# show shadows/mid-tones on a screen print



## kthought (Apr 9, 2008)

my first ever post, been lurking for awhile and have decided to post since the urges of starting a line have really been bugging me recently.

how do you achieve shadows in a print?

ive been finalizing my designs and i think they're good. they would look better though if they had some kind of mid-tone.
the designs are mostly of faces that are pop culture icons and are easily recognizable in black ink on a white shirt.
but for some more obscure people, grays would be really be great.

i use photoshop and make my images as solid black and white as it can be, cuz from my understanding, its the best way to make an emulsion (just black and white for screen printing, no in-betweens)
so basically alot of facial details and shadows are lost.

the reason i ask is because i own a shirt (john lennon's face) and its basically black and white with some grey/mid tones so its really like a black and white/grayscale photo thats been printed on a shirt but looks to have been done with a silkscreen.

anyway, its hard to explain so here's a few pics of what i mean.











this is basically what i've been doing on the LEFT picture of dubya, a solid black&white photo adjusted using the levels option in photoshop.

on the RIGHT side is what i would really like to achieve but dont know if it will print properly (in the grey areas in the emulsion, will the paint seep through a little less to produce these grey areas?)

if this cannot be achieved in screenprinting, what method can i switch to for this and perhaps printing good quality grayscale/monochromatic photos.

ive done alot of research and somehow cant find anything on this, im sure its already been asked so sorry about that.

t.y. in advance


----------



## Rolandrechteck (Jun 15, 2009)

Halftone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Use them by converting your Image to a Bitmap in PS with adjustable Raster settings. Elliptical or Diamond shaped are good for detailed work, - if you want to achieve a rather stylized look, try lines as a raster setting.

the raster settings (lines per inch) depend on your screen mesh count and size of your image.


----------



## kthought (Apr 9, 2008)

so a halftone is basically an image that is converted into various sizes of dots to simulate light and dark areas.

that is genius, thanks for that! and the quick response too.

not really a graphic artist, just know a few basics in PS and do some basic, pre-determined stuff with it. (no idea what a raster setting is, how to adjust it haha!)

have to do some research now on how to achieve this with a color photo in photoshop. but i totally get what you're saying thanks again! 

youtube tutorials have been my only source of PS knowledge, i hope they have a tutorial


----------



## kthought (Apr 9, 2008)

to answer my own question, they do have a tutorial haha!
don't mean to come off as over-eager replying so quick or anything like that.

i managed to convert a sample image in halftones in 2 different ways using a few steps (without running into any steps that concerns raster settings).










i dont know if you can see it or if it's a matter of monitor resolution or anything like that but if zoomed in or out, the circles seem to interact with each other differently:

image A - is the normal size
image B - is still okay zoomed out once or twice
image C & D - zoomed out a couple of times and the circles seem to form a grid, messing up the whole quality of the image.

i was wondering if this occurs on the actual print, or if this distortion only occurs in the digital image?


----------



## phocused (Sep 21, 2007)

Yep, they will interact with each other differently if you zoom in and out on them. Don't resize halftones for this reason. The term that describes this is "Moire"

Apply the halftone settings after you've finalized the size of your art.


----------



## Rolandrechteck (Jun 15, 2009)

well this effect is called moire... and - yes - it may occur on your print as this is a matter of your mesh count and the size of the dots interacting (same as your screen resolution and the dots are interacting) ... i don't know, if there's a formula to this, but if you don't overdo it with the lines per inch, you should be fine,... also keep in mind, that it's harder to wash out small dots and to get ink through the screen as your dot size decreases... (smaller holes in the emulsion will allow less ink - seems logical, hm? )


----------



## Rolandrechteck (Jun 15, 2009)

haha,.. someone was a little faster,..


----------



## Smalzstein (Jul 22, 2008)

And don't convert you image to halftones using Photoshop filter because the halftone dots will be very low quality. Use a RIP program (Ghostscript is a good and free one - there is a tutorial for it somewhere on this forums).


