[corradomatt]

I often get asked about printing halftones with discharge inks. A few years ago I would have told you that it was next to impossible....but with today's inks, it's actually easier that you might think.

Here's a picture of a print a customer of mine did with discharge inks.

It's heavy on the halftones, looks great and is ultra soft. Today, the inks are even better than they were when this was printed and I think you can get away with more detail.

Keys to Halftone Printing w/ Discharge Inks

1. Artwork - This needs to be setup with the right LPI and mesh counts.
2. Dissolve the Agent - When you are printing with water based discharge inks, you really need to make sure that you give the ink time to fully absorb the discharge crystals. This prevents the crystals from clogging the higher mesh screens. This usually takes between 10-30 minutes.
3. Squeegee Angle / Pressure - Having the proper pressure and angle makes a big difference. This will be different from printer to printer. It depends on artwork, mesh count and your particular setup. Play with it until you are happy with the print.

With a little effort and patience you can product outstanding halftone prints using discharge screen printing inks.

 

[tpitman]

What mesh count did you use? Is it a discharge underbase with regular WB overprint, or were all the colors discharge?

 

[euphoricgear]

What is discharge ink?
Halftones r those little dots right?
What kind of printer would i need to print halftones?

Thanks, newbie here

The artwork looks great

 

[corradomatt]

What mesh count did you use? Is it a discharge underbase with regular WB overprint, or were all the colors discharge?

My customer actually printed this garment. I'll have to ask him but I think it was discharge mixed with color pigment and no underbase. I'll get a closer picture on here too so you can see the fibers and dot pattern up close.

 

[corradomatt]

What is discharge ink?
Halftones r those little dots right?
What kind of printer would i need to print halftones?

Thanks, newbie here

The artwork looks great

Discharge ink is a screen printing process. You can find out more information by doing a search on these boards.

 

[Texsource Scott]

What is discharge ink?
Halftones r those little dots right?
What kind of printer would i need to print halftones?

Thanks, newbie here

The artwork looks great

Discharge printing is a process in which a discharge agent is applied to the shirt. The discharge agent in essence discharges (bleaches) the dye from the shirt and replaces it with the color of the ink applied. Halftone are dots arranged in a way to create certain illusions. Large dots that are close together will result in a darker and richer image. Small dots spaced apart will result in lighter images. If you are in the market for an inkjet printer Epson makes an awesome printer that will print halftones with the aid of AccuRip. If you are in the market for a laser printer the Xante Platemaker does great and doesn't require additional software other than your illustration software such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw or Adobe Photoshop. Keep in mind that you will need a laser printer that supports postscript printing. Hope this helps. Good Luck. Let me know how it goes.