I need to think about this in reverse, since I'll be printing transfers. If I understand correctly, the process colors should overlap the white slightly so no white is seen around the edges. In my case, since I'm printing the white last, I would choke the white slightly so it falls inside the outline of the process colors. Am I on the right track?
I also just noticed "adhesion powder" on their website. I wonder if that is required or just an additive to make it better. It says to apply it to the last layer then do a final cure. I was under the impression that when printing to transfers, you you cured just enough so it is dry to the touch, then final cure takes place under the heat press.
I'll probably also use pigment black since I already have it, so my black would be the last layer before the white. C,M,Y,K then White.
What would you guys recommend for angle and dot shape for the CMYK layers. Working with each channel in PS worked, but I think I get a better quality halftone in X3 then printing in Ghostscript. I used an output resolution of 800dpi and the "halftone screen" method. I may not be using the proper angles, shape and lpi settings.
I just checked the screen angles and line frequency in Photoshop's print dialog box, and you're right, they're different. Have you had any problems with moiré using the Adobe default settings?
When I break work with each channel separately, convert to grayscale, bitmap then save each separately, the print dialog does not come into play. The default in the bitmap dialog is 50lpi and 45 degrees and it will apply those setting to each color unless you change them.
When printing separations in corel, it assigns a different angle to each color in the print dialog. I don't see anything like that in PS CS2.
What would you guys recommend for angle and dot shape for the CMYK layers. Working with each channel in PS worked, but I think I get a better quality halftone in X3 then printing in Ghostscript. I used an output resolution of 800dpi and the "halftone screen" method. I may not be using the proper angles, shape and lpi settings.
55 manual -65 auto lpi
Scott F of usscreen suggests for angles
C-15
M-47
Y-75
K- 75
or
C-22.5
M-52.5
Y-82.5
K- 82.5
Everyone has their magic numbers that work well for their setup.
Your best bet is to try sample various angles and see which works best for you
Would angle matter if you used a round shape? with ellipse or diamond shapes you can see the angle differences, but it seems that with a round shape, it wouldn't matter.
Well, I've got my C8800 postscript driver printing nice halftones with Photoshop, but my blacks may not be heavy enough to block 100%. There is a "transparency" option in the PCL driver but not the PS driver. I set the media type to "transparency" on the printer menu, but I don't think it's making a difference. It might be fine. I haven't burned a screen yet. Doesn't seem as dark as my cheap Brother laser though. Any ideas?
i have a ? for you tpitman. it's been a long time since i have done straight cmyk. Common practice in photoshop is to duplicate your file and leave the original open (image - duplicate) then split your channels. select new action, record your bitmap conversion with a pause on screen angle.
has anybody ever measured angles before? the plate that has the most detail needs the least amount of frequency interference. what angle is that? mesh count is meaningless unless you measure the interference on your screen. then work down. yellow almost always has the most interference due to it's use as a tonal correction color.