I have been reading threads furiously for months now, and have been refining my ability in the realms of four color process. Thanks to many posts from Imageit i have gained sufficient knowledge on the transfer function in photoshop, as well as adobe default angles, and have been pretty pleased with my results... when printed on a white shirt or test pellon:
this test file was output at:
c- 54.2@108.4
m- 54.2@161.6
y- 57.1@90
k- 60.6@45
burned on 305's, of course.
the white base was printed with a 158.
the process inks i use are "Victory Factory" brand, bought right from Victory Factory. i am not sure if the cheap inks are contributing to the problem, but think no, because i am seeing very nice results without the base.
the base is smooth as butter. no ink left in the screen.
i have no idea why the colors are so washed out when printed on the base.
any suggestions would be hugely appreciated. thanks.
I have never been able to nor have I personally seen somebody do a cmyk with an underbase. The process inks are transparent, so they dont act the same as regular spot colors. R u using waterbase or plastisol? I have heard that underbasing cmyk works, I'd like to see it done, maybe I'll try it next week.
Btw- your white test prints look SUPERB!
i know that process colors can be printed on a white underbase. as a matter of fact, i believe i recall poster ImageIt making a statement in a different thread to the extent that process printing requires an underbase.
the answers are out there.
i'm not sure if those with them are keeping them off the forums to protect their own established trade, or if they're just too darn busy to mess around on the forums.
Naw, it doesn't "require" an underbase, but usually when I do photographic images I use simulated process. I have done cmyk with a white underbase, but it's been years and it didn't come out like I would have liked. I saw that post about the underbasing cmyk, too... wonder how he did it.
The primary "issue" appears to be the underbased print has significantly less press gain than the print directly on the textile. It is similar to coated and uncoated paper.
fred
__________________
A day late, a dollar short, so it goes.
no worries good sir. i am well aware that many of us are up to our ears right now in work. tis the season. i'm back in production again and have to put my testing on hold for a few days as well.
i am printing with a Hopkins 6/4.
my white ink is Wilflex's Bright Tiger. though i may try the White Buffalo for my next order. anyone have a good suggestion for an underbase/ all purpose white? i know this has been discussed at length in other threads, but perhaps you guys know a good white plastisol for this application?
I'm not fully sold on it, but i'm using Union Ink's "Cotton White". The hand is still more than i'm satisfied with.
One change we are testing thing week is switching brands of shirt. In our testing, the jerzees we were using were the worst for ink pushing into and through the shirt. Haynes had the least porous to the ink.
fred
__________________
A day late, a dollar short, so it goes.
We haven't gotten into discharge printing yet, mainly because our conveyor dryer only has a 30" box, with poor controlling of temp and time. I've been under the impression that discharge requires curing for longer at a lower temp. similar to waterbased inks. i can only keep a garment in the box for 45 seconds without scorching it.
also we really need to get a good exhaust in here first. the fans work okay for regular jobs and even hoodies but the discharge fumes aren't something i feel like rolling the dice on.
I did flash the underbase before printing cmyk wet on wet. i've tried print/flash cmky as well as print/ flash/ print/ flash cmyk. same result.
The problem may be with the pigment in your inks. Wilflex's process inks have a high pigment "load" and are much stronger and on a white shirt they usually require some base for proper color. You may try to use the "stronger" ink and keep the white underbase from "washing out" your print.
Rick
4 color process underbase difficulties... 
