Help! Problem printing record covers

[Dave Bailey]

Got a job printing 500 LP sleeves and I have a major problem printing the back of the sleeve. The design has a large black area near the sleeve opening, and the sleeve/ink is lifting stuck to the screen. As it breaks away it leaves a halo on the image.

I've not printed record sleeves before, but got the fronts all done eventually. after having a similar problem! I just increased the off contact to about half an inch before everything went OK. The design on the front is more central though.

That's not working on the back, and I don't feel that I can increase the off-contact any more.

I have a piece of thick card inside the sleeve. It is a tight fit, but still allows the mouth of the sleeve to gape by nearly an inch. Could I 'bluetack' the sleeve to the card insert? Any other way of keeping the sleeve closed?

Any suggestions welcome!

Many thanks
Dave

[phoondaddy]

Post a pic of your set up, that will give people more of an understanding of the problem and you'll get more straight forward answers.

My first thought is to change the direction you are pulling your squeegee.

[paul204]

Not sure how much of a concern opacity is but you can always thin your inks to reduce their tack, which will make them less likely to cause the sleeves to follow your screen. If you are doing this a lot, consider printing the entire sleeve un-cut then afterwards send it to the die-cutter to be assembled. The people I work with them just cut/crease the sleeves out of the sheet and send them back to me, I glue them by hand.

Half-inch off-contact is bonkers.

[phoondaddy]

Half-inch off-contact is bonkers.

oh, and yes. This.

[Andymac]

using vacuum?

spin the cover and try printing from a different direction

try printing at an angle, so you are not hitting the cover square on (this works good on any large flood area)

when we have a bit of a print that wants to suck up and the vac won't hold it, take a piece of heavy paper and lay it or tape it on the table so a small bit of it extends over the area that is sucking up. this will hold the paper down while you print.

Sharp squeegee. finer mesh. thin your ink (but that was already suggested)

[B-DROID]

More beer helps too.

[Dave Bailey]

More beer helps too.

Well, you say that, but - oh my God, you're right!!!!!

[Dave Bailey]

Thanks for all the replies. To answer some of the questions:

Yes, I am using a vacuum table - homemade as per Andymacs design - thanks Andy
I haven't tried changing the direction of the squeegee. It's on my list, but I can't see how it will help in this instance
I agree that half inch off contact is bonkers - but it worked for the front of sleeve print! On the front of sleeve print though, the image is more central.

The back of sleeve image is virtually edge to edge, but with the top quarter, on the open side of the sleeve, being mostly solid black. There is no room for holding down the top part of the sleeve.

I'm going to try using a bit of bluetack inside the sleeve to hold it together, or maybe some low tack masking tape.

Is there someone out there who prints albums sleeves regularly who has a 'down pat' way of doing this?

All suggestions greatfully received!

Dave

[vrooooom]

If you have some space for it, you can try doing what I do for letterpress projects.

There's no vacuum on the side you're printing, because it's a sleeve, correct? So you need something to "peel" the substrate from your screen. Right now, that peel is too slow, and it's leaving a mark.

You can change your ink or change the substrate by adding the tack inside the sleeve.

You might be able to add a finger to your registration guides. Use a bit of stiff manila folder material to stick out and hold down the piece. Sometimes printing faster helps if you're pulling slowly. Is your emulsion sticky when printing? I notice this sometimes with underexposed screens. When the ink rehydrates them, they begin to gain some tack that causes an issue on certain stocks.

Take all this with a grain of salt. Remember this on the next job you accept.

Good luck!

[steve w]

the best way to print record sleeves is to print flat stock and have it die-cut and glued after printing.
I know that's not much help now, but for future reference...

Do what the smart guys say and try rotating the sleeves.
Good Luck