Printing On The Dark Side: Four-Color Or Simulated Process?
Printing a full color image on a dark shirt is one of the
hardest jobs a screen printer faces. Regular four-color process
uses transparent inks: Cyan (sky blue), Magenta (hot pink),
Yellow and Black) which print in various percentages, blending
together to form a wide range of colors. While this process
works beautifully on a white shirt, the results can be
disappointing on dark shirts, requiring a white underbase and
multiple passes of colors ending up with a thick ink layer and
muddy color. While good four-color process can be done on a dark
shirt, to do so takes a great deal of experimentation, time, and
tweaking during the print run. But there is another way to
achieve similar results much more easily.
Simulated process uses opaque inks and in more than just four
colors, often between six and eight (usually White, Red, Yellow,
Green, Dark Blue, Light Blue, Gray, and Purple). Simulated
process colors are usually printed wet-on-wet, with few flashes
(a drying process while the shirt is still on the press). For
example, to create a flesh tone simulated process would use a
mixture of tan, opaque yellow and possibly white. Since the
colors are opaque, the dark background becomes a non-issue (or
at least much less of one). And if individual, particular colors
are needed (for example a exact shade of red for a business
logo) they can be mixed to specification and individually
printed.
So why would you want to use four-color process at all? When
done correctly and successfully, it is the most accurate version
of full color reproduction. And for shops with smaller presses
with fewer heads available, the multiple colors required for
simulated process may not be possible at all. Also for subtle,
nuanced art with slight changes in tone, such as pastels, the
bright, solid colors of simulated process do not work well.
While screen printing images on dark shirts may be difficult,
the results can be amazing and are worth the time and effort
involved regardless of which type of printing you use.