# image alignment



## jrelitedesigns (Jan 13, 2015)

I am having issues with the image being lined up when printing multiple colors. I register the screen to the print and use a test pellon and the image would look great but then I go to print on the garment and the image does not line up the same. Could this be a problem with my off contact settings, or a problem with the screen?

I am new to screen printing if anyone didn't notice

Any help would be great. Thanks


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## phatdaddy (Oct 25, 2012)

Could be many problems, but I would make sure your off-contact is minimal and the same for every screen. A variation in off-contact will cause the screens to stretch and move differently then each other and can easily cause mis-registration.

Or you're press is a pile of junk.

Is your press OK?

When the screen is down is there any play whatsoever, anywhere?

You want no movement at all, not in the platten nor the screen.


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## jrelitedesigns (Jan 13, 2015)

Well the Press is a Riley Hopkins 4 color 2 station press. Its less than 6 months old. So its in good shape but like I said, I am new to screen printing and don't really know what brands are better than the others. 

I will have to check the off contact. I know everything else is solid. There is really no movement when the screen is down.


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## phatdaddy (Oct 25, 2012)

Ah, of course it is...
I've never worked with a Riley Hopkins 4/2 but I have worked on the 6/4, I would imagine they are similar...



jrelitedesigns said:


> There is really no movement when the screen is down.


Really no movement, or NO movement?

How much off registration are the prints?

Are they off on both plattens, the same??

If everything's tight, micro's are tight(don't over-tighten any of that!) Then, next I'd look at the head alignment to the platten, they should be parallel. If your screen is high on one side it will also cause uneven screen stretch and mis-registration. You have to check each head with each platten. 

Next look to the carriage. That press likely has two nylon bolts on each arm?

They centre the print head with the platten arm. Check those carefully. They must be the same distance apart and not be bent or otherwise mutilated...

The print head apparatus should slide snugly between those bolts.

If all that checks out I'm baffled, maybe you brought the print head down and instead of it going between the bolts, you dropped it offset and on top? I've been flying crazy fast on one of those 6/4's and found that that was quite an easy thing to have happen. Wrecked some shirts that way.

Not the best press in my opinion, others like them but I wouldn't get one.


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## dynamikgraphics (Jul 21, 2013)

Everything said above, except:

Check that your platens are firmly secured to the press. 

I don't mean just the clamps that hold them ON the press, I mean the fasteners that actually hold the bracket to the platen. 

There should be absolutely ZERO play here as well.


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## customapparelpro (May 2, 2014)

It could also be your artwork. Might not have a choke on your Underprint if you have one?


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## customapparelpro (May 2, 2014)

Your film could have shrunk? Lots of things it could be. Don't get frustrated. Just take your time to find out. It takes a lot of experience and practice to get it right. You'll get it.


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## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

After you print a pellon and it comes out good, can you print another pellon and have it look the same? If so, there's nothing wrong with your press adjustment and a T-shirt should print no different than a pellon.

I've had this happen before with a press that I thought was adjusted tight, but when I looked carefully I realized that there was ever so slight of a side to side movement in the registration guide, barely enough to notice but enough to result in off register prints.


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## DPendable (Dec 21, 2012)

I always register everything on press, but fine tune with a second print. I find that I use more ink the first print cause I'm "priming" the screen and clearing it. So the first print looks good cause of the extra ink covers any misalignment in screens. The second print is the official "fine tune, this is what my shirts will look like" print, since now im stroking normal. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using T-Shirt Forums


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## johnchesley (Jan 26, 2008)

Check to make sure your shirt is not moving between the colors you are printing. If you don't have any tac adhesive, that could be your issue. Also, make sure you are pulling your squeege the same way every time, at the same angle etc. Are all of the screens you are using the same mesh count and tightness? That could also be the problem. Good Luck.By the way, where are you located? Maybe you are close enough to an experienced printer that one of us can stop by and help you with your problem.


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