In this day and age of gloom and doom about the recession, unemployment or any other negative news that seems to consume the front page, there comes a glimmer of hope. Today, a story about Joannie Rochette appeared and it was not simply a glimmer. It was a ray of sunshine so bright it easily penetrated every tear welling up in the eyes of all readers.

How many had ever heard of Joannie Rochette prior to the Vancouver Olympics? For those who don’t know Rochette, she is the Canadia figure skater whose mother had died of a sudden heart attack two days before Rochette was scheduled to compete in Women’s Figure Skating.

Think about something with me. Can you in your wildest dreams imagine what it would like to receive news that your mother died unexpectedly much less getting the news right before you are expected to brilliantly perform in front of your home country in the biggest event of your skating life. I am sure many of us would have given up on our dream and left the games to go home and grieve.

But to Rochette, this was not just her dream. It was a lifelong dream shared with her mother.

What did she do?

With her mother watching over her, Rochette performed brilliantly, performing every jump and technique well enough to receive a bronze medal.

Rochette is not my only hero of these games. My hat is off to the Georgian team who came together and decided to remain in Vancouver to honor the death of their fallen luge comrade, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who tragically was killed in a training run at the Whistler Sliding Center. Wearing black arm bands, this small team marched proudly into the Opening Ceremonies and competed to the best of their abilities.

“Sometimes you can’t wait for the storm to pass, you have to learn how to dance in the rain”!

And, dance both Rochette and the Georgian team did. They should be an inspiration to us all.

Note from Jeff: If I have missed others in the Olympics who have inspired you as well, please reply and let me know who your heroes were…..and thanks for reading!.

Over the years I have learned that one of the major secrets to good screen printing is good color separations.  As you become a better printer, it doesn’t take long to learn that in most cases if the separations are done correctly, the print looks great.  Yes, yes, you need to use properly tensioned screens, good press setup, proper ink viscosity, etc. – but it all starts with color separations.

This article lists a few quick tips for better separations and art output which leads to better prints.  In order to fit this in the allotted space, many tips are brief suggestions that will require referring back to your software manual to figure out.  Others are just good nuts-and-bolts suggestions that can make or break a set of seps.

Corel Draw Program Tips

Vector based programs like Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand are generally used for spot color images or images with a hard edge and more of a cartoon look. The funny thing about printing shirts is that sometimes spot color images where colors touch colors are often HARDER to print than photorealistic images made up of halftone dots.  Here are some vector based program tips.

Note: Click on images for larger view. Click to close.

Figure 1

Spend time on trapping.

When printing spot colors, any out of registration will show up as gaps between colors.  If your “films” are output on a laser printer, they many never line up.  Trapping is the overlapping of darker colors (like black) on top of undercolors.  A trap can be as small as 2 points for shops that can hold tight registration, or as big as 6 points for simple images on low-end equipment. If you spend time adding traps, images will appear to be in register when they are not.

Figure 2

A trap is generally done by adding an outline/stroke to undercolors (other than black) to make them slightly fatter. See figure 1. I will cover this in detail in a future article but for now, it is as simple as selecting and object and holding down the right mouse and selecting “overprint object”. See figure 2. If you gave the text a six point outline then the trap will be 3 points. Easy.

In order to have a trap print out of Corel correctly you need a printer with postscript or a software rip.  Trapping happens in the rip during out put.

Allow for Dot Gain.

If using halftone dots or tints of color in an image, when output, these areas are made up of small dots called halftones.  When you print a halftone dot, it will grow in size 30% to 50%.  You need to allow for this by using a lower percentage tint in shading areas so when it is printed it will look correct. What looks great on the monitor will look much darker when screen printed. Think light.

Use custom registration targets.

The “stock” registration targets in all programs are generally too small and you don’t have any control over their placement. Make your own custom targets and assign them a color of “Registration Color”. That means they will print on each separation.

At the same time, put the name of each color on the top of the file using the same exact spot colors you use in the file. This way your films will not only have a nice solid registration target for each film but the film will have the exact ink color of that film.  See figure 3.

Figure 3

Scan line art at high resolution.

When scanning line art, scan at resolutions of 800 to 1200 dpi in order to have your tracing program like Corel Trace give you a much more accurate bitmap to vector conversion of the image. If you scan at the default scanner setting of 72dpi you will have a very jagged edge when you take the image to Corel Trace.

