it is running.

I goofed around with Scott F's FastFilms, and from that 20 day trial they offer, I got a pretty good idea on what to do; especially when it comes to simulated process. Now, I just do it all myself because I have total control over the outcome, but its a good place to start. You had mentioned that you print from layers. You have to learn how to adjust and print from channels. There you can even mix channels to see what it will look like and maybe eliminate a screen or two when you are doing simulated process.

What I use after I make the seps with 65 lpi eliptical dots and all the right matrix angles, are tight 305 mesh screens (yellow), coated one outside/one inside dried printside down in a humidity controlled environment with lots of air movement. I use SaatiChem PV textile emulsion. I use a poly-cop with a 5000 watt metal halide gas bulb and shoot for 18 seconds. I consistantly get 5% dots to washout and no pinholes. After the screen has been dried and prepped I reshoot it for about a minute to harden it.

At the press almost any prebased-out Process ink will work. Squeegy angle and pressure and flood pressure is critical as well as off contact. That you have to figure on the fly. Everything has to be square and level.

For darks its about the same but you have to goof around with opaque colors that simulate process. Also, in Photoshop you will have to pull out 2 spot colors. One for a basewhite and one for a highlight white. You rarely have to flash.

What I tell my customers also (since we are in a digital age) is that we are not printing on white paper. I show them a kick-butt piece I have done previously. They are blown away and then I tell them the object is not to have the colors exact but have the print stand on its own. That way there are no surprises and you will be extremely close anyway if you do it right.

Well that's an over view. Any specific questions?

August 23rd, 2007	- #5 (permalink)
Powakai T-Shirt Lover T-Shirt Fan You can call me: Dale Member Since: Aug 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 24 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Full Color, 4 Color, 6 Color, Seps, halftones oh my! I consider myself an expert at full color printing. It is actually very easy once you get it down. The only two aspects; will you be printing on white, natural, ash or on "darks"? And you have to have some experience with Photoshop and its quirks and be able to imagine what is going to happen at the press. I try to get as much detail in the black screen as possible; that way I can flash all the previous colors once, print the black and BAM! nice crispy detail and you don't have to futz with the job while it is running. I goofed around with Scott F's FastFilms, and from that 20 day trial they offer, I got a pretty good idea on what to do; especially when it comes to simulated process. Now, I just do it all myself because I have total control over the outcome, but its a good place to start. You had mentioned that you print from layers. You have to learn how to adjust and print from channels. There you can even mix channels to see what it will look like and maybe eliminate a screen or two when you are doing simulated process. What I use after I make the seps with 65 lpi eliptical dots and all the right matrix angles, are tight 305 mesh screens (yellow), coated one outside/one inside dried printside down in a humidity controlled environment with lots of air movement. I use SaatiChem PV textile emulsion. I use a poly-cop with a 5000 watt metal halide gas bulb and shoot for 18 seconds. I consistantly get 5% dots to washout and no pinholes. After the screen has been dried and prepped I reshoot it for about a minute to harden it. At the press almost any prebased-out Process ink will work. Squeegy angle and pressure and flood pressure is critical as well as off contact. That you have to figure on the fly. Everything has to be square and level. For darks its about the same but you have to goof around with opaque colors that simulate process. Also, in Photoshop you will have to pull out 2 spot colors. One for a basewhite and one for a highlight white. You rarely have to flash. What I tell my customers also (since we are in a digital age) is that we are not printing on white paper. I show them a kick-butt piece I have done previously. They are blown away and then I tell them the object is not to have the colors exact but have the print stand on its own. That way there are no surprises and you will be extremely close anyway if you do it right. Well that's an over view. Any specific questions?
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