Images_Digital_Edition_August_2019

Photo credit: All images courtesy of Rick Roth at Mirror Image There will always be that one particle that sticks to your face no matter what you do to try to remove it www.images-magazine.com TIPS & TECHNIQUES AUGUST 2019 images 61 push the ink through the thick well you have created. Thick ink is best for this and some companies sell enhanced ink with a good high-solid count for this purpose. If you use thin ink it will sag and won’t have the ability to hold a well-defined edge; if you use expanding ink it will give a rounded top and edge (not what we want with HD prints). Look for the HD or high-build description in the ink selection. Again, this ink is printed last to avoid pick-up. The gradual build-up of multiple screens flashed every time can give some great results, just don’t forget to raise the off-contact at every screen to keep layering on top of the previous high-build print. Metallic impact Printed metallics are an easy addition to a print and can add real impact. Like the other special effects, they should be printed last to avoid screens picking off the top layer of ink and removing the shine or lustre that you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Metallic inks are available in a limited colour range and usually centre around gold, silver and bronze. However, with a little creativity, you can make multiple shades by adding very small amounts of colour (experiment with trichromatic colours as these are weak in pigment). A water-based metallic base is a great way to play with the available options as the same base can be used as a starting point – simply by adding yellow and red you can be a true alchemist and turn silver into gold. Open mesh counts are required for this process and fine detail is not encouraged as the metallic elements don’t stand out visually. All that glitters Glitter is a very sparkly way to pick out elements of a design. The techniques for glitter are also relatively simple and follow the same rules as the previous special effects: print them last or flash Tony Palmer has been in the garment decoration industry for over 30 years and is now an independent print consultant working closely with print shops to get the most from existing processes and techniques. Tony is passionate about keeping and enhancing production skill levels within the industry. He is the owner and consultant at Palmprint Consultants, offering practical help and assistance to garment decorators all over the globe. www.palmprintuk.com them. Glitter is basically small particles of reflective material in a carrier base. These particles must pass through the mesh so a lower mesh count is required: I prefer a 22t mesh but this limits the amount of fine detail you can print. Glitter can be purchased as a ready- to-use ink or glitter powder that can be added to a carrier. It can also be sprinkled onto wet clear ink to create stunning elements in a clever design. This is my least preferred method, however, as it leaves little particles of glitter everywhere. These are removed from the print using a vacuum device at the end of the dryer, but there will always be that one particle that sticks to your face no matter what you do to try to remove it! Reflective ink Not really a metallic and not a glitter either, reflective ink utilises the ‘cats’ eyes’ phenomenon of glass-like particles that reflect light back to the source. I have used many reflective inks and found the most impressive to be water-based. I believe this is due to the carrier not being as sticky or opaque and allowing a greater amount of light to bounce back. Reflective inks add a great safety function to hi-visibility garments and can offer a great special effect to other garments. Again, this process uses particles so open mesh counts are a requirement to allow the particles to pass through the mesh and, once again, reflective ink needs to be printed last in the print order. High shine Foil is a superb method of achieving a high-shine image, but it is a secondary process – and this should always be reflected in the pricing. The process involves printing a clear glue, drying the glue and then moving the garment to the heat press department. A very thin layer of metallic foil is applied, using heat and pressure to melt the glue. The foil is kept in contact until the glue has cooled and adhered to the foil, then the excess foil is peeled away. This method gives a great retail feel to garments; however, the foil sticks to anything solvent-based so other colours in the design must either have a foil blocker additive or be water- based. Discharge is great for this. Tactile prints encourage people to look then touch This print combines high-build and metallics