Big D,
INKS:
I believe that every ink company had a set of inks to sell you that are designed for sim process. Thats what you are wanting to do. You want special inks that are designed to use on higher mesh. This is one of the things that shops start to purchase as they begin to do more and more sim process or blending.
As people know, you can use standard inks typically used for spot color logo type art but they need to reduce them so that they will flow thru the higher mesh easier as well as blend. The downfall with doing that, is that you do loose some intensity of the inks. Adding reducer or clear base is not THE best method, but can be done in a pinch.
This is a reason why each ink Co does offer a specially formulated ink for sim process blending.
I used to use the Union Mix Opaques and add my desired % of reducer to get them to do what I wanted them to. I like this, because I could keep just one ink and make it more versatile to suit my needs. Then, I found the inks that are more designed for the high mesh blending (and keeping their intensity. I like those more so now then adding reducer.
What one is best? Thats one of those personal opinion answers. It depends on what you are looking for among other things. Inks from what I remember, could be related to what brand you are more accustom to using. One brand will typically have some characteristics that you have deal with over the years and have adjusted to and now like. Then, a change to a very good ink, may result in your not liking it because of it's characteristics. So, it's not really better or worse, just different than what you are accustom to. Kind of like is a PC better than a Mac for doing art. I believe that each person settles on one for whatever reason and makes that one work for them.
I would contact your ink supplier and tell them what you are looking for and they will give you the name of the option they have for that. I think Pierre for example uses Unions True Tone inks (if I remember correctly). I've tried Rutlands M@ and the M3 series. These are designed specifically for high mesh blending of colors for sim process. Sometimes tho, they can be too thin for me, like process inks but if that is all I had, I would be able to adjust to them easily. Wilflex again, has their own version of the High mesh blending ink formula but you will need to look them up and compare.
MESH:
I suggest when trying to blend colors, that you use high lpi like 45-60lpi and also use 230 mesh at a minimum and a typical 305 mesh for top colors.... (for high detail and blending capabilities. Thats not to say you cannot blend inks using lower mesh and lower lpi. You can, but the higher lpi and mesh tend to make things blend more easily and become more close rot photo prints.
Tight tension improves the print and registration. What specific tension? Well, probably 22 at a minimum, but again, thats not to say that some good prints haven't been done on lower tension. Consistent tension is another factor.
With tighter tension, comes better registration and lower off contact that results in less pressure needed, thus being able to set the print up on top of the shirt and not smashed down into the shirt.
I have read some of the comments from Guru's that suggest that a good detailed image must print crisp and clean. For some people, I will explain what I mean by the word "clean". Clean meaning, similar to flashing between each color. They feel that you must see a sharp non distorted dot with restricted dot gain that comes with prints getting stepped on so many times. Flashing between each color does this, but leaves a more plastic hard feeling print to me and seems less photo real and more of a newspaper-ish print.
I prefer (and maybe this leaves me to be actually less than a good printer in some peoples eyes), but I'll take that claim. I'll defer to the old saying that many artist hear. " I don't know much about the best way to print, but I know what I like". I like when the colors actually blend physically and smash together to the point where the dots actually disappear and you see more of a continuous blend versus a dotty dot pattern blend. You get this among other benefits from printing wet on wet.
That's my story.