----------



## kthought (Apr 9, 2008)

i saw the vid on how to apply the halftone filter but opted to use another method (grayscale -> convert to bmp)

the problem with this is when i convert it to bmp it changes the size of the image dramatically so i end up with an extremely large image. and when i resize or zoom out to the desired size i lose the effect.

is there anyway i can manipulate the size of the dots? 
you guys have any idea how i can resize the dots in such a way that it isnt so hard to print?
image A below seems like a good size, but still a lot of smaller dots though. 
will this give me problems when transferring to cloth? i plan to use a 110 mesh by the way

appreciate all the help, real-time help! you guys answer fast


----------



## kthought (Apr 9, 2008)

Smalzstein: thanks for that ill check the program out, hard to believe there's a free program out there that can do this better than photoshop


----------



## Quantum Leap (Mar 17, 2013)

Brother, this all seems like rocket science the way it's being presented here. Im sure it's not and is just a matter of a couple mouse clicks!!! I have a picture that I'd like to print on shirts but don't know how to screw w/ the CS5 settings, half tones, etc. Can you just tell me what to do? I just want to print the image out on my films, & burn them on a screen so it'll print out nice capturing a nice black & white image on shirts. My friend who does the printing on the shirts tells me I need to have the art/picture done right so when we burn it to the screen on the 230? or 130? mesh we'll get the gradation. He says has something to do w/ 'dots.' Right now, as my image stands he says it won't conform w/ our screen mesh to look right on the shirt. Please, I know it can't be rocket science, it's pretty easy & if you were here it woulld be a matter of a couple mouse clicks to get this dang image done, printed & ready to burn for nice shirts. Please help. Can you just give me the mouse clicks on PS CS5? Please, help so I can get this behind me. Thanks so much!!!


----------



## Quantum Leap (Mar 17, 2013)

Brother, this all seems like rocket science the way it's being presented here. Im sure it's not and is just a matter of a couple mouse clicks!!! I have a picture that I'd like to print on shirts but don't know how to screw w/ the CS5 settings, half tones, etc. Can you just tell me what to do? I just want to print the image out on my films, & burn them on a screen so it'll print out nice capturing a nice black & white image on shirts. My friend who does the printing on the shirts tells me I need to have the art/picture done right so when we burn it to the screen on the 230? or 130? mesh we'll get the gradation. He says has something to do w/ 'dots.' Right now, as my image stands he says it won't conform w/ our screen mesh to look right on the shirt. Please, I know it can't be rocket science, it's pretty easy & if you were here it woulld be a matter of a couple mouse clicks to get this dang image done, printed & ready to burn for nice shirts. Please help. Can you just give me the mouse clicks on PS CS5? Please, help so I can get this behind me. Thanks so much!!!


----------



## Quantum Leap (Mar 17, 2013)

Brother, this all seems like rocket science the way it's being presented here. Im sure it's not and is just a matter of a couple mouse clicks!!! I have a picture that I'd like to print on shirts but don't know how to screw w/ the CS5 settings, half tones, etc. Can you just tell me what to do? I just want to print the image out on my films, & burn them on a screen so it'll print out nice capturing a nice black & white image on shirts. My friend who does the printing on the shirts tells me I need to have the art/picture done right so when we burn it to the screen on the 230? or 130? mesh we'll get the gradation. He says has something to do w/ 'dots.' Right now, as my image stands he says it won't conform w/ our screen mesh to look right on the shirt. Please, I know it can't be rocket science, it's pretty easy & if you were here it woulld be a matter of a couple mouse clicks to get this dang image done, printed & ready to burn for nice shirts. Please help. Can you just give me the mouse clicks on PS CS5? Please, help so I can get this behind me. Thanks so much!!! Sorry for over posts, I'm new & have no idea what I'm doing around here!!!! All very confusing!!!


----------

