This is an excellent way to ensure the full tonal range of halftones in the design were washed out and open. We knew we had the correct exposure time by inspecting the grey scale bar at the top of each positive to see that all the dots in the 5% tonal range, up to 100%, were washed out properly (Figure B). By doing so, we nailed our exposure on the first screen. We used a 1,200-watt metal-halide exposure unit to expose the screens and we had to reduce the unit’s preset time from four minutes (for exposing 60-mesh screens) to 1.5 minutes. Note that there are two different edge profiles on opposing sides of most scoop coaters one side is dull for coating coarse mesh and the other side is sharp for coating finer meshes. Nazdar provided a sample of Ulano’s new Orange screen emulsion that worked great for exposing even the smallest dots in the 5% tone areas of the design.Īfter degreasing and drying the new screens, I used a one-on-one screen coating technique, which means I applied one coat of emulsion on the contact side of the screen and one coat on the squeegee side using a sharp scoop coater. In addition, we had to acquire a different photo emulsion to coat the screens since NWG uses a high-solids, water-resistant emulsion made for coating coarse mesh. It’s important to note that yellow mesh reduces the light scatter and is critical to use when exposing half tones. Rounding up to the next available mesh count gives us a 230-mesh. Here’s an example: the 45-line halftone, multiplied by 4.5 equals 202.5. We simply multiplied the dot line count by 4.5 to come up with the mesh count needed. We knew this was not going to hold the fine dots in this design, so we used a simple mathematical formula to determine which screen mesh to use. NWG primarily is a flock transfer printing shop, so the finest screen mesh available was 60. Next, Chris Blancho of New World Graphix (NWG) and I made the screens for the design at his shop in Pittsburg, Kan. With artwork this detailed, it’s possible to use the white underbase print as a one-color graphic or add a second color to achieve a cool dual-tone effect. Notice the amount of detail in the white underbase print (Figure A). We used a 156-mesh for the white underbase and 230-mesh for the colors. Retensionable frames are my first choice for printing simulated process prints but, due to a time crunch, I used six 20″ x 24″ outside diameter (OD) static aluminum frames with yellow mesh tensioned to 20 N/cn. High-tension screens are the best choice for printing simulated process art due to several factors, including better registration, controlled off contact and excellent “snap off” behind the squeegee. The film positives were printed using AccuRip software and an Epson 4900 inkjet printer. Next, Clement used Separation Studio software and we selected a 45-line halftone (I like big dots) at 61-degree angles using an elliptical dot shape. This meant I had to limit the number of screens I would use. I then spoke with site owner Dane Clement to review the details of the job and to explain that I had access to a six-color manual press. The first step was to select the artwork, so I browsed the Great Dane Graphics website to choose a design I liked: a sea turtle. Let me take you through the step-by-step process of printing on this substrate. Please see attached Photo Gallery for Figures A-DĪfter a hot summer of T-shirt printing comes the beginning of a new opportunity for screen printed fleece. Special thanks to SPSI for mixing the PMS plastisol colors Great Dane Graphics for providing art NazDar for providing emulsion Delta Apparel for providing hoodies and New World Graphix for the use of its facilities.) (Editor’s Note: The design that is printed in this article is featured on the cover of the August issue of Impressions.
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