Honestly, I switch back and forth based on the art. On something like this, it might be beneficial to do the black first to prevent it covering up detail, or it might be beneficial to print it last to help trap. <snip>
Exactly why I am going to try it this time.
This little guy is kinda cool and we always want him to look JUUUUUUST like the pic. It does't always work like that though.
Sometimes, WU is on black shirts. Sometimes on Gold (or yellow) or even Burnouts, Night Shirts, or Sweats. Sometimes he's imposed over a medallion. And every size imaginable. Sometimes, he's got the vintage distressed look. The bulk of these designs are retailed from our store, but we print for local shops too. I dislike that I can't always "hit it" with a reliable level of perfection.
I'm definitely going to shoot these planning for black down 1st. It might be the answer to repeatability. I don't know the term (embarrased) for ink spreading--the spot color equivalent to dot gain--and I don't know if there are any formulas.
But a .005 or .008 "spread" is NOTHING whatever on a large design. On this design, I chase my tail sometimes.
It's like if you're trying to vectorize poor art, and doing some hand editing of "nodes". The hardest places seem to be facial elements...like nose, eyes or lips. The hardest blocks of spot color I print are these little WU mascots. People are used to looking at him, and just like a face, a little error is INSTANTLY wrong looking.