Experiment with Different Inks

Tired of printing flat images?  Here's Ed Branigan's quick tip, recently published in Impressions Magazine, on revitalizing your screen printing: Many screen printers are schooled to print a certain way and to use specific inks for certain print effects. However, you should try to experiment and put together different types of inks and see what happens. In my experience, some of my best print techniques came either from “mistakes” or new combinations of inks.  The best way to experiment with various inks is to use the same artwork — something simple — then print one effect over another (flash in between) and cure it.  For example, I experimented using an ink that cures hard and retains texture (3811 Granite Base), combined with a puffy, spongy special-effects ink (3810 BlowOut Base), and got an interesting effect.  Try other combinations to see what will happen. Remember, printing is fun! Ed Branigan is the print applications manager at International Coatings and has extensive experience in screen printing inks and technology. For more information, visit iccink.com and read the company’s blog at internationalcoatingsblog.com. For a detailed how-to on the above print technique, please check out How-To page, BlowOut/Granite Base - Sample 1 instructions:  https://iccink.com/blowout_granite_base_s1.htm. Check out our 3810 BlowOut Base and 3811 Granite Base flyers for more info. International Coatings manufactures a complete line of phthalate-compliant screen printing inks, including a wide variety of whites, specialty inks, special effects inks, color matching systems, additives and reducers.  For more information on our products, please visit our website at www.iccink.com.     International Coatings:     The Intelligent Choice