I am trying to create a standard lpi angle and dot shape for output on our wasatch rip and dts. Currently we rip 65lpi 22.5 and dot as the shape. The underbase white halftone is set to 45 lpi and 22.5 (sometimes). Yesterday one of the race car designs had an almost crosshatch like appearance in the halftones on the shirt. After some heavy reading last night here and other places, I had them rip the job across the board 60 lpi 22.5 elliptical dot. The mesh is 305. Wasatch seems to have some hybrid dot shape that transitions to a stochastic in the highlight and shadow content. Has anyone experimented with the hybrid dot?
You CAN use a different LPI on the underbase but the key is the combo of tucking your underbase far enough under do that no white has a chance of peaking out. That part is all about proper seps.
The 2nd contributor is that you don't go to extremes. For example, If I wanted a different LPI on the underbase so that I could use a lower mesh, yet hold small dots, I might only drop no more than 10 lpi max. So you're 60 for colors would be a 55 or a max of 50 for underbase. With that 55-50, you could do well with a 230 underbase.
Chances are, you wanted to use a 156 or a 180 on the base to make top colors pop but....thats also about your inks. If you used 45lpi, and a lower mesh, that dot has two affects that your top colors don't.
A, It's more opaque. This stands out or pops through your colors more.
B, It's got dimension or "more of a thickness" than does the top thin ink colors going through high mesh. This also aids in breaking through your colors more also. When the LPI is more intense, it can interfere with the other LPI and you're offset alignment and size is more obvious.
When you have a consistent LPI with your base and top colors, that works just as well and betterthan the different LPI's.
Reason being, is that that since you may use a lower mesh on the base, you will lose some of the smaller dots. This is ok because typically, all top colors that are getting supported by the base will run over top and will fade off to shirt or another colors. So the small dot (loss) area on the base is covered anyways. So you don't see any mesh thread blocking out the small dots (if the separator has done his job as they should be.
You typically don't need a super opaque base for sim process anyways. Heaviest base coverage will be on your brighest yellow. THe more translucent your inks are, the more coverage you might need o your base and may need to lower the mesh but in general, semi opaque inks for dark garment sim process don't need to be backed up with 100% solid white.
If you need very bright white areas in that print, then you would take that up on your TOP white sep. Also, with te top white, I like to use that for any white that fades off softly and onto the shirt...on high mesh....so that you don't get that saw toothed jagged mesh thread block.
Going up on the mesh count to 355 like you did, enables you to hold more of the small dots even on the underbase and that is great! but the ink coverage may have sacrificed a little. + the different between a 60 and a 50lpi is not that dramatic.