Choke underbases for better registration.

When printing on dark shirt colors, you need a base plate of white. This is generally the entire image converted to one color. For better on-press registration, you should make the underbase from 2 to 4 points “skinnier” – the opposite of a trap. See figure 4.

Soft underbases print easier.

Some images that are solid spot colors need a solid white underbase. Other images that have more shading and gradations, print easier and feel better if the underbase is actually halftone dots. Do this by making the underbase plate a 60% tint of black and then output it as halftone dots.

Figure 4

Improve output – vellum or laser acetate

If using vellum or laser acetate to burn screens, try pre-shrinking the blank pages by running them through the laser one time BEFORE imaging them – to improve registration and minimize shrinkage.

In order to really burn a small halftone dot you need dense black on your vellum or laser acetate. This is why much of the screen print world has gone to inkjet printers with software rips because the black is much denser and there are no registration issues.

But…. if you all you have is a laser printer then make sure to spray your vellum or laser acetate down with a “toner black” or stock sprays that made the toner darker.

Specify details, mesh, sequence, etc.

Too many times you do a nice set of films only to have the colors reversed on press or someone not in the know making decisions.  If you “built” the separations then YOU know how you think it should be printed. Don’t be shy about dictating mesh counts, color sequences, ink colors and more, AND place this information on each film.

This has been short but don’t let short lead you to believe there isn’t much meat. If you do good trapping and choking and watch how you use halftone dots, you will save money and time at press.

…and the video will prove it and show you how to make it work too. As many of you know I rep Excalibur Inks from Lancer Group International as well as a couple of other irons I have in the fire. I received this press release today from the Lancer Group Sales Manager, Mark Dorrington, about a product called Foil Proof. Foil Proof is a clear that when printed over colors and flashed will not allow foils to stick to those colors in a design.

For instance if you have a four-color design and you only want to enhance one color with the foil treatment simply make a 5th screen and overprint Foil Proof over the other three colors and flash, print your foil adhesive or plastisol where you want the foil to stick and then cure and transfer the foil. It sounds simple and it is. Here’s the Press Release and if you do not have time to read it cut out the middle man and go straight to the video.

Foil Proof News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lancer Group International
311 Saulteaux Cres.
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J 3C7

Excalibur® introduces a real solution for incorporating elements of foil within a screen-printed design. Finally something that actually works. Up until now the only way that printers could add a foil effect to specific elements within a design was by using water-based ink. Lancer Group International is proud to announce the release of a plastisol solution. 801 Foil Proof is a clear coat plastisol that repels foil. Simply screen-print Foil proof over top of the plastisol where you do not want foil to stick. When you heat seal the foil onto the image, the foil will only stick to the parts of the design that are not clear coated. Obviously there are a few tips and tricks in regards to mesh counts etc. They are as follow.

Recommended Mesh:
80-110 t/in. (32t to 43t/cm) for image areas requiring foil.
160-200 t/in. (48t to 80t/cm), on image areas that don’t require foil.
Adhesive systems:
Use 845 Printable Adhesive for areas to be foiled or tint 845 PA with ink color similar to foil
Printing Procedure and Tips:

•For best results use 80-110 t/in. (32t to 43t/cm) mesh counts with a print/flash/print routine to “build up” the areas to be foiled.

•On non-foil areas, use a finer mesh. The goal is to achieve a thinner ink film than the area(s) to be foiled. A print/flash/print routine with 801 Foil Proof is also suggested for maximum foil resistance.

•The addition of 820 Puff Base to 845 Printable Adhesive creates a low loft, which results in a higher surface area for the foil to adhere to. As a starting point, we recommend adding 25% of 820 Puff base, by weight, to the 845 adhesive.

•Adding small amounts (3% by weight or less), of 801 Foil Proof to the ink will also aid in resisting foil. Be aware that adding more than 3% will affect viscosity and opacity.

•Gelling, instead of fully curing the print initially, will result in a much better foil transfer. Heat pressing the foil at 375° (191°C) will contribute to proper cure. You may also consider putting the foiled garment through the dryer again at normal curing temperatures.

Foil Application:
Set heat press to 375°F (191°C) – apply with very light pressure for 4-6 seconds. Peel foil slowly while still warm.

