[mare]

We're using an Epson 2200 and printing files from Illustrator and Photoshop CS3. However, we are having to print two films to sandwich together, since the black ink isn't opaque enough. It's dark, but not the rich black we need to make a good screen. I am thinking there is a setting in Photoshop and in Illustrator that solves the problem? I tried messing with "appearance of black" at one point, but I don't think it did anything different. Anyone have an idea about setting I should adjust?

Thanks! I hope someone knows, we've been doing this wrong for months and it is a terrible pain!

 

[secretfun]

If you want to print a black thats deeper and richer than just regular black, then you'll probably need to save your file as a .tif and instead of using grayscale or bitmap, make it CMYK and use 100% of all colors instead of just using 100% black which is probably what your printer is printing. Just select the parts you want in photoshop and fill with

C: 75%
M: 68%
Y: 67%
K:90%

This is about as rich as you can go. Your paper will probably print really saturated with ink but it will guarantee total masking when you burn it to a screen.

 

[mare]

That is a great tip! We'll try that out tomorrow, I'll report back.

With Illustrator, do you know if I would export it as a .tif, since I can't save as a .tif? Or should I open a .pdf of an illustrator file in photoshop, and do it that way? We've been doing it that way for a while, but I figure there must be a way to print directly from Illustrator with a deep, rich black.

 

[secretfun]

Okay, so i think I finally figured out both of our problems. There's a setting in Illustrator under the Preferences menu called Appearance of Black. Basically, you need to change the drop down to say "Accurately displays blacks" and "Accurately exports blacks". Basically, until you change that, Illustrator lies to you and says that all blacks look the same even though they don't. So by changing that it will make 100% K look kind of muddy and grey and Rich black to look like real black. Then when you try to export it as a .tif or whatever, you'll be exporting real black. Try that and see if it helps. No Photoshop required!

 

[mare]

secretfun, thanks! I think we'll get some good films tomorrow. I changed the appearance of black in our files.

I also did a little test, where I made a box in Illustrator in 100%K, and then another box in the CYMK breakdowns you listed. I then placed both of those in a blank document in Photoshop, which would always show our Illustrator files as not being black enough. And lo and behold, the full color CYMK box is rich black, especially when placed right next to the "almost black".

 

[mare]

Well, I printed a film from Photoshop, and it's noticeably darker. However, it is still just not dark enough on the film. It must be something in the print dialog boxes now that I need to figure out. Anyone have an Epson 2200 that might know the issue?

 

[2 iLL Clothing]

it looks like to me that it's your transparancies. they don't have enough of that sticky. try changing film.

 

[INKEDCHICK]

it looks like to me that it's your transparancies. they don't have enough of that sticky. try changing film.

Do you have any films that you could recommend? Thanks for the great tips!

 

[mare]

Well, it turned out that our printer didn't support transparency film, so that was part of the problem. We ended up finding a canon i9900 for a great price on craigslist. After fussing with it and putting in the film the wrong way (yep, it happens to the best of us), we finally have good transparencies.

We used kimoto silkjet, but couldn't get any more from out supplier. Then we tried the r-film standard from ryonet, and it is GREAT!

Some of the tips from this thread really help, especially printing the black as a CYMK black instead of a 100% black from a grayscale file.

Thank you, everyone, who helped with this tediousness.

 

[PositiveDave]

Don't assume that because the film is transparent in the VISIBLE, that it is also transparent in the UV!
Epson add uv blocks to the ink to protect them from sunlight in photographic use.
Check a variety of blacks against the screen.
;-)

 

[spoon13]

I use silkscreen supplies f positive film it works great just pricey

 

[Greatzky]

if I export it as a .tiff can i just open it in photoshop, Illustrator, Corel and then just print?? just want to make sure i'm keeping that rich black color into the printing process.

 

[StinkEye Dave]

If you want to print a black thats deeper and richer than just regular black, then you'll probably need to save your file as a .tif and instead of using grayscale or bitmap, make it CMYK and use 100% of all colors instead of just using 100% black which is probably what your printer is printing. Just select the parts you want in photoshop and fill with

C: 75%
M: 68%
Y: 67%
K:90%

This is about as rich as you can go. Your paper will probably print really saturated with ink but it will guarantee total masking when you burn it to a screen.

Dragging up an old post here but I've been looking at various settings for positives online and found a lot of different answers along with discovering Rich Black as mentioned above. There is no set answer but you definitely have to experiment with films, inks and settings to find what's best for YOUR printer.
I found this very useful page on using blacks, the quoted post settings above are actually for Photoshop Black and not Rich Black in Ai.
The Ultimate Guide to Designing with Black

Another post I found on here by sben763 says he found through research Rich Black as C 75-100% M75-100% Y35-65% k100%
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/plastisol-ink-screen-printing/t172447.html

Not saying anyone is wrong or right, just some more options to try if your struggling for a nice opaque positive! I know I personally find these old posts through the search invaluable!