Ink mixing % of pantone colors

[ebscreen]

You can either run one screen and try and keep you pressure/speed/viscosity/off contact, etc, the same
across all prints to hit three halftone colors or you can burn three screens with three different standard ink
colors that will print almost exactly the same no matter how hard or soft you hit them.

Halftone tiny text/lines, blech.

But if you must, in Illy you can just assign an opacity/transparency for each different color, (IE 10% opaque, %30 etc.)
And don't forget to compensate for your gain on press, probably ~%20 printing manually.

(burn three)

[3Deep]

Gerri is this a big order? I'm there with blue you are going way to deep, but hey that's what makes your work stand out, but lazy me would halftone the heck out if it with one screen on high mesh and be done, or I would do like Frog suggested and add white, plus how do they know that it ain't those % tints..if they are that good let them mix there own inks LOL, and you just print it.

Darryl

[mk162]

i would burn 3 screens...you'll get better detail and perfect results...that being said, i would simply add some white to the darkest color and roll with it.

[Prosperi-Tees]

It is for 650 pieces. I may test one halftoned 305 screen and see what happens. I guess I am being kinda anal about this lol.

[mk162]

650 pcs, do 3 screen...no doubt..wait, you don't have an auto yet, correct?

[Prosperi-Tees]

650 pcs, do 3 screen...no doubt..wait, you don't have an auto yet, correct?

No not yet, you are correct

[3Deep]

650 pc is worth the extra work, could be a nice repeat order, and white shirts to boot, I thinking this was for a small order.

D

[mk162]

i'd outsource it...not worth printing it yourself

[blue moon]

you are making this too difficult. burn it on a 305, adjust the curves for two strokes (-20 in the middle) and print with one screen. They will get the percentages they are asking for. If they want three colors, have them specify the PMS numbers. . .

pierre

Are you saying cut the percentages back 20% and double stroke to "fill in" and make up the 20%. I dont understand what "adjust the curves" is. Must be a Photoshop thing?

yup, that's what I was saying. In Photoshop there is a diagram with a curve that you can grab and drag up or down to adjust the percentages.

Not sure how to do it in Corel, but if you can somehow make the adjustment in the middle of the range (around 50%) and make it 30% that's what you are looking for. Obviously, the transition would have to be smooth, so if you have to do it manually, that would mean -20 at 50%, -15 at 40/60%, -10% 30-70% and -5 at 20/80% or something along those lines.

pierre

[Dottonedan]

I might have missed something else, but I thought I saw it was 600 shirts. So why bother with getting halftones right and just split it into 3 screens and pick colors. Solid type beats out the look of halftoned type any time unless its really large type and printed at a high line count so you have smaller dots.

I very much dislike the look of small type with anything higher than 20% fill on the average line halftones in fill  (dots get too big between the 20 and 80% range)  If at all possible, I prefer adding a small % of another similar color to help with the blending. I think this is similar to what Pierre is tryi g to do with the double hit of a light %. With that tho, you gotta also consider how thick your ink is. Pierre's ink is super thin. So a double or triple hit of halftone may look good. A double or triple hit of thicker ink may over do it and end up with solid type where your halftones should be.

[blue moon]

I answered before reading everything, DUH!
As eb said, keeping it consistent on a manual might be a problem (don't really know how much of a problem though, I only used the manual for few months and did not get to do much halftone work with it).
It should be easier/faster to print with one screen rather than three, but I guess it will depend on your customer now.

And yes, small type with halftones might be a problem. You can always explain it to your customer and suggest going with three colors (and charging them for it. This way you are not giving away additional work).

pierre

[mk162]

yeah, or outsource to a shop with an auto.  I agree with dan, I don't like halftones in my text.  I think it makes it look fuzzy.  You will probably end up with 3 screens, which is almost 2,000 print strokes, that is a whole day.  an auto shop could run that off in 65 minutes once it up and registered. ( i print 50 doz an hour usually)

send it to them and go out cold calling or work on a marketing campaign...time better spent...the money is in selling, not printing.

[JBLUE]

send it to them and go out cold calling or work on a marketing campaign...time better spent...the money is in selling, not printing.

So unbelievably true. So many dont believe this and cant take their mind off the money they are letting walk out the door. When in reality they are losing money by not being able to bring in more money.

[mk162]

i am sitting here putting the finishing touches on an email campaign, while my printer is out back sending shirts down the belt and the DTG machine is humming away with another person running that.  If I don't spend my time getting orders through the door, I am not using my time wisely