As always, testing is strongly recommended prior to any production. Feel free to direct any questions or comments to Bill Verasky, Technical Services Director for Lancer Group International. 1-204-885-7792 or lgsales@lancergroup.com

Hello once again all and I give a whole new meaning to the adage “You can’t kill bad grass”. Many, including Scott thought I had gone away and joined another industry but lo and behold I have surfaced once again. Yeah, yeah I know I had promised to do this regularly but once again fell off the wagon.

I worked the Vastex International booth at the recently concluded Orlando ISS and thought I would share some comments with you that I heard from attendees.

In defense of the good people at the Imprinted Sportswear Show they did everything they could to get the attendees to the show. I did not hear one complaint about the number of people who came through the door. Most companies were extremely busy both Friday and Saturday and some even on Sunday. I saw many deals being written. I know from our standpoint at Vastex we sold the press and both dryers off the floor so people attending were spending money. Also, when I looked at other booths such as Mike Kaminsky’s at RPL Supplies, Inc. his looked void of product at the close of the show so I know he took a lot of orders.

The complaints I heard were from attendees and these were “Where are the exhibitors”? I know we are in the midst of a recession and everyone is cutting back but many companies were not represented. There is an old philosophy of when do you promote–when you have money or when you need money.

Now don’t get me wrong I am not entirely placing the whole blame on the industry. I would like to use this forum to make a suggestion to the Imprinted Sportswear Group that might help increase exhibitor attendance thus keeping your attendees coming to the show. We need both. I mean look at the Pairs Skating in the Vancouver Olympics….don’t you see two people. Just like pairs skaters can’t do it by themselves neither can exhibitors nor attendees.

Here is my idea and it’s taken out of a page from the Official Marketing Guide of NASCAR. Last year NASCAR knew many hard core racing fans had been layed off and they were in danger or losing revenues across the board big time. What did they do? They lowered ticket prices and kept their fan base.

Why can’t we do the same for the shows? Until we are out of the recession or whatever you want to call this economic down turn how about lowering booth prices for a few shows. Let’s say we lower the price of a 10X10 frm $2500 to $2250. For the sake of math which by the way I am terrible lets say you sold 200 booths so you are taking a hit of $50,000. But you only need to sell 23 addtional booths at $2250 to recoup your price reduction and more than likely you may sell many more.

I am not saying this is a perfect solution. I am just throwing this against the wall to see if it sticks in order to get the thought process working. Maybe you don’t need to reduce prices at all as it might be done in the form of a rebate based upon how many of the ISS Shows a company participates in.

What do you think?

Figure 1

OK, I have to admit it. I have written this article before. In fact, in looking for older versions I found an article I wrote on this same topic back in 1999.  Wow!  Has the washed and worn look been around that long? For most of us old timers, we thought it would be a flash in the pan.  Who knew that not only would the distressed look flourish but that prints would be over collars, off center, ratty looking and more?  Oh well.  Fashion dictates what we wear.

If you have walked into a department store and saw shirts that looked like they were washed and worn, this “look” is called distressed. Who would have thought that the customer would like something that looks like you backed off on the squeegee pressure and ran out of ink!Note: Click on a photo to enlarge it. Click on it again to close it.

I have written articles before about creating the “distressed look” using stock filters in Corel Draw and Adobe Photoshop.  While this technique works well, the distressing is not very random.  Most customers would rather have a more freeform, random distressed look.  Figure 1. This articles details how to make what I will call “overlay” files that you can easily create and simply “apply” to images in Corel Draw, Adobe

Figure 2

Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand.

The following steps may seem complicated but once you have made your “overlay” files, using them is very simple.  The steps in the article were done in Corel Draw but could easily have been done in Adobe Photoshop or Corel Photopaint.

Steps for creating a random distress overlay file:

1.   Create a solid block of black in your favorite drawing program (Corel, Illustrator, Freehand).  Fill the entire page.

2.  Printout this image on a laser printer on regular copier paper.  Figure 2.

3.  Accordion fold this image. Really crinkle it up!  Scuff it.  Walk on it.  Fold and unfold.  You get the idea. Figure 3.

Figure 3

4.  Scan the image as a Grayscale Black and White image. You should scan the image at a resolution of 200 dpi or higher at the average size of your T-shirt designs. You can resize the image later.

5.  Import the image into Corel Draw. Make it higher contrast.  Go to Effects/Adjust/Tone Curve. Give it an extreme curve to wash out the highlight/light areas and make it high contrast.  Figure 4.

