White brightness?

[mk162]

What is the school of thought on brightness of white in relation to thickness of the print? Say you have a 2 color left chest, white and red on black and you put down a good hit of white and then red, would you hit it with a bump white as well? I just had a "new" customer bring in some shirts that another shop printed that he needed a print added to. I thought the print looked OK, but the customer loved it. I could have made it look 10 times better, as a matter of fact, I dialed back my QC to make sure my print looked like the other shop's.

Do customers want a thinner layer of white even on a left chest? I always thought white should be white, not sorta white with a touch of black fiber showing.

[Homer]

I think white is white to an average customer. A clothing line type of customer may be different. It also depends on the design, sometimes we do a highlight, sometimes we don't. 7 out of 10 times we do because I want it white, not sorta white. We go that extra step because our competition doesn't so when you compare my print to theirs -I win. I think of it like buying a new flat screen tv. You go to Best Buy, look at all the tvs on the wall. Some look better than others and cost 10 times as much but if you where to take any of them home, they will all look great, it's only when you compare it to something else that you'll notice a difference. So I want my prints to be the ones that stand out better than the others. So that's why we usually do a highlight or a "bump" as you call it. -J

[mk162]

That's what I do too if the design calls for it. When it comes to an actual logo that is white and red, I think it should be white and red. It's not that hard to make it white.

[dave58]

Sometimes I feel like I am really over doing it on the prints.....that is some customers just don't care....

They bring in work from other printers that they think looks great....looks like crap to me........like could you take the extra time to flash and hit it again dude?....is that so tough?

But I try to put out the best product I can at all times...

[Ripcord]

I've noticed the same thing. Customers bring in shirts printed elsewhere and they think they're fine, but the prints are weak looking and have a rough feel to them. As Homer said, they don't realize how crappy they look until you do a nice print job for them and they can compare.

I've found that a third flash and print accomplishes a very bright white, similar to two flashes and a highlight. It might seem like a waste of time, if the customer doesn't know any better, but I can't stand selling something that I know I could have done a better job on. Also, if your customer takes one of your shirts that look really great to another printer to try and get a lower price, often the other printer will flat out tell them he can't match the quality.

[SBrem]

I show them samples of each, a single pass, and a PFP. Their call. They can save a little or spend a little more. If they want the spectacular white, they they'll pay for it. Our single pass is just fine, but as you all know, some folks out there are looking for a discount when they pick up. This removes that problem. For us anyway...

Steve

[mk162]

It totally depends on the art for us. Nothing is funnier than a "distressed" print with the brightest white ever. I only go single on those to give them the effect, but I think a single on a white logo should be bright an crisp.

[alan802]

I like my white to look just like it does in the bucket. But, that fine line of bright white but not bullet proof is thin and very, very subjective. I would love to show some of my prints to some of the best printers just to get a feel of where I am. I see shirts at the mall and grocery stores and even at shows that I think are crap. Maybe 3 out of every 10 shirts I see look like a quality print to me. That ratio is even less when a customer brings in a shirt done by another printer. I saw one shirt at the ISS Ft. Worth that I was impressed by and that was the one Donnie was wearing.

Sometimes I think our prints are too thick, but then again, I only have bad prints to judge ours with. I can't get a perfect bright white on navy or black that doesn't have a little hand to it. If it doesn't have hand, it has fibers showing, if no fibers are showing it has hand. I'm still pursuing that perfect print that is 100% white, with light hand and no trace of shirt fibers. But then again, what looks good to me might look bad to some.

[ZooCity]

It really is totally subjective. I've picked up clients on my ability to print a crisp, even, bright opaque white. On the flip side then, some clients hate the hand and don't want or need that kind of opacity. I personally am OK with the super-opaque print so long as the image isn't huge or is broken up so it don't feel like yer wearing a plastic shield on yer chest. The worst thing about the big, opaque white print is that it cracks inevitably after so many washings though. And like Alan says, if it's not that it's fibrilation. Too bad discharge is so toxic......

I see the same with a lot of the printwork in my area- it looks god awful to me both artistically and technically speaking. Nothing condescending, but 75% of what I see I would never let leave my shop, let alone my computer screen to begin with. I guess that's what's helping to keep us busy though, picking up all that slack.

[Ripcord]

Whenever a customer wants a big solid white (or even another color) design I advise against it for that reason. It ruins the shirt's ability to breathe, which is one of the reasons T-shirts are so comfortable to wear. (Also I hate printing that much ink...) If they insist on it though, they get the big plastic print...LOL

[sportsshoppe]

I also think white should be white. And like many here have the same experience with customers who do not know the difference between PFP or PPF. Most are wanting to know if it is cheaper.. I also find myself in Wal Mart looking at the printed shirts pulling the ink and checking the print quality. Hey some of them Wal Mart shirts are really poor prints and must be run through the dryer at a rapid speed, most ink will wash out after a couple of washings but they still sell them... Really we are our own worst enemy when it comes to QC. I know I am by looking at the amount of shirts that I say will not pass my inspection. Although they make good line up shirts. I do like to compare my prints to other printers to see where I am with my prints.

[LaInk]

I feel kind of guilty....................
The other day I printed black tee's with white ink and I have to tell you, I only printed them with 3 good pulls of the squeegie, no flash.
I totally noticed the difference... but I think as printers WE only notice stuff like that.
The customer loved them and it saved me bunches of time.

[Homer]

I feel kind of guilty....................
The other day I printed black tee's with white ink and I have to tell you, I only printed them with 3 good pulls of the squeegie, no flash.
I totally noticed the difference... but I think as printers WE only notice stuff like that.
The customer loved them and it saved me bunches of time.

we don't always p/f/p our whites so don't feel bad. Just as long as you use the correct mesh, coating method and inks, you really shouldn't need to p/f/p - it is my lifes goal to achieve a bitchin white with one pass. So far, I can do it with a 158, two passes. I need to work on my 230's for the auto.

[3Deep]

We did a print today it was suppost to had been all gray, but I put some white in it on black shirts...I didn't really like it, but our customer says that is just what they where hoping for. I to like a nice bright white smooth print I get it sometimes and sometimes not ( could be the shirt). I get my best white prints using QCM 158 and its allso good for a nice flat underbase.

Darryl

[alan802]

I know I mentioned this a while back, or maybe I read it on here somewhere, can't remember, but where would be a good place to start a "White Ink" thread? I think it should go in the ink section but do you think it might get more action in the general section as a sticky since it's the most talked about of all ink topics? I do think it needs to be permanently at the top and we can all rate the inks we have used and do a basic review of the ones that we are familiar with. I have used so many over the last 2 years that I could give some decent info and I know the other members here could offer some better advice than me. I'll get it started if yall want to do this and let me know where it should go.