how do i achieve this with waterbase (tone on tone)

[ericheartsu]

I have a long time client that wants to do something like the attached image.

I've never had great success on tone on tone stuff, but wanted to see if you guys could give me some tricks on printing this, and printing it with WB?

It's a black TR401 tee.

[Frog]

I just want to say that that's a weak-ass black! I suspect that they don't offer a charcoal or dark gray (or I guess asphalt for them) as well, LOL!

[JBLUE]

You can do it several different ways. Straight black, a dark grey like 432, or even straight soft hand clear on top of a black shirt (especially a triblend) will make a similar effect. There are lots of ways but we use the above most of the time. Use a higher mesh too for a softer hand.

[jsheridan]

clear ink.. that's it

[ebscreen]

FWIW tone on tone is one of those things that can be interpreted very differently depending on who's looking.
We almost always insist on an in-person approval for anything large.

But yeah, clear base and maybe a drop or two of black.

[Screened Gear]

+1 for clear base. If they want 30 different colors tone on tone still only one screen and one ink.

[ericheartsu]

i just did a test of some soft hand base through a 156 mesh, and it didn't come out very well.

Does it specifically have to be clear base? And the mesh should be low right?

[IntegrityShirts]

I'd play around with 50/50 waterbased base / waterbased blank ink. Or base with 3-4% black pigment.

[Orion]

May be some info for "tone" prints in this old thread:

http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,5041.msg56197.html#msg56197

[DannyGruninger]

I print stuff like this every few weeks... Looking at the mockup in my shop on that blank I would print water base black with a tint of blue pigment... If we do true tonal prints we run clear base with a tickle of activator plus white or black pigment depending on if we want the tone to go to the lighter side or darker side of tonal. I'd give a black with a tad of blue in it a shot though.

[Dottonedan]

I like Danny's approach. Also, probably just straight waterbase black thru a 305 mesh cut back to 65-70% halftone fill to allow even more of the shirt texture to show thru even more. This would allow for even more of a softer hand than a solid black fill of waterbase.  I see in that print, you can see some pretty obvious shirt texture coming thru it.


The trick with this I imagine would be to see how "your black" shows up on that particular shirt. Some R&R might be needed before running the order and like someone else said, get approval on it before running some big order.

[Frog]

I like Danny's approach. Also, probably just straight waterbase black thru a 305 mesh cut back to 65-70% halftone fill to allow even more of the shirt texture to show thru even more. This would allow for even more of a softer hand than a solid black fill of waterbase.  I see in that print, you can see some pretty obvious shirt texture coming thru it.


The trick with this I imagine would be to see how "your black" shows up on that particular shirt. Some R&D might be needed before running the order and like someone else said, get approval on it before running some big order.

You feel that he needs some "rest and relaxation" before running this rather than after?    LOL!

[Dottonedan]

 I meant R&D.  You're a cantankerous sort.  LOL.

[bulldog]

Here is an article with video where Lon does this effect with plastisol but I imagine the techniques would be similar for WB:

http://apparelopolis.com/how-to-faux-water-base-effect/

[tonypep]

Been there done that a long time ago. We call it Watermark and it uses DC and Pls. Often used as an element of design rather than the entire graphic. Picture a tonal Watermark of a theme park background with the animated characters in full color in the foreground. Background changes colors depending on the shirt ground. Did this for the mouse.