Where is the line for dark vs light garments?

[Gilligan]

Some are of course obvious... but where is the line?

I know a lot of this is just pure judgment calls... but I'd like to see everyone weigh in on what they PFP or under base vs just rolling with it as if it was a white shirt.

Or are their subtle differences you make to print on a "light" garment that isn't white but you still don't have to under base because of these small tricks/changes to the process?

[royster13]

Ink colour also has some bearing......

[blue moon]

Some are of course obvious... but where is the line?

I know a lot of this is just pure judgment calls... but I'd like to see everyone weigh in on what they PFP or under base vs just rolling with it as if it was a white shirt.

Or are their subtle differences you make to print on a "light" garment that isn't white but you still don't have to under base because of these small tricks/changes to the process?

in my case this is subjective. If the color has to be PMS matched, it gets an underbase on anything but white. Otherwise it depends on how close we can get without the underbase which in turn is dictated by the ink opacity and garment color. Yellow and gold pretty much always need an underbase, navy and black very rarely. We can get away with max opacity red on med colors, but it has to go through thicker mesh. So if it is a multicolor print and is going wet on wet, this is not an option (to much ink is laid down and it gets spread out by the subsequent colors making for a muddy and bleedy print).

How about posting some info on the particular print(s) and we'll give you some suggestions?

pierre

[Frog]

ink color, opacity, mesh count.

In the end, it's what you can do. I sometimes run white through a 110 on some medium colored garments and don't flash. (Heck, some do this even on blacks)
I run black on red through a 180

If it's really light color shirts (tan, ash, etc), chances are with all but the most based down dark inks, you will just run them as if the shirts were white.
With light inks, you may just need to go coarser on a screen.

[Gilligan]

How about posting some info on the particular print(s) and we'll give you some suggestions?

pierre

Honestly don't have a particular job.  Don't have any jobs right now that I haven't done before.  This is just in general.

I was putting on a shirt and was looking at the print and wondering at what point do you need to PFP or under base.

I figured it would be a good topic to add to our "knowledge base" here in the newbie section as well as I was sure I'd learn a lot.

So far I'm not disappointed.   Keep em coming! 

[ebscreen]

This is honestly one of the more confusing aspects of pre-press, for me at least. Mid-grounds....
To underbase, or not to underbase, that is the question.

I've set up jobs to underbase certain colors or the whole thing on mid-ground garments,
and then tried a print without the underbase and it was delightful. The opposite
is also true.

I've underbased light navy on orange, and I've not underbased yellow on mauve.

Nowadays I typically setup the print for the easiest possible production but also
create an underbase for all or part of the design to be burned just in case.

Sometimes you just don't know until the ink hits the fabric.

[alan802]

I think this varies greatly from shop to shop.  I think the more you know and understand about the ink deposit process, mesh specs, stencil thickness, etc., the darker that line goes for not needing an underbase.  There are things that 2 or 3 years ago we would have underbased that now we can print without one.  It's just a matter of how much you can maximize a certain ink's opacity, at least that's how I look at it.  I think that there is a line for certain designs and shirt colors that will always need a UB.

[Sbrem]

Since I go back to pre-underbase days, before flash units, I can print a PMS color on just about anything, but will the result be acceptable by current standards? I mean, it's opaque, but is it too heavy? So, we don't go that route anymore, we just underbase as necessary. Set it up and run, you already know it works. You can try different things, but you're probably losing money that way. Yellows and golds seem to suck, so always underbase.

Steve

[tonypep]

Friday we struck off an athletic gold discharge print on black (10%) pigment load). One screen, nothing to register. Nice crisp print, bold color. I know.........not for everyone but easier than some might think. Does take the guesswork out of underbasing.

[Sbrem]

And yes, discharge, sorry Tony, I meant to mention that...

Steve