Printing positive film for screen printing

Nicholas

I'm an experienced embroiderer with moderate digitizing and I'm trying to do screen printing. I won't be printing for customers yet however until I feel confident in my screen printing abilities. I'm seeking some opinions on what printer you guys use for printing positive film. Thank you.

Regards,
Nicholas

Inked

I've been using Epson 3000 with FastRip for years now. Very happy with it.

RogerG

Got Epson 1520 on Windows 2000. For the RIP I'm using Ghostscript.

ScottyStitches

xante or gcc

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ScottyStitches

imranali1980

hi mates,

what do you mean RIP in screen printing terminology.

what type of mrinter do you use, inkjet?, and is the print just a normal print?

brothersprinting

I use a hp laserjet 5000n. I just print my image onto vellum then use toner aid to darken the toner on the vellum before I burn my screen.

tompainesbones

A RIP converts the postscript file (which you make when you print to separations) to the language of your printer.
I like (sell & support) Wasatch and Epson printers, the 4450 for example.

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Dave UK imagesetters and Wasatch RIP

1965

very good info for me too
thanks to all that gives actual real and authentic info!
Can someone tell little more about filmoutput pricing in his own area?
I mean its selfprice and final-to-customer pricing.
What I am considering is to know if I can use that same USA inkjet technology too, will it be effectivly working for me.
I live on another side of the globe..
Or nearby

ncimedia

Your film output device choice may depend to some degree on what you intend on printing and how much volume you expect to have. We use an Agfa 800 Imagesetter. We went that route for a couple reasons. First, we print mostly CDs/DVDs and other higher resolution hard surface items. Films from an imagesetter have higher density (blacker dots) then what you'll get from an ink-jet. We consider anything with a density below 3.9 to be on the light side. You'll be lucky to get that dark ever with an ink-jet. Thats important when producing the higher resolution halftones (100/120 LPI) that we do. Also, those higher resolutions demand tighter registration tolerances. Imagesetters are specifically designed to produce separations very accurately so the dots in your C M Y and K films will register accurately. Finally, there's the cost. We can make 14" wide films for about $0.80/foot as a flat cost. This is not dependent on coverage as would be the case with an ink or toner based system - so large areas of solid black don't increase the cost's per film. If you're going to produce lots of films or need high resolution, consistent results for process printing I would go this route ... or look at a direct to screen imager. These Imagesetters can be picked up on the used market for about $3000 including the imagesetter, RIP and film processor. You'll have to deal with the wet chemistry, but we've found thats not to big of an issue and the benefits outweigh the inconveniences.

tompainesbones

You can get over 4.0 OD on an inkjet.
Now OD=1 stops 90% of the light
OD = 2 stops 99% of the light
OD = 3 stops 99.9% and
OD = 4 stops 99.99%
Anything over 3 is fine for screenprint, laser films can often be down towards 2, it just gives you a poor exposure latitude.
It makes no difference what the lpi is for resolution because on the scale of the wavelength of light 120lpi and 40lpi are both HUGE.

But there are many ways to produce film and whatever works for you...

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Dave UK imagesetters and Wasatch RIP