How to do this?

[noiseloops]

Juz received some images from a band requesting to do thier shirts. But it looks like it might have to go halftones and I'm working with water based inks and have no experience doin halftones.
Any advice?

[blue moon]

well, what you do will depend on what equipment you have available . . .
are you using photoshop or illustrator?
Do you have a RIP?
How tight and what mesh are your screens?
what do you use for film output?

pierre

[noiseloops]

I'm using photoshop. No rip. film out has been inkjet transparencies. Rough I know.

[blue moon]

there is a way to halftone the image in the Photoshop. Somebody here will know how, or try searching the forum. I would suggest getting a copy of GhostRip and installing it on your computer. It will let you do the halftones the proper way.

how tight are your screens?

inkjet transperencies range from so-so to excellent. Which printer, ink and film are you using?

pierre

[noiseloops]

I have a couple of 195 n 230 mesh available. Dun have any tension meters to measure thier tightness though.

[noiseloops]

I've Been printing on those off the shelf inkjet transparencies with a Epson stylus 4500.
We've been lookin to get the Epson 1100. Guess this would be as good a time than any.

[blue moon]

in photoshop, import the image and convert to grayscale.
in the channels tab, make two copies of the gray channel.
leave one as it is.
open the curves for the second one and move the bottom point so it removes everything bellow 50% or so. This is your highlight white.
The first one is your underbase.
use the photoshop to convert it to halftones. You are looking for 22.5 degrees and 40-45 lpi.

when printing, back off the pressure a little and try to get it done with one stroke of each color.
Start with that, see what happens, post some pictures and we'll help more. This should get you on the right track!

pierre

[noiseloops]

in photoshop, import the image and convert to grayscale.
in the channels tab, make two copies of the gray channel.
leave one as it is.
open the curves for the second one and move the bottom point so it removes everything bellow 50% or so. This is your highlight white.
The first one is your underbase.
use the photoshop to convert it to halftones. You are looking for 22.5 degrees and 40-45 lpi.

when printing, back off the pressure a little and try to get it done with one stroke of each color.
Start with that, see what happens, post some pictures and we'll help more. This should get you on the right track!

pierre

Thanks pierre!
So i am looking with 2 screens at least right? No way to do it with single color run?

[blue moon]

it can be done with one, but will not look as good.
take that grayscale channel and reduce the white at 50% down to about 20-25%. Burn the screen and try P/F/P with the same screen.

To get good at halftones you have to print them. It is not hard, but you learn the nuances as you go which makes you better and the jobs easier to print.

Give this a shot and post some pictures. We'll give you feedback!

pierre

[noiseloops]

it can be done with one, but will not look as good.
take that grayscale channel and reduce the white at 50% down to about 20-25%. Burn the screen and try P/F/P with the same screen.

To get good at halftones you have to print them. It is not hard, but you learn the nuances as you go which makes you better and the jobs easier to print.

Give this a shot and post some pictures. We'll give you feedback!

pierre

With the p/f/p, u mean print flash print rite? Cause wat I have rite now is only the single color press. Thus why I'm pretty restricted for now. Waiting on the 4 color press and flash dryer to arrive in 2 weeks time (fingers crossed).
Wat I can work with is single color press n water based inks for now.
Thanks again Pierre!

[Frog]

A couple of things;

First, the Workforce 1100 is discontinued. The ones I have seen for sale on the internet have been asking as much as five times the original price, making the step up to a 1430 (or whatever the designation) much more attractive.
Otherwise, at the bargain end, the 1100 replacement is the 7010
Whatever you go with, I would strongly look into getting either a bulk system or refillable cartridges. I use carts and ink from Cobra Ink Systems in my 1100

As for that RIP you need. Ghost will certainly get you started

Here is the place to get the newest versions of Ghostscript


And you will also need GSview, which you can get here

Most folks who think that they are getting nowhere with their Ghostscript installation and first use are a little confused that you will actually have no user interaction with Ghostscript. It merely runs in the background while you do all of your fiddling around in GSView.

[noiseloops]

A couple of things;

First, the Workforce 1100 is discontinued. The ones I have seen for sale on the internet have been asking as much as five times the original price, making the step up to a 1430 (or whatever the designation) much more attractive.
Otherwise, at the bargain end, the 1100 replacement is the 7010

As for that RIP you need. Ghost will certainly get you started.
A couple of things;

First, the Workforce 1100 is discontinued. The ones I have seen for sale on the internet have been asking as much as five times the original price, making the step up to a 1430 (or whatever the designation) much more attractive.
Otherwise, at the bargain end, the 1100 replacement is the 7010
Whatever you go with, I would strongly look into getting either a bulk system or refillable cartridges. I use carts and ink from Cobra Ink Systems in my 1100

As for that RIP you need. Ghost will certainly get you started

Here is the place to get the newest versions of Ghostscript


And you will also need GSview, which you can get here

Most folks who think that they are getting nowhere with their Ghostscript installation and first use are a little confused that you will actually have no user interaction with Ghostscript. It merely runs in the background while you do all of your fiddling around in GSView.

Thanks!

The 1100 is still available here in singapore as new. Though the model is t1100. I have yet to confirm whether its the same.
Another option is the 1390 which is ard 100bux extra of the 1100.
We can't get hold of the 1430 out here sadly. Getting in shipped would mean warranty n shipping issues.
Ill check out ghostrip soon enuff. Thanks!

[Colin]

Since you are working with Waterbase inks, are you also running discharge?

If so, you will only need the one screen for each side.  Follow everything Pierre and Frog have stated and practice on a few shirts before running any production.

Let us know if discharge is an option for you.

[Dottonedan]

It's just my opinion, but for me, (any) print with solid art and halftone art even at the same color should be done with two colors. That is with waterbase, discharge or plastisol. Sure, you can physically do the one color, but it's best image will come with two screens and for me, I'm all about it looking it's best.

[Sbrem]

I'll join the 2 screen camp. It's not that you can't do it with one screen, but the results with 2 screens is just so much better. If you want to halftone in Photoshop, follow Pierre's instructions to make the 2 channels, (put some register marks in the corners) then copy each channel into a separate new document. Go to the Image menu, then Mode, and if it's RGB or CMYK, convert to grayscale. (If it's already grayscale, skip this step). Convert from Grayscale to Bitmap. You'll get a dialog box; change the OUTPUT resolutiion to 1200 (very clean smooth dots) and the drop down menu to "Halftone". Set the angle to 22.5°, and your line count to 40 or 45. Then you can get by without a RIP, but do get one eventually. Good luck.

Steve