[allisonkbye]

My customer wants half of their shirts to be white writing on hot pink (fuchsia) shirts, and the other half to be hot pink writing on white shirts. My challenge is finding a hot pink ink for the white shirts, I've only ever done white and black in the past (still a newb here).

My usual supplier only sells "process magenta", which to me is the same as a hot pink. Is there any problems using this color by itself? Also, in the event I might want to tone down the process magenta, is it okay to mix it with a plastisol white?

Last question - In the event I end up mixing inks, Is it recommended I measure? I can see myself just adding a little at a time until it's just right, but then I thought I should probably measure in case I need to match that color again for a future order. How do you folks typically do this?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Ripcord]

Magenta mixed with white makes a nice hot pink. You can also use maroon mixed with white. If the shade is too blue you can also add a little bit of red. I mix colors visually as you described, and if I think I'm going to print the job again in the future I smear a little bit of the ink onto a piece of paper, run it through the dryer, label it, and file it away so I can use it to match the color next time.

 

[20vK]

I, on the other hand can NOT mix by eye. I weigh everything and make a note on the pot with a sharpie. I normally go with pantones using a Pantone system.

Plastisol will keep for years, so I now have an awesome library of different ink colours and shades available.

 

[sben763]

Also process magenta is very transparent compared to standard plastisols. When I mix inks I weigh and record the mixture on our job sheet. That way when reorders come in your not eyeing the mixture which can look different under different lighting.

 

[sister1]

We do the "by eye" method, and store the mixed inks in deli one-pounders (available at Gordon's Food Service, among other places), and label with a Sharpie -- put the name of the customer + the inks used to mix it, usually with approximate ratio. For some customers, we will eventually have to mix more, and it's usually easy to get close enough -- but we always make sure we have enough for the entire run, or mix up more before starting; not a good idea to use some of the old batch and some of the new batch on the same run. If we custom mix for a one-time customer, or the customer never returns, we can use it for other jobs or mix with something else for another one-time job. We store on shelves by color range (yellows together, reds together, etc.), and the clear plastic one-pounders make it easy to find just what we are looking for.

 

[sben763]

We do the "by eye" method, and store the mixed inks in deli one-pounders (available at Gordon's Food Service, among other places), and label with a Sharpie -- put the name of the customer + the inks used to mix it, usually with approximate ratio. For some customers, we will eventually have to mix more, and it's usually easy to get close enough -- but we always make sure we have enough for the entire run, or mix up more before starting; not a good idea to use some of the old batch and some of the new batch on the same run. If we custom mix for a one-time customer, or the customer never returns, we can use it for other jobs or mix with something else for another one-time job. We store on shelves by color range (yellows together, reds together, etc.), and the clear plastic one-pounders make it easy to find just what we are looking for.

Although for most shops this would work. But trust me one day you will have a picky customer that notices the color difference. I have had a customer pick out the difference of standard plastisol inks.

I cater to the more picky customers and high end prints so my customer base is a lot different then your standard shop but I will still recommend to weigh all mixtures and mark on the containers and keep customer job sheets. That way you don't waste time trying to eye a mixture and possibly get it wrong but the time savings alone is worth the time up front. IMO every shop should keep job sheets with all the info to repeat the job. That way the second time around its a quick set up. I keep film location for screen, platen location on press ink colors, brands of ink any mixture info and any other info that will allow me to quickly repeat a job.