Quik thoughts on this print design.. 7/2

[DCSP John]

Hello All..

This image just came cross my desk.
My designer and sales people somehow managed to wrangle the day off, and the
boss is stuck in the front office. I would like to get a quote out to my customer regarding
this design..

To be printed on white.
Sim process?  These type of designs are just no fun to even look at.

Thanks.

John

[mimosatexas]

I would print it with these colors in this order:

Dark Gray
Green
Yellow
Red

Use whatever color matches the large mid-tone areas of each circle and use whatever dark gray matches the darkest areas of those circles.  Use the dark gray to underbase the darker areas of the colors, and halftones of the colors over the white of the shirt to get the lighter areas.  You could add in 2, 3, 4+ more screens to get little areas that are going to be harder to hit tonally like where the green overlaps the gray circle, but I don't think that would be worth it at all...

[Sbrem]

I see 4 colors as well, but I sure would want a layered file to sep from if PS, or hopefully in Illy they would be separate objects to be able to assign colors to. Worst case, I'd index it in PS...

Steve

[3Deep]

I see 4 colors as well, down with Steve on this vector would be idea as you can blend the objects  better that way, at least you luck out on shirt color .

Gray
Red
Yellow gold
Green

[JBLUE]

2 reds, two grays, two greens, and orange. That would represent the artwork much better. The reds will have much better contrast and dot gain will be minimized using 2 screens.

[Dottonedan]

Since I believe that you do not sep this in house, or yourself, you should ask the person you are going to use. We all could give our opinion on how we would do it, but your separator may have a different approach and that is the one that will be impacting your profits.

You could dictate to your separator that you want 4 colors and he can do it, but it would look better in more. Be careful tho, when giving the separator free reign to use as many as needed that fits on your press. This job could be looked at as 9 colors when it can be done as well in 6-7. It's kind of a customer level of quality question. How accurate do they want it and for how many shirt?

I would prefer a min of 5 colors.

Yellow
Green
Light gray
Dark gray
Red

If using one gray, you would have a lot of dots in that lighter area. It can be done but how accurate does your customer want it?

More would be even more accurate.

[Frog]

Since I believe that you do not sep this in house, or yourself, you should ask the person you are going to use. We all could give our opinion on how we would do it, but your separator may have a different approach and that is the one that will be impacting your profits.

You could dictate to your separator that you want 4 colors and he can do it, but it would look better in more. Be careful tho, when giving the separator free reign to use as many as needed that fits on your press. This job could be looked at as 9 colors when it can be done as well in 6-7. It's kind of a customer level of quality question. How accurate do they want it and for how many shirt?

I would prefer a min of 5 colors.

Yellow
Green
Light gray
Dark gray
Red

If using one gray, you would have a lot of dots in that lighter area. It can be done but how accurate does your customer want it?

More would be even more accurate.

Dan, what makes the gray so different from the other colors that have both a dark and light shade? Is it due to the particular gray(s)?

[Dottonedan]

The common approach is to refer to black ink for shadows. The dark gray could be represented by a lighter halftone of black under the light gray (but is easier controlled by using a dark gray rather than trying to represent a dark gray. So that is why I would use an actual dark gray. In addition, the darker shades in other colors can be made by using that same dark gray (under) other colors like red and yellow using semi translucent inks. So you can use less colors to form the dark shades in the colors and have it look nice with less visible halftones. It tends to look less dotty when you print the dark colors with halftones under brighter colors.

[mimosatexas]

I think Frog was asking why include the light gray instead of just using halftone of the dark gray.

[Dottonedan]

Two reasons really.

1, the dark gray will not represent the light gray (tone) as well in small percentages.

2, that large of a consistent area of the same light gray tone will look much better, more accurate, as a solid than a halftone. The darker area (people) can be made up of the dark gray printed under the light with the dark gray peeking thru a little.

3, (larger consistent areas) full of light or small halftones present more of a challenge due to inconsistent emulsion coats (skips) or stuttering along the pull as well as inconsistent leveling of pallets and nicks in squeegees that are not as noticeable in heavier halftone coverages or solid printing.

[Frog]

I think Frog was asking why include the light gray instead of just using halftone of the dark gray.

Yes, if halftones of the other colors work for their two shades, why not the gray? Or actually, I may be asking the reverse and wondering if this would also benefit from two greens, two reds, etc

[Squeegie]

@Frog - I am guessing that the "other" colors would not be halftones for the lighter areas but solid. Then use the Dk grey and blend with said lighter color to make the darker shade.

Just a guess.

[JBLUE]

The green will be the same as the gray. The dark green halftoned will not make the light green color either. More is better on this design for sure.