[Bedubs]

Okay so I have an Epson WF 7010 and I've been printing on positive film but I'm having trouble. It prints really lightly onto the film and it skips lines and leaves tiny blank spaces but big enough to be noticeable. I'm still new to screen printing and computer stuff such as programs

 

[kraze]

Are you using any RIP software with this printer? Did you clean the heads. Lines and gaps usually mean that your print heads are clogged. Also, what type of black ink and waterproof film are you using?

 

[TLK]

You don't necessarily need RIP software. What graphics program and printer settings are you using?

 

[Bedubs]

Whats RIP? Im using photshop and illustrator. Its a brand new ink cartrigde an epson 126 black. Um im still new so what do you mean by printer setting? And im using waterproof silk screen printing positive film

 

[TLK]

It's usually an expensive bit of software called a raster image processor.

 

[kraze]

You don't necessary need rip software, but it made my life easier. I use Accurip with Illustrator and Photoshop. My settings are at 1440 x 720, medium droplet. I use my epson r1800 with a CIS system.

You don't necessarily need RIP software. What graphics program and printer settings are you using?

 

[TLK]

Depending on your artwork, you should have your separations as alpha channels and split them. If it's a single colour print change it to cmyk, select with colour range is the best way.

Set your colour to 100% K and fill. I set cmyk all to 100% as I have filled the printer with all black ink.

Print settings:

Photoshop manages colours
Normal printing
Saturation
Tick black point compensation

If you press the print settings tab you can save these presets and name them positives so you don't have to remember them!

Let me know if that works for you...

 

[TLK]

You may also need to set the media type to Epson ultra glossy and print quality to photo rpm. This is what I do and it works a treat!

 

[kraze]

First, I think you need to clean your printer heads to clear up the lines and gaps. For the density of the black on your film, you may think about changing the type of ink you are using. I use film positive ink from Ink2image. There are other methods out there like doubling up your positives and using different type of emulsion (dual cure). Go on youtube and search for "How To Screen Print: Film Positive Tips" from CatspitProduction or "How to print films for screen printers" from Ryonet. They both give good tips on making film positives.

Whats RIP? Im using photshop and illustrator. Its a brand new ink cartrigde an epson 126 black. Um im still new so what do you mean by printer setting? And im using waterproof silk screen printing positive film

 

[TLK]

First, I think you need to clean your printer heads to clear up the lines and gaps. For the density of the black on your film, you may think about changing the type of ink you are using. I use film positive ink from Ink2image. There are other methods out there like doubling up your positives and using different type of emulsion (dual cure). Go on youtube and search for "How To Screen Print: Film Positive Tips" from CatspitProduction or "How to print films for screen printers" from Ryonet. They both give good tips on making film positives.

I agree with this, you may need to clean the printer heads. I't always a good idea to do it every now and then. But, that's not necessarily what is causing the lines/gaps. If not enough ink is going down onto the film to produce opaque positives it's because the settings are wrong! If you have the settings wrong it will produce an image with lines/gaps or print a translucent image.

 

[kraze]

Hi Tud,

Very true, but from my past experience with epson it's usually a clogged print head. Especially if the printer is not being used often.

By the way, what kind of ink are you using that you get opaque positives?

I agree with this, you may need to clean the printer heads. I't always a good idea to do it every now and then. But, that's not necessarily what is causing the lines/gaps. If not enough ink is going down onto the film to produce opaque positives it's because the settings are wrong! If you have the settings wrong it will produce an image with lines/gaps or print a translucent image.

 

[TLK]

Hi Tud,

Very true, but from my past experience with epson it's usually a clogged print head. Especially if the printer is not being used often.

By the way, what kind of ink are you using that you get opaque positives?

It's just black bulk pigment ink I bought online. I also bought refillable empty cartridges for each port and filled them with the ink.

 

[kraze]

You may want to let BeDubs know exactly which pigment ink you are using so he can replicate your success. I don't know how good Epson stock ink is so I cannot answer. I use opaque film positive ink for my bulk ink system.

It's just black bulk pigment ink I bought online. I also bought refillable empty cartridges for each port and filled them with the ink.

 

[TLK]

I don't even know what ink it is, just some generic black that I purchased online, nothing special. From past experience expensive inks are a waste of money and most other none brand inks work just as well!

 

[Bedubs]

Thank you this really helped me!