Discharge Printing

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Art_Maverick
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Discharge Printing

Post by Art_Maverick »

Hello All,
I read an article in the magazine Printwear on water-based printing. I know water-based inks are used on light colored shirts, and discharge water-based inks are used on dark colored shirts. The discharge removes the initial t-shirt color and replaces it with another water-based ink. What I've seen is pretty cool. The colors pop on black. Color is challenging, especially when the brand says 100% cotton, but then doesn't behave like 100% cotton and more like a 50/50 mix.

This is my question. I saw a picture in the article of a black shirt with gradient wings (predominately yellow with orange gradient tips). There was gray and blue in the design which could easily be discharged since they're a single color each. How do you do a gradient print in discharge? 1. Print the yellow with discharge and flash it to start the curing, and then do an orange gradient in water based? 2. Clear discharge print it, flash to cure it, and then do wet on wet water-based yellow followed by orange? 3. Clear discharge it, flash to cure it, and then print it with reduced to water-based consistency plastisol?
G'Day,
Art_Maverick
Jeremy
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Re: Discharge Printing

Post by Jeremy »

I like your idea of using the yellow as an underbase and overlapping the orange. Other than a color change of the orange (having a yellow underbase), this would probably work fine if you're willing to spare some production time for that yellow to achieve the actual garment discharge/color change before laying down the orange. Your second idea sounds pretty much what I would do. Of course, I've not seen the artwork either. But from what it sounds like, I would use a white discharge (I'd personally use plasticharge) underbase on a 150-180 mesh screen followed by yellow and then orange on a 180-230 mesh screen with plasticol inks + reducer + softhand additive. Some overlap on plasticol inks makes little to no difference, and should probably be designed to do so.

Good luck, don't know if this helped, but it sounds like you're thinking about the process correctly.
Art_Maverick
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Re: Discharge Printing

Post by Art_Maverick »

Hey,
Thanks for the response. We haven't tried it yet. The summer has gotten busy. I've included a copy of the artwork.
Ken
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Re: Discharge Printing

Post by Tagless Threads »

if your printing with discharge dont use any plastisol at all, thats the point of discharge and water-based ink...the soft feel. All of you questions can be answered in photoshop of illustrator, this design is 4 colors maybe 5 if u want a white detail overlay. Grey, blue, orange and yellow, the orange and yellow are two gradients overlapping as the fade goes, the discharge will mix on the shirt to create a yellow to orange perfectly as long as the art is done correctly.
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