# Edges bleed when printing...HELP!



## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

I really need help printing more than 2 colors. My edges keep bleeding...sometimes yes and no. 

I have a 4 color press, 2 patents, 110 20x24 screens. I'm using white and opaque red. No matter what I keep to inconsistently align and bleed the edges. 

Any tricks or tips?

Thank you,
Cisco


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## BRTdesign (Sep 19, 2010)

do you have off contact? and another could be you need more spray glue and you could be using to much pressure and do NOT use push and pull on the same screen.


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## BRTdesign (Sep 19, 2010)

this is some of things I think you could be doing and something you can do that I posted above


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. Off contact? I do spray the adhesive stuff. You think this could be the issue?

The way I do it is, I soak the screen put the screen down, push down and pull. 

One thing I forgot to mention was that this happens on 3 out 5 which it affects me by ruining shirts. 


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Push and pull...I only pull. Once I soak, put the screen down and I pull towards me, pick up and pull again. 


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## stevems7768 (Apr 28, 2012)

Are you getting excess ink building up on the print side of the screen? If your stroke is laying to much ink, sometimes it will bleed. After you print, check your screen to see if ink is outside your design on the print side of your screen. If so, your next print will be ruined.
If you have excess ink on the print side of the screen, you'll need to wipe that off before printing again. sorry if that's obvious. 

Make sure whether you push or pull your stroke, keep even pressure.


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Yes, I clean the bottom right when I see it bleed because if I don't, like you said it will ruin my next tee which it does eventually. 

I think it all has to do with the pressure. I pull and I get wet spots so I have to go at it twice and then it jacks up. 


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## jsf (Aug 4, 2009)

Was it a real bleed or a ghost thingy with the edges,,, both are different things to consider. As Steve posted, it could be ink build-up underneath your screens and once you press likely you will notice a ghost somehow on your print edges. 2ndly, the ink bleeds is caused by too much ink pigments and/or the ink may be too much liquified.


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## stevems7768 (Apr 28, 2012)

Is your press tight? I've had the arms on my press wiggle loose just the slightest bit and it throws off the registration when I do a second hit of the same color. Just a thought.

Try taking your ruined shirts and practice your stroke technique if you think the pressure is not right. You can get up to 6-8 prints from a single shirt. Just a quick flash, adjust the print location on the shirt and your can print again. That will keep you from wasting shirts while you figure it out. 
Try adjusting the off contact, if your ink is not clearing from the print stroke, that could be the cause. Or as mentioned earlier, is the shirt pulling up off the platen when you lift the screen.


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Note: the image attached is a sample. This one is really jacked up cause I got pist!


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Here's another sample. This one has alignment issues but even when aligned perfectly, it still bleeds. 


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## jsf (Aug 4, 2009)

Pic is a mis registration, anyway the bleed is caused by ink viscosity (too thin), ink should be viscous thick with proper off-contact.

Hope this helps.


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## stevems7768 (Apr 28, 2012)

I'm in agreement with J after looking at the print. It's out registration and the second stroke is putting down excess ink. Sometimes an old screen that has reached its end will be very loose and cause print quality problems but since the star is relatively small, that's probably not the cause. I also think it could be the ink is too thin.


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## debbbbsy (Jan 11, 2011)

> The way I do it is, I soak the screen put the screen down, push down and pull.


Hi

If your manually printing, and have enough ink on your screen for the size of the design it doesn't need flooding just make sure there is plenty of ink infront of the blade. Bring your screen down, either push or pull but don't do both, as it could be a tension issue with the screen. 1st pull ,squeegee angle at about 45degrees pressure firm, but not too hard you bend the blade, or you'll get bleed. 2nd pull, angle up a bit, pull faster just to push through any ink residue.

Debbie


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Everyone - I will keep you guys posted on the improvements your help has paid off...thanks for your help on this!


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

One other thing unmentioned: plastisol or waterbased? I've gotten bleeding under the edges with waterbased ink and off-contact. Prints much better on-contact.


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

tpitman said:


> One other thing unmentioned: plastisol or waterbased? I've gotten bleeding under the edges with waterbased ink and off-contact. Prints much better on-contact.


Plastisol. 


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## sweetts (Apr 4, 2010)

What mesh count?


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

sweetts said:


> What mesh count?


See initial comment. 


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## gendoboy (Jan 4, 2013)

Could your stencil be to thin?


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## kevinwilson1981 (Nov 8, 2006)

One other thing I did not see mentioned as a possible culprit was your film positive. Not sure if you are using an inkjet printer or not but if your droplet size is set too high it could be bleeding slightly on the film and causing your emulsion not to wash out correctly on the edges of your design. If this is the case you just need to lower the droplet size. Most Epson printers have a program that will actually print a step test for you, and then you pick the best one based on drying time and density.


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## jsf (Aug 4, 2009)

kevinwilson1981 said:


> One other thing I did not see mentioned as a possible culprit was your film positive. Not sure if you are using an inkjet printer or not but if your droplet size is set too high it could be bleeding slightly on the film and causing your emulsion not to wash out correctly on the edges of your design. If this is the case you just need to lower the droplet size. Most Epson printers have a program that will actually print a step test for you, and then you pick the best one based on drying time and density.


Could be Kevin but he was clear saying it happens after some shirts got printed on. That was 3 out of 5 shirts.


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## kevinwilson1981 (Nov 8, 2006)

Oh yea. I missed that second post.


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

All good everyone. Thank you guys for all the awesome help!


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## FreelanceCisco (Oct 6, 2012)

Everyone - thought I updated it this issue to see if this can be helpful to anyone else. 

I finally figured it out and thanks to all you. It was an off-contact issue which made it bleed with pressure and stained the next shirt. The registration issue was me pushing the end of the screen with my body. 

So the fix was adding more space between the screen and garment. The registration issue was solved by me putting pressure on the squeegee ONLY and pull towards me. 

Thanks Peeps!



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