6.  Convert the file to a Bitmap.  Go to Bitmap/Convert to Bitmap.  Choose 100 to 200dpi (it really won’t matter) and set it for a Black and White 1 bit.  Figure 5.

7.  Invert the image.  Go to Effects/Transform/Invert. Figure 6.

8.  Import or create the image you want to distress.  Figure 7.

Figure 4

9.  Place the distressed image in front of your graphic. At this point you have a bitmap image that is covering your graphic.  Click on the Pen tool and fill the “outline” (black areas of the design) with white.  Click on the Paint Bucket tool and click on the “X” to give the image no fill.  You can do these same moves on the color palette.  Figure 8.

That’s it.  The distressed file is still sitting on top of your graphic so you can move it around to get the best effect.  You can enlarge it to give you more distressing.

This file works for color separations for screen printing, for direct-to-garment, sublimation or any type of graphic image where you want the final print to look washed and worn. If you are outputting separations for screen printing the distressed file will show up as one of the colors (white) and you don’t print this color out

Simple, effective and still very popular.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

No matter where you are in the world today, when you walk into any sporting goods, department, or specialty clothing store you see a majority of garments embellished with special effects inks. You see high density inks incorporated into sports designs catering to the “X Games” crowd, shimmers and crystalinas catering to the teenage student market as well as prints containing blacklight clear catering to the rock and roll, or club market. And, the trend does not look as if it is going to stop anytime soon.

While these prints may look difficult to print, with some effort on the part of the print shop to learn the nuances of each ink from developing artwork all the way to press set-up necessary to print the design and everything between, you will be able to add them to existing designs as well as any new design that you create for your customers.

How do I prepare the artwork?
All successful designs begin in the art room. Make sure your artist understands and adopts the philosophy that “more is less.” In other words, design the artwork so that the special effects ink enhances the design but doesn’t overpower it. Most designs incorporating special effects inks that do fail do so because the special effect dominates the entire design making it look as if it should be sold and worn at a cheap carnival or circus. Avoid fine detail and thin lines as well because these inks require the use of some very coarse screen meshes which will not be able to reproduce any intricate detail. Also, if you are designing artwork for “puff” printing, avoid large block areas as well. Puff inks rise in all four directions, and, if too large an area is printed it will make the shirt pucker not only appearing funny but also feeling cumbersome to the person who wears the garment.

Halftone dots can be used effectively with special effects inks but the size of the dot will have to be vastly increased in order to work with the very coarse meshes. Halftone dots can also be an effective way to print large areas of puff inks because the dots will expand and blend together looking like a solid area while resisting puckering of the shirt material because the puff ink did not cover as much surface area of the garment.

Are there special mesh and stencil considerations?
For printers who have never utilized coarse screen meshes new techniques in coating direct emulsions or entirely new stencil system such as capillary film will have to be learned. Below is a table of meshes recommended to print the different special effects inks. Even though most of the recommended meshes should be readily available from your supplier, they may need to special order the 83S. The “S” distinction stands for a thinner thread used to make that particular mesh style. The thinner thread creates a larger mesh opening that allows more ink to pass. For example, an 83S mesh will yield approximately the same ink film thickness as that of a 61T (”T” stands for regular thread diameter). The added advantage to using the thinner thread is not only better detail but it has also proven not to leave unsightly mesh marks in the print like that of the regular thread diameter coarse meshes.

As with any type of printing, whether it is special effects or standard plastisols, the sharpest prints are always achieved by stretching the mesh to the mesh manufacturer’s recommended tensioning levels. Just by asking, all mesh manufacturers will be happy in providing you with this chart

As you can see, except for Blacklight Clear without the addition of Crystalina flakes, foil prints suede and puff; most meshes required for each ink series are extremely coarse. This is because in the case of a shimmer, glitter or crystalina ink the mesh opening must be large enough for the metallic particle to pass through unobstructed. If the mesh is too fine, it will act as a filter. letting the clear base used to suspend the particles pass, but preventing the particle from passing through the too small opening. In the case of the high density and gel clears, the coarser meshes allow you to put down the thick ink film required to produce the look. Last but not least, foil prints, caviar bead prints, glass bead prints have to have a coarse mesh as well as a thick stencil build-up on the print side of the screen so the foil or beads are strongly bonded to the garment to produce a durable print.

