# 4 color job,cmyk what colors do i lay down first



## JAGGER72 (Jan 22, 2010)

HEY Fellas, i doing this evil clown, in cmyk, what colors should i lay down first, seems that i cant upload the file. it going a white shirt, the the outline that defines the face is black. the hair is red, it looks like yellow goes on top of the with, which would be the shirt, any ideas, should i do this wet on wet or flash in between, thanks


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## Celtic (Feb 19, 2008)

Wet on wet.
I'd say you want to go red, yellow then black.


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## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

Usually it's CMYK or CMKY. BUT that really depends. You need to do some prior testing before production in which order will look best. There is really no way of determining which order would work the best without trying.

But general rule would be to use the less dominant colors first and most dominant colors last.


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

I don't recall ever printing a process job with only the four process colors, because there are so often colors in the design that my inks can't reproduce.

I usually start with a transparent white that acts like a varnish to seal the absorbent shirt. White where there won't be any color (the white areas), and under the yellow.

No flash unless you want to.

Yellow the next brightest color in the visible spectrum - low in contrast.

Magenta
Cyan
Black - light to dark, building contrast

Finish with a spot color or touch plate that enhances the print by adding stronger color than can be reproduced with CMYK alone. 

The most common spot colors I add are reds, purples and dark blues.

Joe Clarke has a PDF version of his award winning 1986 process on textile book "Control Without Confusion" that he sells. [email protected]


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

If this is your first 4cp, than you need to play with it. Remember that it takes a dozen or so prints for the colors to start blending well. Don't do one print and think that that is the best way to go, print several and then decide. Good luck


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## JAGGER72 (Jan 22, 2010)

mikelmorgan said:


> If this is your first 4cp, than you need to play with it. Remember that it takes a dozen or so prints for the colors to start blending well. Don't do one print and think that that is the best way to go, print several and then decide. Good luck


Thnaks to all, it took me about 15 tries to get everthing lined up and ready to go. i layed down yellow red blue black, the design looks awsome, i did it on a 110 mesh , what would be an ideal mesh , for 4 , 6 color preosses,


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## red514 (Jul 21, 2009)

the print order for screen printing CMYK is very dependent on the colors in the design (what colors in the design are most important) and your print technique. Playing with the order can really make a difference, this can be a real pain for an automatic press but for a manual it's not hard at all. you will notice, with your own technique (pressure, angle, speed), changing the print order will change how the colors come out.

Any new print technique you should experiment with to see the results.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

JAGGER72 said:


> Thnaks to all, it took me about 15 tries to get everthing lined up and ready to go. i layed down yellow red blue black, the design looks awsome, i did it on a 110 mesh , what would be an ideal mesh , for 4 , 6 color preosses,


We generally use 305 mesh for this kind of printing. But as long as you and your customer are happy run with it.


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## Boss Mac (Oct 10, 2015)

Do we need to put white underbase for CMYK printing?


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

Boss Mac said:


> Do we need to put white underbase for CMYK printing?


By definition, process printing uses transparent ink to simulate the colors in your design. 

This means that the shirt color will also contribute to the final result. 

Transparent colors on black look black.

Transparent colors on a red shirt will shift all the ink colors by adding more red, That effects the light striking the print and what the print looks like once the inks and shirt filter the light.

There are some separation software that will compensate for shirt color.

A solid underbase ink film will turn a colored shirt white with a surface like a vinyl binder. That takes away your ability to print wet-on-wet.

Process on dark is why indexed separations took off in the 1990s.


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## Boss Mac (Oct 10, 2015)

RichardGreaves said:


> By definition, process printing uses transparent ink to simulate the colors in your design.
> 
> This means that the shirt color will also contribute to the final result.
> 
> ...


Thanks Greave for the info.


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