Hello I'm new to the screen printing business. I have a question about exposure of artwork to screen. I've included a picture and wanted to know if the image not being dark enough is the reason why it wont wash out. Please help I've followed all instructions and when Im washing out I can see it and it breaks down but all emulsion wont come out but the image is perfectly visible .
Need help with image burning
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91 Posts
Hard to be sure looking at the Positive photo you posted.
Not the worst I've seen... not the Best, either but,
should be working okay provided a few other issues are sorted.
What Emulsion & Exposure Setup are you using?
Though my Positives Print nice & solid, I use fast
Ulano QTX and have burn times in the 2:45 minute
range for 0ne coat each side halftone screens (200 mesh).
What I'm trying to say is, with fast emulsion & (correct)
short exposure times, wash out should be a breeze.
Have you done Step Exposure Tests to sort out your times?
(Perhaps you are just over-exposing?)
A little more info would help.
edit: Looking again at your posted image, lack of a good, solid Positive
could easily be the main cause of your washout issues.
Not the worst I've seen... not the Best, either but,
should be working okay provided a few other issues are sorted.
What Emulsion & Exposure Setup are you using?
Though my Positives Print nice & solid, I use fast
Ulano QTX and have burn times in the 2:45 minute
range for 0ne coat each side halftone screens (200 mesh).
What I'm trying to say is, with fast emulsion & (correct)
short exposure times, wash out should be a breeze.
Have you done Step Exposure Tests to sort out your times?
(Perhaps you are just over-exposing?)
A little more info would help.
edit: Looking again at your posted image, lack of a good, solid Positive
could easily be the main cause of your washout issues.
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3,145 Posts
Is that a picture of your film? It's not dark enough. You need to experiment with your printer settings to get a dense black print that light doesn't show through. Use the black cartridge only and set your ink volume to the maximum. Paper type should be transparency. All printers have different settings so you'll need to find the one that works best for yours.
I'm using the printa 770 exposure unit along with EMULSION TEXTILE PV* from miami screen printing supplies the recommended exposure time I was told by the printa factory was 5min but In the demo video it say 1 min when I exposed the screen for 5 min it doesn't wash out at all but when I exposed for 1 min the image began to wash out but not completely I've tried contacting printa but I was given no real help I'm not familiar with step test and this is the first forum I've ever joined I'm truly sorry for being an idiot but I think I'm in over my head when I was younger I spent my summer helping a screen printer but I just applied the ink and ran the dryer never exposed a screen before I got the 770 for a great deal but I didn't think that this would be this difficult
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4,694 Posts
Ignore any times given to you; you must test using your own printed film, emulsion, and light source combination. See the link in my sig for a thread about testing to determine proper exposure time.
EDIT: Are you using a laser or an inkjet to print the film? If the latter, you need to experiment with the settings to get a darker and more even coverage of ink. Turn off bi-directional/high-speed printing. Increase the quality level (not sure what your program/driver will call it, but a photo quality or higher dpi setting). If you are using a laser printer--don't!
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