I was wondering how I would go about getting custom ink colors? I'm guessing I'll be able to buy the basic colors from my supply vendor, but when it comes to some odd color, how would I go about creating it? Is there any online resources or tutorials on mixing inks or that sort of thing? I've seen where vendors offer mixing services for $20 plus the price of the ink, but is it a can of worms to try to do it yourself?
You can get close by using your stock inks and some general color theory. Red and yellow makes orange, blue and yellow makes green, etc. The colors will not be exact as your inks are not true colors, red actually isnt just red its a couple colors mixed together to get that particular red.
If your printing a lot and have the need to mix off colors you might look into a plasticol mixing system. Rutlands M2 series is a great plasticol system and easy to learn. I believe they have a started package that comes in quarts so its nto terribly expensive. Youll mix colors based on pms specs.
I mentioned Plasticol systems as they are easier to learn and work with. Pigments based systems are awesome yet a lot harder to work with and a little more expensive
So, if I needed a light blue, I could take some blue ink and add white and get a lighter shade of blue. Correct? I guess I figured it couldn't be that easy because of some sort of chemistry.
Are there any rules of thumb when doing this? I'm guessing it's best to mix inks of the same brand and category, or does it not matter? I guess you'd have to use a mixing system to hit a specific target color, but I didn't know you could mix your regular plastisol inks. I guess I thought they would just swirl or marble and not truly mix.
So, if I needed a light blue, I could take some blue ink and add white and get a lighter shade of blue. Correct? I guess I figured it couldn't be that easy because of some sort of chemistry
You are correct
I would try to stickw ith the same brands of inks but ifd they are all plasticol youll probably be ok.
I mentioned Plasticol systems as they are easier to learn and work with. Pigments based systems are awesome yet a lot harder to work with and a little more expensive
Waterbased and pigment is all I've worked with (other than mixing stock colours, obviously), but it's as easy as pie. I don't know if the oil base in plastisol makes ink mixing harder, but waterbased at least is a breeze.
its not that its hard rather than the need for total accuracy. proper equipment to use pigment mixing system. Good high end scale as percentages of pigments can be very samll amounts. If your off just a gram the pms color will not be exact.
If you're off a gram with the stuff I use the colour might not even be particularly close (it could be the difference between red and pink for example). Fortunately a gram is quite a lot, and decent digital scales aren't that expensive.
I probably consider it easy because I'm not Pantone matching. While I do need some level of colour accuracy, there is a certain amount of near enough is good enough to what I'm doing.
pretty much this industry is a "close enought for govt work" type deal. Most of the major and college university logos we have printed required specific PMS colours. I rarely mixed and used what we had in stock that was "close" and never had any issues. The garments were sold in ther bookstores.
your waterbased info is good to know. Thanks for jumping in
You get good at it after a while. One way to help is start out with just a little of each color you want to mix. If you have a scale (grams work best), start out with your main color. Weigh it out. Every time you add a color, weigh it out. Mix until you get the color you like. I would do a test print with that color first and then cure it. If it's all good, add up all your weights, and now you have a ratio you need for larger mixing.
If your printing a lot and have the need to mix off colors you might look into a plasticol mixing system. Rutlands M2 series is a great plasticol system and easy to learn. I believe they have a started package that comes in quarts so its nto terribly expensive. Youll mix colors based on pms specs.
Funny...
I went to google after reading your post and typed in "Rutlands M2" and hit enter. Guess what the first link was... this post.
Ink Mixing 
