Images_Digital_Edition_February_2020

STEP-BY-STEP: THE PRINT PROCESS www.images-magazine.com FEBRUARY 2020 images 61 TIPS & TECHNIQUES Pantone 191C 1 Pantone 285C 4 Pantone 122C 2 Black 5 Pantone 3385C 3 Highlight 6 A s I wanted smooth colours and it was going on an auto (an M&R Diamondback), I went for 65lpi with an angle of 22°. If I'd been printing manually I would have dropped it down to 45-55lpi. I put these 65 line halftones on 120T statics with a yellow mesh – you get better halftones on a yellow mesh because it absorbs light and stops it spreading. On a white mesh, there's greater risk of losing the fine halftone dots through undercutting when exposing. I exposed the screens for one minute. On press I used 62-90-62 durometer squeegees all at a 10° angle – it helps to lower your angle for each screen when printing wet- on-wet as you will lay down more ink with less pressure, which will help to reduce pick up. The ink order I used is shown below. The colour inks are Union Mixopake, the black is Wilflex Epic Rio Mixing Black, and the highlight is Total Ink Solutions Bright White – this is the best white ink I've ever used! Remember: ink viscosity, pressure, flood and print speed are all variables on press and each of them will have an impact your print. www.redoakroller.co.uk