Kevin Haas | kevinhaas.

com/printmkaing

Screenprinting
Creating Films for Screenprinting
Options for Creating Films
1. Hand drawn images on frosted mylar, or tracing paper.
2. Oiled photocopies, laser prints, or inkjet prints of drawings,
photographs, collages and appropriated material.
3. Inkjet transparencies printed from files created in Photoshop or
Illustrator.

Working with Frosted Mylar or Tracing Paper

The following materials work best for hand drawing opaque images:
Micron Pens, India Ink, China Markers, Litho Crayons, Black Acrylic
Paint, Technical Pens
After you complete your drawing it is best that you draw over it a second
time to assure that it is opaque enough to block the UV light from exposing
the screen. It is better to make your drawing heavier and darker than you
want, to assure that it does not print light, spotty or have lines that will
disappear.
For color separations, cut one sheet for each color to the size of your paper.
The sheets can be placed over a template on newsprint noting the image
size and composition of the print as a guide for drawing the separations.
The Mylar sheets can also be punched and registered with registration pins.

Working with Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers produce very fine photographic images by spraying tiny dots
of water-based ink onto the paper. These dots are far too fine and delicate
to block ultraviolet light when exposing your screen, or to be held in the
comparatively coarse mesh of the screen. To assure that the dots are large
enough, and opaque enough, your image must be adjusted in Photoshop
before printing it to film.
To help you visualize this, think of the screen mesh as a sieve: If the image
dots on your film are finer than the screen mesh, they will not be held in the
mesh to print later.

Kevin Haas | kevinhaas.com/printmkaing

The most common method for translating a continuous tone photograph or

other image with varying tonalities into a printable image, is to convert it into
a halftone. The halftone pattern is a grid of varying sized dots that create the
visual illusion of different tonal values. When properly printed on an inkjet
printer, the halftone dots will be opaque enough to block the ultraviolet light
used to expose the screen, and large enough that they will be held across
several threads of the screen mesh.
Although converting an image into a halftone in Photoshop is easy, it is
important to determine the correct size of the halftone dots for the screen
you are using, as well as the angle of the halftone grid so it will not conflict
with the grid of the screen mesh creating what is called a moire. Moire is the
dreaded scourge of the screenprinter: It occurs when two grids overlap in
such a way that they create rippling patterns in your final print. The settings
listed below, should help you avoid this problem, but testing and
experimenting are often necessary.
Creating a Halftone Bitmap
1. You will need a grayscale file that is at least 150ppi at the size you will
print it. This information can be checked by going to Image > Image
Size... in Photoshop.
2. Convert the image into a Bitmap: Go to Image > Mode > Bitmap. Set
your Output Resolution to 720 and Method to Halftone. The Output
Resolution should be your lpi x 16, and evenly divisible by your printers
maximum output resolution. For example, a 35lpi halftone needs an
Output Resolution of at least 560, but 720 is the next higher resolution
that is the inkjet printers resolution of 1440 evenly divided by 2.
3. Print your file and expose your film to your screen.
It is best to use a transparency film made for inkjet printers and
screenprinting films. The best printer media setting to use for these films is
Premium Glossy Photo Paper on Epson printers. This will assure the
maximum density of black, and a printing resolution of 1440dpi.
You can also print your bitmap files onto lightweight inkjet paper that can be
saturated with baby oil to make them transparent enough to expose to your
screen. Epson Singleweight Matte, or other inkjet paper lighter than 120gsm
will work.

Getting more from Threshold

The Threshold setting in Photoshop is an easy way to create a high contrast
black and white image to use for screenprinting. But you will often loose
more information than you would like with this option. To pull more out of
images with Threshold, create a Threshold adjustment layer, and then use
the dodge and burn tools on the image layer to bring back more information.

Kevin Haas | kevinhaas.com/printmkaing

The dodge tool will help bring back details in the black areas, and the burn
tool will help add details in the blasted out white areas.

Posterizations in Photoshop
You can make posterizations in Photoshop at the click of a button, but to get them
set up properly for screen printing takes a few more clicks. Posterizations work best
with grayscale files, and can be used to print the file in several grays or colors to
extend the tonal range of the image. Once your grayscale image is ready, complete
the following steps. When you set the number of levels, remember that one of them
is the white of the paper, provided that there is white in the image. This means that
typically you will have one more level than the number of colors you want to print.
1. Adjust the levels of your file to assure good contrast in your file. Go to Image >
Adjustments > Auto Levels.
2. To posterize your image, go to Image > Adjustments > Posterize...
3. Save your file as myimage-POSTER.psd (or anything that you can remember
later), to keep your original file unchanged. Now that the image has been broken
down into several values, you will need to extract each one to create a film to
expose your screen with.
4. Go to MB>Image>Adjust>Threshold. The space between the lines will indicate a
particular color with the darkest on the left and lighter colors on the right. Move
the slider under your first color to be printed on the right and click OK. Print the
image.
5. Go to MB>Edit>Undo Threshold or use the history palette (MB>Window>History
Palette) to return to the index color version of your file. Repeat the
Image>Threshold function to isolate the next color for printing. Keep repeating
these steps until all of your films are printed.

Numbers and Acronyms

ppi = pixels per inch (the resolution of your file)
lpi = lines per inch (lines of halftone dots)
dpi = dots per inch (pertains to printers)
General Formulas
optimal lpi for screenprinting = mesh 5. (approximately)
optimal resolution for halftone bitmap file = printer resolution 2
(For Epson printers this is 1440 2 = 720. This will avoid conflicts
between the file resolution and the printers resolution. Another way to
determine the resolution for a halftone bitmap is: lpi x 16. This will mean
that every halftone dot is created within a 16x16 grid of pixels, assuring
a maximum range of halftone dot sizes and apparent values.)

Kevin Haas | kevinhaas.com/printmkaing

Typical Halftone Screen Angles for Screenprinting

Black/Key Color: 22.5
Magenta/Medium Value Color: 52.5
Yellow/Lightest or very light colors: 82.5
Cyan/Medium Value Color: 112.5
These angles are different from offset printing screen angles, since with
screenprinting the angles 0, 90, and 45 must be avoided since they
will typically conflict with the screen mesh. 22.5 will usually work since
it is halfway between 0 and 45.
Remember
Laserprinters/Photocopiers = Halftone Dots and Plastic Toner
Inkjet Printers = Random Dither and Water-based Ink