Depending upon which emulsion you are direct coating to produce your stencil it may be necessary to add an extra coat on the print side after the initial coating. Emulsions come in different viscosities or solid contents. They can range from 25% solids in diazo types to over 50% solids in some of the fast-exposing pure photopolymers. The solids contents lets you know how much is actual product and how much is water. For example, a direct emulsion with a solids content of 25% would contain 75% water and be on the thin side. On the opposite end of the spectrum, an emulsion with a solids content of 52% would contain 48% water and be on the thicker side. If you are using a diazo or dual cure emulsion low in solids, I would recommend that you switch to a pure photopolymer with a higher solids content. This will speed up your screen production because the screen will require less coats to build up the stencil thickness needed to lay down the correct ink film thickness for the desired effect.

Another method of speeding up the stencil process is to use any of the capillary or thick films that are available from most emulsion manufacturers. These films are actually direct emulsions that have been coated onto carrier sheets and are available in a variety of stencil thicknesses. This thickness of the film is measured in microns and range anywhere from 20 microns to 1000 microns in thickness. If you are plan to use a capillary or thick film to produce your stencil the following table will serve as a guideline for the particular mesh and ink series that you are using.

The advantage to using films over direct emulsion is in speed of application. Screen makers using capillary or thick film in the lower thicknesses have had screens press ready in as little as one hour. High density, caviar or glass beads, and gel clear require very thick ink deposits to achieve the effect and if using a direct emulsion it could take anywhere from 15-25 times of a coat, dry, coat technique to achieve the stencil thicknesses needed to produce the thick print. However, by using a capillary or thick film, you can get your desired stencil thickness immediately by applying whatever thickness you want in one application. There are several tricks involved making screens with these thicker films so always consult your stencil materials manufacturer for exact instructions on applying the capillary or thick films.

Are there special printing considerations when using special effects inks?
Special printing considerations should be taken when printing high density, gel clears or the adhesives for caviar beads. Because you are using coarse meshes along with thicker films it will require you to generously flood the image prior to the squeegee stroke. Completely fill the ink well of the design with ink and cut the ink off at the top of the design. To completely clear the ink from the screen a slower than normal squeegee stroke is recommended because you are transferring a thick ink film to the garment. As always, minimal off-contact should be set so the screen peels off the garment approximately 1-1 1/2 inches behind the squeegee. This will ensure the sharpest prints with the least amount of effort. For all other inks, normal flood and print strokes produce excellent results.

Preferably, in a perfect world, triple durometer squeegee blades 70/90/70 would be utilized although single composite squeegees in the 65-70 durometer range yield excellent results as well. Try rounding the edge of the sharp blade by taking a piece of sand paper and slightly dulling the edge. You are pushing a large amount of ink through the screen and this will help you achieve the end result.

How do I cure special effects inks?
Designs containing special effects inks require special curing procedures. In its simplest form a print will cure completely when the resin, one of the main components in the ink absorbs all the liquid (plasiticizer). Only when this happens will you achieve a solid ink film that bonds to the garment and will stay there washing after washing. Variables in curing involve the fabric thickness of the garment, ink film thickness and the particular characteristics of the ink in which you are printing.

There are three stages to the curing process. First, all moisture must be removed from the garment. This will be more important if you are printing on a heavyweight 100% cotton garment and are located in a high humidity area. Cotton garments absorb and hold moisture more than polyester/cotton garments and require a longer time in the dryer to remove the moisture. Next, the fabric must be brought up to temperature and will require a longer curing time if you are printing a sweatshirt versus a t-shirt. Last, the ink film has to be brought up to the cure temperature. Because different special effects inks cure at different temperatures always refer to the Technical Data Sheet for the particular ink in which you are printing.

With the exception of Black Light Clear or Photochromic inks, most special effects inks are printed with a very thick ink film and require an increase in heat and longer dwell time in the dryer. Also, inks such as crystalinas, shimmers and glitters reflect infrared heat so not only are you challenged by thick ink film you are challenged by the metallic particles reflecting the heat as well.

Why does my glitter not look as sparkly as competition?
More than likely you are printing a mixed glitter where you have either purchased it from your supplier pre-mixed or you have mixed the glitter particles into the clear base. Your competition is probably doing what is called the “Dry Dusted Glitter” effect. His prints look more sparkling because his glitter particles are sitting on top of the base and your glitter particles are encapsulated by the base. To produce prints that look as sparking as your competion print the clear base (preferably the PAGL-9030 Glitter Clear Base or the PLFX-9040 Hi-Gloss Gel) Clear and then sprinkle dry metallic flakes directly on top of the wet base.

