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For example, screen printing on apparel typically involves printing halftones in a range of 35-65
LPI. There may be occasions where you want the halftone to be very noticeable and
exaggerated for a special effects look, where you may want to go down to a 25 LPI size halftone
which will produce a very noticeably large dot.
If you are printing four color or simulated process color with a manual screen printing press it is
recommended that you print from 45-55 LPI.
If you have a high end automatic screen printing press along with a point light source exposure
unit and are using professionally produced film positives you may want to consider printing 65
LPI.
If you are new to halftone printing we suggest you experiment with various LPI sizes so you can
see what the limitations of the equipment are in your particular shop.
The ideal halftone dot shape for printing on apparel is an elliptical dot. When outputting your film
through Adobe Photoshop or similar programs choose an elliptical dot shape whenever
possible.
If that is not possible, make round halftone dots your second choice.
Regarding the screen angles which refers to the alignment of the dots as they reference to each
individual color in the print order, a good rule of thumb for simulated process printing is to use
an angle of 56 degrees for the white underbase and 26 degrees for all other colors including
black.
One of the main purposes of adjusting the dot angles is to minimize or eliminate a moire
pattern.
MOIRÉ PATTERNS
Moiré in multi-color prints is covered in more detail in the chapter on simulated process screen
printing.
The ideal halftone dot on a film positive will be as dense a color black as possible and each
succeeding color separation will line up in registration as perfectly as possible. Because of that
you will find that ink jet positives or professional made film positives will produce a film positive
that is vastly superior to using vellum paper.
Vellum paper will shrink as it is going through the laser printing causing a slight registration
error. And the toner deposited on vellum paper from a laser printer cannot produce a dot as
dark as can be obtained from an inkjet printer onto ink jet film.
Use the sharp edge of the scoop coater for mesh counts of 162 and up. Most jobs involving
fine detail and/or small halftone dots do not require a heavy ink deposit and you'll want to be
able wash out the image on the screen easily. The sharp edge of the scoop coater deposits
less emulsion on the screen resulting in a thin ink deposit on the printed product. For mesh
counts of 162-305 and up put just one coat of the emulsion on the print side and one coat of
emulsion on the inside using the sharp edge of the scoop coater.
For apparel printing, we recommend the following mesh counts for halftone printing. 162-200
for the white underbase and 305 mesh for all top colors. If you are printing large halftones from
25-35 lpi, you can use mesh counts as low as 140.
If you are burning screens that contain large halftone dots (25-35 lpi), almost any light source
will work provided you have a dense black film positive. When burning halftone screens it is
important to expose them for the correct amount of time. Over exposure will result in a screen
that is difficult or impossible to wash the dots out.
An under exposed screen will result in the dots being “washed away” during the screen wash
out process. Also be sure to blot out the screens with newsprint or newspaper after the wash
out process so no clogging will occur during the screen drying process.
As was previously noted, care must be taken when washing out any screen that contains
halftones. If your screen is exposed properly you should not experience any problems.
Washing out a screen containing halftone dots should not be any more difficult than washing
out any other type of screen.
PRINTING HALFTONES
This discussion is limited to manual screen printing only. The angle, pressure, and speed at
which you pull the squeegee will effect how a halftone dot is printed on the substrate.
Our recommendation is to use as little pressure as possible to clear the ink from the screen
and to print at a regular and deliberate speed at a normal squeegee angle.
You want to try to print “like you are a machine” with consistent, repeatable strokes of the
same angle, pressure and speed. Automatic screen printing machines always produce a better
result than a manual printer and your goal is to try to “emulate an automatic press” in your
printing technique.
Printing halftone dots by hand to achieve good looking prints requires a certain amount of
practice and experimentation.
Further, it is recommended that the squeegees that you use for printing halftones have sharp
blades that are free of nicks and other imperfections and are of medium, hard, or multi-
durometer.
Again, practice makes perfect. The more experience that you have, the better you will become
at printing halftones.
As mentioned above, it is important that you limit the number of strokes, be mindful of your
squeegee angle, and control ink buildup on the bottom of the screen once that starts to
become a problem.
Dot gain is simply the function of the halftone dot enlarging in size during the printing process.
While it can not be eliminated completely, it can be controlled to some extent by using the
proper printing techniques described and by periodic “wiping clean” the bottom of the screens
during the print run.
Published by:
American Screen Printing Association, Inc.
www.aspaUSA.com