Any help on setting this art up for print?

i would approach this as a simulated process (halftones), you could go up to 5 screens for the ideal print with allot of detail and depth. or you could use just two screens, an underbase and top white. you could also use just one screens but i personally find the print will look flat.

red514 said:

i would approach this as a simulated process (halftones), you could go up to 5 screens for the ideal print with allot of detail and depth. or you could use just two screens, an underbase and top white. you could also use just one screens but i personally find the print will look flat.

Click to expand...

Red, how would I get that smokey look with 2 screens?

1 screen is a chocked under base, you would print and then flash this. the second screen is the top white using a reduced ink to give the ink some transparency. printing the top white over the flashed underbase will give you allot of detail and more tones.

I would recommend 55lpi for the halftones, that will give you nice detail and smooth gradients. 280 mesh would be ideal

red514 said:

1 screen is a chocked under base, you would print and then flash this. the second screen is the top white using a reduced ink to give the ink some transparency. printing the top white over the flashed underbase will give you allot of detail and more tones.

I would recommend 55lpi for the halftones, that will give you nice detail and smooth gradients. 280 mesh would be ideal

Click to expand...

That makes sense but what about the 5 screen method???

I'm assuming an underbase, top white, and maybe some grays in between??? sorry never really done something that looked so simple with that many screens. but i do see how it would make the image better.

Ok, do i convert this file to halftones?

jeron said:

That makes sense but what about the 5 screen method???

I'm assuming an underbase, top white, and maybe some grays in between??? sorry never really done something that looked so simple with that many screens. but i do see how it would make the image better.

Click to expand...

correct! underbase, top white and greys (light, medium and dark). 5 is a bit excessive but ideal. you would get a really nice print using just 2 greys or even just one grey. using a grey screen (or screens) helps to reduce the optical contrast between the white ink and the black ground colour making the halftone dots less visible to the naked eye. This gives allot more depth to the image.

Basikboy said:

Ok, do i convert this file to halftones?

Click to expand...

halftones would be the way to go with this print in my opinion, no matter how many screens you decide to make the separation.
i would recommend 55lpi for a clean detailed print.

First you should play around a little bit with contrast and saturation, use unsharp mask in photoshop to give it a bit more definition (I attached a file), I would burn 2 screens (gray underbase and top white with reducer), print flash print.

Use 230mesh/45lpi or 280mesh/55lpi.

red514 said:

halftones would be the way to go with this print in my opinion, no matter how many screens you decide to make the separation.
i would recommend 55lpi for a clean detailed print.

Click to expand...

So would you index it to a index bitmap using the greys and stuff then convert to half tones?

I may try it and see how well it comes out

Sent from my SGH-M919 using T-Shirt Forums

JRuacho said:

First you should play around a little bit with contrast and saturation, use unsharp mask in photoshop to give it a bit more definition (I attached a file), I would burn 2 screens (gray underbase and top white with reducer), print flash print.

Use 230mesh/45lpi or 280mesh/55lpi.

Click to expand...

Thank you JRuacho. My smartphone won't let me open the file but I will as soon as I am in front of my desktop.

jeron said:

So would you index it to a index bitmap using the greys and stuff then convert to half tones?

I may try it and see how well it comes out

Sent from my SGH-M919 using T-Shirt Forums

Click to expand...

no indexing. this would be a 'simulated process' separation or 'spot halftone'. i would create each screen as separate channels. when i do these grayscale seps i duplicate the grayscale channel and then adjust using levels and tone curves to create the screen i need. you then create the halftone pattern using a RIP or by doing it manually in photoshop (using image>mode>bitmap and then using the halftone settings you need)

I had read an article about using negative images on one's films instead of making positives. You may want to try it. Just invert your image and printed it out in halfltones and print it using white ink. You will need to use a 280 or 305 screens. Just an idea you may want to try!

sben763 said:

Is that the only resolution of that image you have? I would do this 3 screens. Off white with 20% transparency gray with 0-20% transparency and a top white with 50% transparency.

Attached is a image that I did the highlight white at 30% and wish I had added either more clear base of reducer down to 50%

Click to expand...

when you say 20% transparency do you mean you would select the white then turn it to a 80% white or am i way off..

jeron said:

when you say 20% transparency do you mean you would select the white then turn it to a 80% white or am i way off..

Click to expand...

Dead on. With clear base I'll mix by weight. With curable reducer its much tougher as there is nothing but a guess. I've mixed up to 50% curable reducer which is higher then 50% Transparency but can start getting too thin and a 272-300 is needed.

What I like is you can play around in you graphics program with different transparencies to get the effect you want. The amount of work I put into a job will depend on number of garments, the customers willingness to pay for the extra effort.