SCREEN PRINTING Tricks of the trade with screen printing expert, Kes Cracknell, of Ram Promotions T Litho back-up transfers
his month Iʼm going to talk about litho back-up transfers. In the last six months our print shop has seen more and more orders coming in for full colour work on coloured or dark
garments.
Our usual way of dealing with this would be to convert CMYK into a number of spot colours and this has worked very well but with this recession still hanging around, budgets have been reduced and clients are looking for less costly ways of producing CMYK designs onto their textiles.
This is where we have found litho back-up transfers work very
well. Traditionally they have been used for the retail sector of the garment decoration industry, but they now also have a strong place in the promotional market.
What are litho back-up transfers?
Litho-back up transfers take their name from the combination of CMYK litho set inks and a screen printed back-up plastisol white, giving almost photographic quality.
Printing tips Papers/inks
Silicon release papers are available from most of your usual suppliers. Lithographic transfer inks are again available from your usual suppliers.
A lithographic printer
When requiring a lithographic printer I have always found local to be best as you will have to ship your chosen litho printer the paper, which can be costly so local is ideal. The paper needs to stay at a moderate temperature (very important). Your litho printer will have to use litho transfer inks NOT his standard inks.
Once the silicon paper is printed the inks need to be 100% dry before any shipping takes place. We usually allow 24hrs before having any litho printed transfer papers delivered to us here at Ram.
Plastisol backing
Here at Ram we use a special back-up transfer plastisol ink that we print through mostly 48 meshes. Obviously, this will always depend on the design. We then print with an M&R Saturn but any flat bed with a vacum will do.
Curing the plastisol backing requires around 30 seconds at 100-120C.
Heat application
Litho back-up tranfers need to be heat pressed at 160-180 for 12 seconds BUT always test your transfer with your heat press for quality of application before mass production.
Top tips
n Only the area backed with the transfer plastisol will transfer onto your garment.
n Once the litho ink has been printed I recommend backing within a few days.
n Litho backed transfers do not have to be applied immediately and have a very good shelf life (up to two years or so).
nWash resistance up to 40C, not suitable for dry cleaning or direct ironing.
About the author
Kes Cracknell has always been involved in the promotional printing industry and started Ram Promotions in 1994. Ram screen prints garments for promotional, school wear and retail companies. In 2010, Ram expanded its print floor and now prints more than 60,000 garments a week. Ram now decorates garments only for the trade.
ABOVE: Printing on the M&R Saturn – but any flat bed with a vacuum will do the job.
RIGHT: The finished job.
n With adhesive powders added after the plastisol, back-up transfers can be applied to nylons.
n With this process no PMS matching can take place. n For more information or to discuss topics for this column, email Kes Cracknell at
info@ram-promotions.co.uk, call 01277 366164 or visit
www.ram-promotions.co.uk
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
March 2013 | 27 |
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