Author Topic: Greyscale printing help  (Read 1869 times)

Offline tonyt79

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 222
Greyscale printing help
« on: December 16, 2015, 11:33:25 AM »
I guess my customer and I do not agree on what would be greyscale. We are looking at doing a texas flag in greyscale. My first toughts were to print it black,grey, and white, but the customer doesn't want any black. I made a sample with halftones (80%, 55%, 30% black) the contrast was good but the customer thought it looked to much like a newspaper. They want 3 different greys solid. I am not sure how to go about this without alot of trial and error. I thought about manipulating the underbase, but the greys dont seem to be affected by the underbase besides just making the print smoother. Any ideas?


Offline mimosatexas

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4221
  • contributor
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2015, 11:45:27 AM »
If they want specific grays, I would bring a flag into photoshop, hit grayscale, eyedropper each section and get the pantone, show them the book, charge them for the custom mix, and shake your head when it doesnt look as good as black/gray/white.

Offline Sbrem

  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6055
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2015, 12:00:37 PM »
What's the shirt color? And, don't let the customer tell you how to print, just wow them. This image is 2 Whites (one under the red, the other in the grayscale), Gray and Red. the face is gray first, white second.

Steve
I made a mistake once; I thought I was wrong about something; I wasn't

Offline ravenmark

  • Verified/Junior
  • **
  • Posts: 81
  • Derek
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2015, 12:03:16 PM »
2 ideas, Vector it by hand. If it is a photo, mess with the levels turning adjusting the black to about a cool grey 11 shade and index it. Or do the same and run a vector trace. Totally depends on the look they are wanting.

Offline Sbrem

  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6055
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2015, 12:06:34 PM »
Sorry, here's a photo of the real print... (iPhone photo a bit brighter than real life)

Steve
I made a mistake once; I thought I was wrong about something; I wasn't

Offline Colin

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1610
  • Ink and Chemical Product Manager
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2015, 12:13:06 PM »
Can you post a jpeg of what the flag looks like?

It will help a lot with suggestions.
Been in the industry since 1996.  5+ years with QCM Inks.  Been a part of shops of all sizes and abilities both as a printer and as an Artist/separator.  I am now the Ink and Chemical Product Manager at Ryonet.

Offline tonyt79

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 222
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2015, 12:43:29 PM »
the problem is that it is not a true picture. It is a Texas Flag. Attached is a color image of what they are looking for.

Offline tonyt79

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 222
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2015, 12:49:15 PM »
here is how i did it for the test print. The darker color doesnt look real smooth in the picture.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2015, 12:52:15 PM by tonyt79 »

Offline mimosatexas

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4221
  • contributor
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2015, 01:17:27 PM »
Only real question I have is why is the white in the flag not white?  As for the other colors, they would work for me and look like half a dozen similar texas flag and american flag grayscale prints I have done.  What exactly do they want?

Offline tonyt79

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 222
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2015, 01:24:29 PM »
They are wanting 3 greys, no black no white. That was not my initial thoughts but came up when sending over a digital proof.   I told them I thought it would look best black grey white and I think I am going to back to that conversation with them.

Offline Frog

  • Administrator
  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13980
  • Docendo discimus
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #10 on: December 16, 2015, 02:59:39 PM »
Like was mentioned, three spot colors if he doesn't want "dots"
Show him your stock grays, or/and whip out the Pantone book and charge accordingly.
That rug really tied the room together, did it not?

Offline 3Deep

  • !!!
  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 5325
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #11 on: December 16, 2015, 04:37:37 PM »
When customer's tell me how to do my job I charrrgge them for it, with a smile on my face
Life is like Kool-Aid, gotta add sugar/hardwork to make it sweet!!

Offline kingscreen

  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1161
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #12 on: December 16, 2015, 06:27:05 PM »
What about this?

White = Cool Grey 4
Red =  Cool Grey 7
Navy - Cool Grey 11

All spot.
Scott Garnett
King Screen

Offline tonyt79

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 222
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #13 on: December 16, 2015, 07:45:55 PM »
What about this?

White = Cool Grey 4
Red =  Cool Grey 7
Navy - Cool Grey 11

All spot.
Talked with them and think we are going with
White= white
red= light grey
Blue= dark grey
Standard wilflex colors
On a Navy shirt. Still think black,grey, white would be the way to go. I don't think the dark grey will be dark enough. But oh well

Sent from my SM-N915T using Tapatalk


Offline LoneWolf2

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 283
Re: Greyscale printing help
« Reply #14 on: December 16, 2015, 07:51:37 PM »
Sometimes you just can't fix stupid.