When I mix “sugar glitter” into my clear base there is no sparkle, why?
Because the .015″ x .015″ sugar glitter particle is clear and the glitter base that you are mixing it with is clear it is basically for no better term “cancelling each other out” leaving the print looking as if has nothing but a thin clear coat over it or at best very litte sparkle at all. Sugar Glitter should be sprinkled on top of a clear base. Print Union’s PAGL-9030 Glitter Clear Base through a 110 mesh using regular direct emulsion and then sprinkle the sugar glitter on top of the wet base. Most printers use a can with a lid that has holes punched in the lid to sprinkle the glitter onto the design.

Conclusion
As stated at the beginning of this article, printing special effects inks can be a challenge. However, this can be easily overcome if you properly preparing your art and screens and practice your printing techniques prior to selling the designs to your customers. We cannot overstate the fact that you need to test the techniques in this article prior to selling and printing a job for your customer. A confirmed order is no place to do your research and development on any new printing process. By learning special effects printing and incorporating this process into your repertoire it can garner more profits for your business as well as giving the image to your customers that you are staying on the “cutting edge” of your industry.

By Jeff Proctor…

When I worked for an ink company, we spent most of every day talking “ink.” And you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff our staff heard on a regular basis-and from seasoned printers at that! So we’ve compiled a list of common “myths” concerning plastisol-perhaps not all of which you subscribe to, but that are astonishingly commonplace nonetheless-and offer a bit of straight-from-the-shoulder commentary in hopes of demystifying each of them.

My ink is ready to use, as is, straight from the container!
Inks are never ready to use, as is, straight from the container. For one thing, they must always be stirred, both prior to use and before adding any viscosity modifiers.

During storage plastisol often develops what is called “false body”-also known as the ink’s resting or static viscosity. Plastisol inks are thixotropic in nature, meaning they will become thinner during movement, such as when stirred or when the squeegee and floodbar push the ink around during the printing process. Frequently, simply stirring the ink reduces its viscosity and saves the printer the cost of the reducer and the time it takes to mix it in. What’s more, if you unnecessarily add reducer and over-thin the ink, stirring would also have saved the cost of throwing out the unusable ink or adding a thickener to get its viscosity back to a printable level.

I can get by with one white ink for all my cotton and cotton/poly blends!
While this is not totally a myth, there are certainly good arguments that should make every printer think twice about making a single white ink work for both 100 percent cotton and cotton/polyester blends. I visit plants routinely that are trying to use the same white ink on every substrate. Ordinarily, this single ink will be a high-opacity, low-bleed formulation they’ve tested and found to work well on their worst-bleeding fabrics. After all, if the gun works on an elephant it should work on a rabbit, right? Wrong! Ink manufacturers understand fully that printers want to simplify the process. Hey, if they only had one white ink, they’d never grab the bucket formulated for 100 percent cotton and mistakenly print it on a 50/50 garment resulting in a bleeding print and rejection by the customer. However, what printers sometimes fail to appreciate is that ink makers put dye-blocking agents in low-bleed inks to minimize the migration of fugitive textile dyes from polyester-blended garments. However, some textile dyes found in 100 percent cotton garments can come into contact with the blocking agents, and “ghost” images can appear at the point of contact resulting in rejection by the customer.

Cost is another reason to add a second white ink to your inventory. Cotton-formulated whites are typically 25-30 percent lower in cost than low-bleed whites. In a competitive world, this can make the difference in securing your bid and protecting your profit margin.

A third reason is productivity. If you use a low-bleed white as an underbase, you’ll no doubt encounter longer flash times and higher after-flash tack, both of which will slow down production and cut into your bottom line.

And the final reason, folks, is quality. Most plastisols formulated for bleed resistance contain small amounts of the same “blowing agent” found in puff inks. If these inks are overflashed or overcured a slight puffing effect can occur, resulting in a rough print surface.

