Impressions - June/July 2015 - 57

light. An area with a ruby ﬁlter covering
the light source is preferred. Remember
that even if a tiny amount of light washes
over the screen, the damage cannot be reversed. And if too much light reaches the
screen, reclaim it.
Did you know that the emulsioncovered screen is sensitive to light even
after you have started washing it out after
exposure? So keep the lights off until the
screen has ﬁnished the developing process. When I hear that someone is having
trouble making a thick screen, I ﬁnd that
the problem usually stems from improper
handling prior to, during or after exposure.
Lastly, when printing through thick
emulsion, try not to print too small of
an image. This is because the ink will
remain in the screen and won't release
onto the garment.
* The Right Film: The other major
problem with exposing the thick screen is
the type of ﬁlm being used. Hold the ﬁlm
positive that you will use up to the light
or sun. If you see light passing through its
black portion, then you will not get the
best image. Use a ﬁlm or printer that can
give you an opaque black to block the light.
* The Correct Squeegee: Many printers don't have a large enough assortment
of squeegee durometers or proﬁle types.
Having the proper tools at your disposal
enables the ﬂexibility you need to create
the desired effect or look. For example,
when printing gel or glitter, a soft squeegee deposits more ink and may help avoid
having to double-stroke the print.

adhesive and then a green ﬂock on top. Or
what about a white-tinted adhesive on a
black shirt with a red ﬂock color?
Another idea is to use an ink called
"Burnout" that can be used on a 50/50 shirt
to actually burn out the cotton ﬁbers, leaving just the polyester threads. You could
then sublimate the leftover polyester ﬁbers

with another image and further embellish
it with foil or direct-printed metallic glitter,
for example. Again, it's difﬁcult to incorporate many of the suggested ideas without
an understanding of the tools you will need.
However, once you've mastered these tools,
the sky is the limit.
I look forward to what the future will

EXPERIMENT OFTEN
Once the basics of specialty printing are
mastered, experiment with the inks - you
may even want to combine a few to see
the effect it achieves - and come up with
your own unique formulas and prints.
I've certainly experimented with multiple ideas in the past. I once tried to
make a "lens" that would magnify a print
or object underneath the clear coating. It
would be like adhering a postage stamp
to a garment and then printing a coating of gel on top of it so thick that when
you cure it at a high temperature, the gel
would become domed to create the look
of a magnifying glass.
Or how about printing a ﬂock adhesive,
but instead of just printing it as a clear
base, you tinted it a contrasting color to
the ﬂock color? Perhaps an orange-tinted
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