to rip or not to rip -please help

[mud goodsleeve]

being mainly a textile printer and just venturing into the poster world i really have no need for super fine halftones. Now that i am doing alot of posters i am stuck.

i am using ulano qx-1 or proclaim emulsion.
i have an epson 1400 and use ulano films but the epson ink doesnt seem to be dark enough on the film to give me a nice crisp burn during exposure.

ive played with the print controls and had no luck

i have tried over exposure, underexposure(ryonet said to do that-ha!)

i was thinking of gettin accurip and the "black maxxx" package said to have the best possible output. but the software is expensive and to buy the ink and software is a little out of budget right now.

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

[crosshair]

Before you go spending $$ on a rip, make sure it isn't something else.
Light source? If light is coming from all around (i.e., bank of flo tubes), it will undercut and you'll never get a good burn of a fine ht.

[mud goodsleeve]

my table has brand new bulbs thats what i thought it might be from the start so i bought new.yes it is just a shell with 6 long tube bulbs in it. is this bad? this is what i bought when i bought my press

[halfmassive]

I use a 1400 and get very good films from it. Make sure you have to set to quality over speed (photo rpm setting), black ink only, and for paper setting I find ultra premium matte works best for me. There are a couple threads mentioning print setting with this printer. Try the search for those. As for your light source I'm not help in that category I just use halogens.

[Andymac]

hmmmm, this came up the other day with a customer. Like Dan sez, it could be some other things besides your film. And the edge on inkjet produced films is not necessarily the greatest, even with a rip. 1440 dpi is not the same output as 3600 or 4800 or the knife edge on some rubylith.

a quick check would be to get some good sharp dense film and burn it the same (same emulsion, coating pattern, screen meshcolour, exposure time, washout) if it is beautiful, then you can assume it is your film.

But you can have beautiful film and still get a fuzzy/shitty burn on fine detail. Let me count the ways....

Bad contact - with no vacuum, you may have a space between the film and the emulsion. If you have some good parts and some bad during washout, this is a sign for this problem

Yellow mesh vs white mesh - this is why they invented yellow and orange mesh - white mesh bounces light and will not give you sharp edges on your stencil in high detail situations.

Crappy emulsion - You know how in all other areas of life, there is shitty and good? You know, like cars...a firefly or a ferrarri? they're both cars? It's like this with emulsions! but good news....the price difference for good and bad is like $5 for a quart. that's like 10 or 15 cents per screen. High solids, fine detail. they all have rating charts.

Lights and exposure system. To expose the finest detail, a point light is usually the way to go, with enough distance back to avoid undercutting. but you also need a vacuum with blanket.

Emulsion side up - when making film, it is important your emulsion on your film is in contact with the emulsion of your screen. If it isn't you will get undercutting on super fine detail, regardless of a vacuum blanket.

Incomplete washout - when exposing detail, wash with a fine strong needle spray top side and bottom side. I know shops that blast process colour work and fine detail with a pressure washer, not enough to wreck the stencil edge, but enough to clean off the last bits of unexposed emulsion. If you have weak stencils, don't try this.

[ImJustRickG]

I am always just in awe that Andy Mac is so willing to share his vast knowledge. And even more so that he's willing to do it over and over and over and over.

Yes, getting a rip and buying a bunch of new equipment does NOT seem like the answer. There are a half-dozen variables in your current setup; the problem is there. You can fix this without a big outlay of cash.

[mud goodsleeve]

awesome thank you guys i am going to start with the set up halfmassive said..i had my settings a little different than that hopefully that is the answer.
i am not using a vacum, i have a big piece of foam i place in the screen then two boards and a bunch of water juggs
im pretty sure the ulano emulsion isnt a cheapy as i am paying almost $70 a gallon-i know alot of shops that use it and they have good results..this is really frustrating when i see them do it and for some reason im running the same equiptment and i can not

i have been using the yellow mesh and not the white

im pretty sure it is in the printer(not me,well maybe me haha) the epson so i will start there

thank you everyone for your help-i really do appreciate it

[mud goodsleeve]

holy sh*t! amazing what changing the "paper style" and rpm did for me. nice black films that expose perfectly..i havent tried it with halftones yet but the screen i just exposed seemed like the emulsion "jumped out" of the screen. usually i have to rub it a bit with my hand and get it motivated..

thank you half massive and everyone else you have helped me out a ton here..
still trying to find the setting for black ink only but so far films are great!

thanks again

-mud goodsleeve

[ImJustRickG]

usually i have to rub it a bit with my hand and get it motivated.

Blonde, where are you on this?