Screen Printing - August/September 2013 - (Page 16)

expert apparel Color ManageMent for SCreen Printing thomas trimingham Thomas Trimingham has worked in screen printing for more than 21 years as an industry consultant, freelance artist, and high-end separator. He is an award-winning illustrator, designer, and author of more than 110 articles on screen-printing art and separations. For more information, contact him through his Website, www.screenprintingartist.com. Removing variables in evaluating and controlling color is critical to quality on press. C olor management can be a challenge for screen printers, because the media that we print is constantly changing. A printer may have different shirt colors, different fabrics, strange garments, and a huge variety of art sources that are provided to color match. Before the actual inks on the press can be matched to the art sources from a customer, a few steps can be taken to ensure that colors can be properly dealt with and that time won’t be wasted by making assumptions prior to the actual method of ink-to-screen matching. It is always a good practice to first review a color to see how different the actual creation of color is depending upon the way light is displayed. Once the methods of color creation are understood from each visual display of a specific color, then the best and fastest method of color reproduction can be determined. Follow the path of the color as it is displayed in each of the three areas: from the first preview in a manual or digital sample, after it is duplicated or edited and then sent back out as an art proof, and finally as a production proof and on-press ink sample. Color review figure 1 Color hue figure 2 Color values 16 screenprinting A quick look at the properties of color and how they work with the different displays common in a screen-printing shop will help to illustrate the challenges that can crop up in the day-to-day color-managing process. First, the most common components of color itself are hue, saturation, and value. Hue This quality in color is the specific wavelength of light that is reflected and, therefore, creates the color. If a color shows as Royal Blue, then what that means is that all of the other colors in the wavelength of light are absorbed into the surface and only the blue is reflected (Figure 1). http://www.screenprintingartist.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Screen Printing - August/September 2013

Screen Printing - August/September 2013
Contents
Editorial Insights
New Products
The Social-Media Revolution
Color Management for Screen Printing
Slam-Dunk Solutions for Screen Cleaning
Tools and Techniques for the Inkroom
Distributor/dealer Directory
Classifieds
Ad Index
Shop Talk

Screen Printing - August/September 2013