Reducing my high-opacity ink will reduce my opacity!
Contrary to popular belief, you can reduce a high-opacity ink without reducing opacity. In fact, you can increase the opacity of such an ink by adding reducer. Because of the components and pigment loads used to give a high-opacity ink this quality, over time the viscosity may get to the point where a reasonable amount of stirring prior to use will not render it any easier to print. Additionally, with designs on black garments requiring finer detail and higher opacity, you will find yourself from time to time utilizing finer mesh counts that could pose a challenge to high-opacity inks completely clearing the screen and stencil. If this is the case, a small amount of curable or balanced reducer (2-5 percent by weight) can be added to the ink to lower its viscosity to a printable level. Depending upon the type of ink and its initial viscosity, a 2-5 percent addition of curable reducer can reduce the viscosity by as much as 20-25 percent, making it easier to print and more prone to clear the mesh. If all the ink clears the mesh and sits up on top of the garment due to this modification, it will actually look more opaque. Be careful to accurately measure the reducer because, in this case, you can quickly get too much of a good thing and cause the ink to penetrate into the garment.

I already know how to print, so I don’t need to read a technical-data sheet!
Okay, so don’t read it. Print up a few hundred metallic-silver designs, then call us when the customer is screaming at you because that shiny-bright silver ink has “tarnished” and turned an ugly greenish gray after a few washings; or washed off the garment entirely because you forgot that metallics reflect heat and you have to slow the belt speed and increase the heat in your dryer. If you had read the product’s technical-data sheet it would have reminded you about these possibilities, and even suggested an alternate product with a non-tarnishing formula. In this day and age of fax machines, email and the Internet, it should be considered criminal to lack the information to print a job correctly.

I print a high-opacity ink over my underbases and on light-colored garments!
If you use a high-opacity ink to over-print an underbase-or directly onto lighter-colored garments-you are, again, using an elephant gun to bag a rabbit. High-opacity inks are designed to print directly upon and cover dark backgrounds. You simply do not need that kind of covering power on a white underbase or light-colored garment. Save yourself some money and increase your production rate by using a less-expensive and brighter ink designed to print on underbases and light-colored garments.

I don’t have time to learn new processes or techniques!
I frequently listen to customers tell me they don’t want to offer color matching or learn to print high-density because the process looks messy, difficult to learn and they “just don’t have the time.” I guarantee you that a nearby competitor is staying up on the latest and greatest techniques and technologies, and is getting ready to steal your customers away. Award-winning shops continually attend trade shows, vendor open houses and educational seminars and workshops, question their vendors about new processes and products and also schedule time on press to test the processes on their own or with the vendor. One shop with which I’m familiar holds what it calls “training day” at least once a month where the whole shop participates in learning about a new product or process. No time in your busy production schedule? Believe me, the shop to which I refer is (by no coincidence) very busy. It simply schedules this R&D time just as it would any other work.

If, after reading this, you still don’t think you need to learn new processes, I hope you’ll call me next time a customer walks into your shop and says: “I’m afraid I can’t do business with you anymore. You’re just too darn good!” But I won’t hold my breath. . . .

Aside from using the best bleed-resistant ink, there’s just nothing I can do to prevent dye migration on 100 percent polyester fabrics!
I beg to differ. There are two additional things you can do to increase your chances of eliminating such dye migration: tightly control the temperatures of flash and final cures, and pay closer attention to the fabric you’re printing.

During flash curing the platens tend to heat up and will become increasingly hotter during a print run. Adjust your flash-cure units accordingly and make certain you are not over-flashing. Then, when curing the garment, monitor both the fabric temperature and the ink-film temperature to insure the ink film is reaching the manufacturer’s recommended cure temperature with the fabric temperature not exceeding 330°F. Polyester dyes get excited as the temperature rises, and they start looking for a place to go. Most often, where they go is right up through the ink film, causing that beautiful white print to turn a sickly pink within 72 hours or so.

A frequently overlooked test for dye migration is simply to check the fabric itself before printing by performing both wet- and dry-crock tests. Take a piece of white cotton fabric, wrap it around your index finger and rub two or three times firmly across the fabric. Inspect the cotton to see if there is any stain from the dyes in the fabric. After this, wet another piece of cotton prior to wrapping around your index finger and repeat the test. Inspect both pieces to see how much dye transferred to the cotton. If you have minimal or no stain at all, you have an excellence chance of eliminating dye migration (provided you do everything else correctly during the print process). If, however, there is a large dye transfer on either of the pieces of cotton, you stand a minimal chance of success and I suggest you take issue with your garment supplier. In fact, I always suggest to anyone printing 100 percent polyester that they order sample garments from different manufacturers, perform thorough testing on each, then offer to their customers only the garments that have the best chance of being printed successfully.

