[alexchavel]

Hey all

Been printing for a little while now, things have been going well, finally getting the hang of halftones, ghostscript, ghostview etc...

I just got presented with this job, its a custom color than i know how to prepare, and there are lots of gradients in the design.

The customer wants it printed on a combination of white and black shirts.

I was thinking of printing an underbase for both the black and white shirts, and then converting the design to hafltones to achieve the various gradients in the design.

Probably print the white on 230 and the brown on a 305?

How would you all print this job?

 

[760rdl]

I would try the whiteon a 156 you might have a hard time printing it through a 230 . I dont think youll need a underbase for the white tees. Halftones is definetly the way to go with this one . Let us know what you end up doing good luck .

 

[alexchavel]

Would you use a 305 mesh?

 

[760rdl]

never tried it ive done halftones on a 156 and it came out fine depends on the lpi search itin the forums there a formula and thats what i used as a guide.

 

[jsf]

never tried it ive done halftones on a 156 and it came out fine depends on the lpi search itin the forums there a formula and thats what i used as a guide.

230 -250 will be safe for all colors.

 

[alexchavel]

The formula is mesh count divided by 4.5 for your lpi...
i use 22.5 angle

only reason i asked bout 305 is i've had a hard time getting halftones to look right with that count
but it lays down less ink over the white underlayer which produces a softer end result.

 

[760rdl]

honestly i havent played with haltones too much i should tho gain the experience but if your woried about a softer hand get a reducer i really recoment it that way you get good coverage and still get a soft hand i use rutlands s.h.a.p.e. i put about 10 pecent or so depending on what i want and it works great . i really recomend the reducers and about the halftones sorry i cant help much i have maybe 6 months doing this .

 

[BroJames]

The formula is mesh count divided by 4.5 for your lpi...
i use 22.5 angle

only reason i asked bout 305 is i've had a hard time getting halftones to look right with that count
but it lays down less ink over the white underlayer which produces a softer end result.

I think a factor of 3-5 is commonly mentioned although 4.5 or any figure closer to it, or a shade more than 5 seems better.

I am no expert but if your inks will pass through 305s I'd go for it and burn a 65 lpi image for better shading/gradients. Personally, I have never printed anything above 45lpi but have seen enough 65lpis to be envious of the nice color tones it produces. Lower lpis will produce gradients too but if you want a real soft gradient effect(especially on a vertically small image), I doubt if anything less than 60lpi will give you the soft gradient result you want.

I know because I have always find 40ish lpi dots too big (especially on 2 color/shade images) and it has always been my desire to print 60ish lpi images. I have been criticized by more experienced printers for saying that I find 40ish lpi prints too coarse but it seems that (like me) you are not satisfied with it so go for 305.

 

[alexchavel]

305 has definitely given me trouble, but I can't give up!!
I find that i've reached a bit of a plateau in my printing.
I do all the basics well, have become very comfortable with my vastex press, but need to keep learning, there are still some important techniques that I haven't learned.

I'll keep trying with the 305, I'll post some pix when i get something worth showing you all!
thanks for all the replies...

PS: I'm preparing a 2 or 3 part post about my experience setting up my shop, with all the mistakes and tricks that i've picked up!

 

[red514]

automatic or manual press?

Your original option of using 230 mesh for white and 305 for the brown is ideal for fine detail. we often print our underbase with 280 mesh, you can achieve a great soft hand feel this way.
I use 55lpi for all my halftone work going on mesh counts 200+. 65lpi is great for 300+ mesh but i'm still using 55lpi, print shops have not had any issues making the stencils (the halftone loss is usually from 0-8% and 88-100% in the tonal range. no moire (i do use an angle of 21, never bothered to try 22.5 as many have suggested, i probably should test that at one of these days).

 

[BroJames]

305 has definitely given me trouble, but I can't give up!!
. . .
PS: I'm preparing a 2 or 3 part post about my experience setting up my shop, with all the mistakes and tricks that i've picked up!

What sort of trouble? I am taking a guess at ink viscosity or penetrability because some inks can be difficult to print on a manual press.

I do hope you finish and post your experiences and tricks soon.

 

[jsf]

305 has definitely given me trouble, but I can't give up!!
I find that i've reached a bit of a plateau in my printing.
I do all the basics well, have become very comfortable with my vastex press, but need to keep learning, there are still some important techniques that I haven't learned.

I'll keep trying with the 305, I'll post some pix when i get something worth showing you all!
thanks for all the replies...

PS: I'm preparing a 2 or 3 part post about my experience setting up my shop, with all the mistakes and tricks that i've picked up!

I'll stick to my previous....you will be safer using 230-250.

The situation is not to make things complicated but to make things manageable and save you from troubles.

 

[BroJames]

I'll stick to my previous....you will be safer using 230-250.

The situation is not to make things complicated but to make things manageable and save you from troubles.

230-250 will surely be less problematic which is why I am using 180 and some 200 for plastisols. I can still get my inks through 200 with no problem. I am not sure how many shirts I can print with 230mesh at 50-55lpi though(using my current inks) but will soon find out.

I have tried 305 on manual presses and it is truly difficult requiring much pressure. It is still a goal but got to change to more expensive inks though.

 

[alexchavel]

Thanks for all the replies!!

Im using a manual press for now, vastex 4 station 6 color...

I guess im not applying enough pressure when using 305, it seems not enough ink gets through with each pass.

I've had better results using 230, but still want to experiment with 305, it seems to be the holy grail of quality prints..

i recently acquired a FREE American Arrow Multiprinter, will move into the automatic world once I've learned a bit more on my manual presses.

 

[alexchavel]

I'll also try to reduce my inks a bit when printing on 305 mesh, sounds like that would help to get it flowing through the tighter mesh.

 

[jsf]

I'll also try to reduce my inks a bit when printing on 305 mesh, sounds like that would help to get it flowing through the tighter mesh.

Yes reducing your inks will make it pass through your 305 but its fine mesh will not give that solid color state. We normally use 305 here but not with plastisol but with vinyl ink application.

Congrats to your prints.

 

[BroJames]

Thanks for all the replies!!

Im using a manual press for now, vastex 4 station 6 color...

I guess im not applying enough pressure when using 305, it seems not enough ink gets through with each pass.

I've had better results using 230, but still want to experiment with 305, it seems to be the holy grail of quality prints..

i recently acquired a FREE American Arrow Multiprinter, will move into the automatic world once I've learned a bit more on my manual presses.

With regular plastisol inks, I think the more appropriate question is, how many shirts can you print with the extra pressure required.

As J said, reducer will definitely help make the plastisol flows through the 305 mesh but at a price - reduced opacity. One of the challenge you face would be to add just enough reducer to enable you to push the inks through without much sacrifice to the vibrancy of the colors.

Essentially, the design you are having "halftone" problems with is brown over white so I think you should have lesser problems with drastically reduced opacity due to reducers. Anyway, you won't know until you give it a try.

Also try ask around. I believe some plastisols are more viscous than others. I have limited myself to 200mesh tops for ease of printing but have been offered plastisols that should be no problem with 250-mesh (they claim). If so, just a little reducer should do it.