Will a 1 color discharge work well enough for this?

[Evo]

Peel back the midtones 40-50% in the rip.

55 lpi definitely, but I'd do like 75/25 base to white.

Thin the ink with a bit of water and add some retarder to keep the halftones open. (or not...depends on the ink brand)

[tonypep]

When executed correctly I can safely say that sim pro DC completely kills plastisol version. Not allowed to post recent pics but we have done side by sides and there is a significant reduction in dot gain. In fact, the discharge reaction results in a far better contiinuous tone result, causing the dots to blend together and disappear altogether. Not to say we can't do it with plas it's just far better the other way. Don't want to be redundant with pics but if you search carefully enough you should find a peg of Indian Motorcycle pin up girl somewhere here or  someone can re-post it. She's 8 colors no base.
Pic is blurry if I remember. I have a Pat Benatar 4 color that I can post later that should better demonstrate this. Not picking a fight but if you choose to truly embrace the process most will see what I mean.

[tonypep]

If you are able to zoom this should demonstrate

[TCT]

Tony- without divulging too many of your secretes, are there any major differences you go through when printing DC sim process vs plastisol?  Art run pretty much the same also? 

[tonypep]

Just as w/plas each job is different. Here I served as art director/technical director/ ink mixer/ screen maker/ printer/etc. Part of a pet project, it is a deceptive image to say the least

[TCT]

Tony- Don't take this the wrong way, but do you have political writers write some of your posts?
Your last answer I feel very informed, but still so incredibly clueless!!!

With so much secrecy on your end I am starting to think you do all your stuff DTG and all the equipment pics you post are stock photos!


I am really hoping all the smiley faces help illustrate and communicate my sarcasm!            

[tonypep]

Ha! Sorry but can only lead you to water (pun intended) the rest is on you. That last image is almost haunting and was designed to have an organic painterly feel. Anyone care to guess what the type says?

[Orion]

Google translate leads me to believe the bottom half of that image is missing...

[TCT]

Ha! Sorry but can only lead you to water (pun intended) the rest is on you. That last image is almost haunting and was designed to have an organic painterly feel. Anyone care to guess what the type says?

You want us to come kiss you.... Is that how we get information?

[tonypep]

Well played sir, well played.

[ebscreen]

Dot wise I would absolutely agree that discharge will kill it every time. We print some fades in which
you can't even see the dots at all. I'll post pics today if I get a chance. I'd go so far as to say that sometimes
discharge even blends too much, which I've certainly never said about plastisol.

My comment was basically saying that a lot of the sim-process that we print relies on top colors being printed both on and off an underbase,
that underbase being halftoned in areas and solid in others, to create (or try to create) three shades of a single color. You really can't do
that with discharge. We recently printed a design that I had thought about doing discharge for but would have required two extra screens
as opposed to plastisol. Again I'll try and post a picture later today.

It is very image dependent.

[tonypep]

Actually we view the ptone underbase as a bit of a crutch. There are ways to work around it. We can achieve as many shades of a single color as we like with no UB. Also true process printing in DC is better IMO

[TCT]

Tony your opinion seems to be so obscure, can you elaborate on it alt all? The better and exact details the better....It paints a better picture for all of us.

Can't blame me for trying!

[tonypep]

Think of the fabric in terms of a canvass (they are not always white) here we create multiple shades of whit and gray with one screen (I've posted this pic before, I know)

[ebscreen]

Okay here's my example in why I favor underbasing for sim-process.
In the attached crude picture, we've got six total perceptible colors.
(didn't mean to make the Mexican flag, just happened)


If I was to print this with discharge, I'd have two options:

1. Print six separate colors, requiring six screens.

2. Print only the bright colors, haltoning the dark shades. Requires three screens.

I'm not a big fan of halftoning for large swatches of solid colors. This would also require that
the ground be black, and would not work on many other color shirts. Unless there is something I don't
know about?



Printing with plastisol, I'd underbase (DC preferably) the bright colors and let the rest fall on the ground.
This would require four total screens, and while somewhat dependent on ground color, should work well on
most. This also creates a BIG dynamic between the color over the base and the color on the ground. Halftoning, not so much.

I know my example is big blocks, and most sim-process is not, but I think it gets my point across. Again, very
image dependent, we've printed a number of all discharge sim-process designs that worked beautifully. But
generally speaking, we're underbasing for most of it.