That is call moire I believe. Also why did you convert it from X3 to a bitmap? If your colors were CMYK in X3 you caould just print your separations from there.
Yeah, I know it sounds odd, but it's worked for me EVERY time! Besides, even when the angles are not the same, you still have dots overlapping each other, that's how you get all the various shades and tones. Process inks are transparent for that very reason. If you were to try this with opaque inks, you wouldn't get the same results.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is the only combination that works. Just that this is the one that's worked for me. I've been using it for the past 18 years of doing separations and I figure it's time to share the knowledge. It's up to you to try it or not, but trying to figure out screen angles is a PITA...!!!
Flopspop -question
If your screen angle is the same for all the screens, wouldn't the dots lay exactly over each other (assuming they are lined up correctly)? That wouldn't be good would it?
I have now printed 2 different designs using 4 color process and they have both turned out great! However the designs appear a little blurry or dull, not as sharp as I'd like them to be. Is there a problem in the artwork? What are some things I can do to sharpen the image??
I have now printed 2 different designs using 4 color process and they have both turned out great! However the designs appear a little blurry or dull, not as sharp as I'd like them to be. Is there a problem in the artwork? What are some things I can do to sharpen the image??
Without actually holding the shirt and looking at the original art, i'd only be guessing, but i like guessing!
The brand of ink will make a difference. I've been happy with union inks process color ink much more than the first set of process color inks i had purchased.
When RGB is converted to CMYK, the software must make a decision as to how much black ink should be generated. Heavy black generation will result in a much bolder looking image. I've found using a spot black rather than the process black can really make the image POP!
The halftone screens need to be calibrated. This step requires trial and error to have the computer art match the screens printed on the shirt. This step is needed to control the ink from over saturation on the dark end and dropout on the light end.
The higher the mesh, the better the exposure unit and the better the transparency, the better the resulting image. It is important to know your limitations. It is far better to have a great 45 LPI screen than a bad 60 LPI.
If the image is a scanned graphic, it is generally a good idea to slightly over exaggerate the use of sharpness filters. It takes practice to know how far it can be pushed.
A good cropping is also important. Square edges look bad. On dark colored shirts, the white underbase can be expanded to give a white halo around the graphic. This gives POP to graphics with black outlines being printed on a black shirt. To give a softer image, the white can be trapped into the color, so there is no white outline.
Art the union CMYK inks plastisol based? Cured as the same as plastisol I would assume?
Yes, it is plastsol and cures like any other plasisol. The CMYK inks can be applies wet on wet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeddyRocky
And how come people keep saying you need a RIP software to print halftones, but when I separated CMYK, my epson 1280 printed halftones fine.
I'm not sure what explains your apparent success. Perhaps you can describe the steps you use to create the halftone.
The epson driver for most, if not all epsons, does not directly support halftones. If i try to print a grayscale file out to the epson, the grayscale will be printed using a dither pattern of black ink, not a halftone.
To test if you really are printing halftones, select a very low lpi like 25 lpi, and choose the "line" halftone spot function. If you are really printing halftones, the image should be composed of zebra stripes. If you don't get zebra stripe, you need a rip.
There are work around for not having a rip. For example, in photoshop i could have converted the grayscale image into a bitmap, which i could have made have the zebra stripe pattern. If i printed the bitmap file, the epson can print the precomposed halftone. This could be done 4 times to print CMYK.
What you loose by not having a rip is the ability to calibrate the output though the print driver. To work around this, all press gain needs to be prebuilt into the graphic.
fred
__________________
A day late, a dollar short, so it goes.
Yes, it is plastsol and cures like any other plasisol. The CMYK inks can be applies wet on wet.
I'm not sure what explains your apparent success. Perhaps you can describe the steps you use to create the halftone.
The epson driver for most, if not all epsons, does not directly support halftones. If i try to print a grayscale file out to the epson, the grayscale will be printed using a dither pattern of black ink, not a halftone.
To test if you really are printing halftones, select a very low lpi like 25 lpi, and choose the "line" halftone spot function. If you are really printing halftones, the image should be composed of zebra stripes. If you don't get zebra stripe, you need a rip.
There are work around for not having a rip. For example, in photoshop i could have converted the grayscale image into a bitmap, which i could have made have the zebra stripe pattern. If i printed the bitmap file, the epson can print the precomposed halftone. This could be done 4 times to print CMYK.
What you loose by not having a rip is the ability to calibrate the output though the print driver. To work around this, all press gain needs to be prebuilt into the graphic.
fred
Oh, oops I must have been misunderstanding. I can only print halftones by splitting channels and creating bitmap halftones.
So does FastRip not make you convert your graphics to bitmap? Or is that FastFilms? I've been thinking about buying FastFilms but the price is pretty steep! I am going to take a crack at a 4 color process this week since my heat press paper isn't working too well.
Does anyone know where I can get Union CMYK inks in quarts online? (I usually buy my inks at Midwest Sign & Supply, but I absolutely hate their customer service, they are very rude). I rather not spend my money there.
If you plan to be in the screen printing business, you need to find local vendors. I'd suggest you start a new thread asking where to purchase shirts, inks,chemicals and screens local to wherever you are.
I'd suggest before jumping into full color you start with just 1 color halftones (b&w). If you can't get 1 color right, you won't get 4 of them.
fred
__________________
A day late, a dollar short, so it goes.
Re: Printing CMYK 