I don’t need to run cure tests!
The largest number of complaints received by ink manufacturers-and, it follows, by printers from their customers-pertain to designs cracking or washing off garments in the laundry. When we ask about their cure-testing procedures, most of these complainers say they don’t follow them very often . . . if at all. Good grief! There are several methods by which you can check for an adequate cure. Yes, some are better than others, but any of them are better than nothing:

• Temperature strips/tapes-Placing a temperature strip next to the design as it runs through the dryer has long been a standard in the industry due to low price and ease of use. You get what you pay for, though, as this has been proven to be the least accurate method to measure ink-film temperature. While remarkably accurate in measuring the temperature of a transfer-press platen, temperature tapes have proven significantly less inaccurate in measuring the temperature of a direct print . . . which can lead you blithely toward your next grumpy customer.
• Temperature “guns”-This is a medium-priced ($100-$150) instrument and currently the tool of choice among printers for measuring ink-film temperature. This instrument is highly accurate-to within ± two percent-if used correctly. The gun is affected by distance, though, so it is important that its laser-dot sighter is aimed directly upon the ink film from no more than six inches away. The measuring point for ink-film temperature should be prior to the print’s clearing the final heat panel in the dryer, in order to know the highest temperature the ink film reached during the curing process. Also, this gun measures only the surface temperature-rather then where ink meets garment-so make certain the surface temperature of the ink film reaches at least 310°F on thin ink deposits and between 320°-325° (at least) on thicker deposits.
• Temperature probes (on-contact)-Perhaps the most accurate for evaluating your cure-as it actually travels through the dryer, sitting on the garment alongside the print-this is also a very good tool for identifying hot and cold spots within your dryer, or discovering that you have a heat panel that is on the fritz. Unfortunately, as you would expect with a high-quality, precision instrument, it occupies the opposite end of the expense scale from the aforementioned temperature tapes.
• Wash-testing the garment-Here’s a case where the most straightforward, least sophisticated method is also the most reliable. Simply wash and dry (normally) the test garment three to five times and inspect the print after each cycle. Sometimes printers will cut the design into two pieces and keep an unwashed half as a control against which to evaluate the washed half. If your ink film does not show any deterioration after three to five washings, you have properly cured it adequately. The downside is that this kind of testing is very time consuming. Thus, if it cannot be performed on a daily basis, it should at least be performed at intervals and in conjunction with one of the aforementioned methods of cure-temperature monitoring.

For satisfactory results, some form of cure testing should be performed on a daily basis.

It’s not always the ink’s fault!
On rare occasion an ink will actually fail. However, if an ink that is recommended for a dark shirt fails to live up to its promise of opacity and vibrant color there certainly could be other underlying factors causing the failure. Let us look at all of the factors that control how a light ink will perform on a dark background.

Squeegees: Are you using the right durometer squeegee? The higher the durometer the less ink will be pushed through the screen. The angle of the squeegee during the print stroke also makes a difference as a lower angle puts down less ink than a higher angle. Is the blade sharp or dull? A sharp blade will put down less ink than a dull blade. Thus, if you are not satisfied with coverage, try a softer squeegee, with more angle, a duller blade and a slightly slower print stroke.

Screen mesh: Are you using the right mesh count for the job? Don’t expect the same results printing a white ink on black using a 160 mesh that you will get with a 110 mesh.

Screen tension, off-contact distance, squeegee pressure: Do your screens resemble a trampoline or a wash board? Higher screen tension allows you to set a minimal off-contact distance between your shirt and the screen, enabling you to use less squeegee pressure. Lower squeegee pressure allows the ink lay on top of the garment instead of being pushed into it with excessive pressure. It also increases production rates and decreases fatigue in the manual printer which results in higher profits and employee morale.

Emulsion thickness: This is often the most overlooked factor in producing high-opacity prints on dark garments. Your ink deposit is directly related to the stencil thickness on the bottom (print side) of the screen. Depending upon which stencil system you use, it may be necessary to coat your screen the way you are doing now . . . then let it dry and come back with an additional coat on the print side. If you do this, though, don’t forget to recalculate your exposure time, as the additional emulsion thickness will lead to under-exposure.

Thanks for reading.  Jeff

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