Can anyone offer any tips for using red ink on black t-shirts. I did a few but the red is not as bright as I would like. Would I have to use a white under base to give me the color red i am looking for? Could I use a sliver for the under base instead of white? (I hate white ink)
Pat
Use white or grey.Silvers awful pricey for a base.Just choke your base so its a little smaller and you won't see the base with proper registration.Since they took the lead out of red inks , paints and dyes.It has made it harder to work with.Union ink makes a maxopaque bright red thats great.I use it on all my dark prints.
Thanks Smokestack, its not what I wanted to hear but if I have to I will. It will turn this four screen job into six screens now. Oh well wish me luck on this one
Pat
if you are printing on black shirts with more colors than just red, you should consider using that base white screen to go under all other colors as well.. the print will look better
Thats true. I am using a shimmering silver. It is a silver with a glitter in it. We have already used it directly on black and it looked good. I would think it could only look better with a white base. I just need to find one that is not as thick as the union maxopake lowbleed white.
Pat
I haven't used Union white.only wilflex extreme white.Set your white on top of the dryer.The heat will loosen up the viscosity and it makes it a little easier to work with.And yes,a base under the silver makes it pop a little more without having to use as much silver.
I picked up a bunch of literature from Union ink at the SGIA show. I just ordered their sample pack of their Maxopake Ink. For direct printing on dark shirts. You get Gold, Red, Blue, and Green for $58 postage paid. Pretty nice deal.
You can order a multitude of sample packs and start up kits directly from Union Ink at their American office. They even ask you if you'd like to switch some of the colors.
I'm financing a Pony Xprs. With equipment I could try using a white underbase.
If the Union Maxopake works good, I'll probably stick with that for one color stuff at least. Once I get into multiple colors on a dark shirt and have the appropriate software and whatnot, I'll try some white underbases.
Excaliber Ink had a selection on concert T-shirts. All black T's with white underbases. Each one had just the white underbase printed on the back, so you could see what it looked like. It was pretty badass to look at. They reminded me of my concert t-shirts from the 90's.
if you are just doing one color prints. if it is red on black shirts. do a couple of layers, the red should pop out. remember to flashing between the layers.
Printing red on Black T's 
