Want to supercharge your printing game? Add some dimensional texture, says Kieth Stevens of International Coatings
You are probably already familiar with how to incorporate puff inks into your prints – but how about using puff as an underbase?
This revolutionary twist will transform flat images into “captivating, three-dimensional masterpieces”, reports Kieth Stevens of screen printing ink manufacturer International Coatings (ICC).
“By strategically using puff as an underbase, you can add texture to specific areas of your design, drawing the eye and creating a truly immersive visual and tactile experience.”
International Coatings’ Axeon Non-PVC, Non-Phthalate ink line was used for this print.
“Axeon is revolutionary in that it prints just like plastisol, so no special emulsion is needed and it prints wet-on-wet. Thus it has a smaller carbon footprint than using typical water-based inks,” says Kieth.
For the colours, the team used Axeon’s UltraMix Color Matching System 1200 Series. The four PMS colours were mixed and matched using the company’s proprietary online formulation tool at www.iccultramix.com.
Top tip for when printing colours with puff or a puff underbase: the colours may not come out as vibrant once the puff expands. Therefore, select a colour that is a few shades darker than your desired final colour.
STEP-BY-STEP: PUFF BASE
(1) We chose an AI-generated image depicting a Thai-style wooden carving of a stylised lion
(2) The green areas mark the puff ink areas, while purple shows the glow-in-the-dark spots. The art was separated using halftone 55 lpi at 300 dpi. The film was printed using an Epson SureColor T7200 printer
(3) First, we printed a white underbase using Axeon White 1244 – this was also used as the highlight white. Then we printed the puff layer, which was the same white mixed with 20% Puff Additive 1620, using 110 mesh and double stroked the ink. Next, the four colours were applied, using Murakami’s Smartmesh 250-40 mesh screens at 22-23 newtons with Newman Roller Frames, followed by the highlight white and the highlight black (Axeon Stealth Black 1246), then finally the glow-in-the-dark ink
(4) Initially, with the puff ink, we used the same colour that the separation called for: PMS Warm Red C. However, once the puff worked its magic in the dryer, the colour was too light (see the lower part of the image) so we switched to a darker PMS 485C instead (see upper portion) to maintain the vibrancy of the original red colour
(5) Axeon Glow-in-the-Dark 1808 was used for the teeth portion. We printed this over an underbase of white, using a 110 mesh screen with a 400 micron capillary film. Since we wanted the teeth to stand out, we double stroked, flashed and double stroked the glow-in-the-dark for good measure
(6) This design was printed on black Cotton Heritage enzyme-washed ringspun shirts (MC1082). The fabric has minimal fibrillation and creates a very smooth substrate for our prints
(7) An M&R Sportsman E 10-colour machine was used to print this design. The print was then cured at 165°C for one minute using an M&R Mini Sprint International dryer. The temperature was set a bit higher than the standard curing temp to allow the puff ink to fully inflate
