Friday, March 11, 2011

printing on silk: reflections

quick notes on the printer set up, photos to follow.
w/ Epson 4880 & my mac I need to create custom banners to print huge. the IMAGE width must end in .34 (17.34 for a 17 inch wide print) if you want retain size not auto expand as I do. the custom paper size must add .1 for the length and .23 to the width. this will cause a warning about clipping to come up every time you print. just say ok.
up to the 52 in long scarves I was able to print borderless, w/ 0 margins all around in the custom paper and "borderless roll retain size" in the Epson printing dialogue box. but yesterday the printer refused to print borderless so I ended up adding a margin in the custom paper size and changing the paper source in the Epson printer dialogue box.
note that the printer itself kept defaulting to a cutting state, even tho I set no cut in the software. need to change the default setting on the printer for now cuz cutting in the wrong place would be a mess!
also, the current image can be about an inch narrower and i'll get less spillover onto the paper.
need to attach scarf with 5 inch lead of paper because in the banner setting the printer pushes thru extra at the beginning.
I set the ink density to +20 which was clearly too hi. I had used a +10 setting on that silk on a roll I used last and that had been to low.
the image blurred a lot. it looks good but i'm wondering if I can get the detail back when I want it buy reducing the ink density or need I get the digital ground Heidi recommends?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
kayla garelick, daydreaming artist
http://daydreamingarts.net
http://facebook.com/kayla.Garelick

5 comments:

Tamara said...

Wow! I totally admire your experimentation and determination!

daydreamer said...

thanks Tamara! tomorrow i'm testing whether I need a digital ground that Heidi taught me about. if the next run comes out too fuzzy then I can prep the silk with the digital ground and it will stop the pigment from running with the fibers.

Tamara said...

I am full of admiration for the two of you. When I am faced with needing to use pieces of equipment and technology in art, I freak out in fear and resistance. Onward, you brave creative women!!!

Virginia said...

So let me get this right -- you are printing on silk using your Epson printer???? OMG! that boggles my mind!!!! You brave, experimental artist! I look forward to reading more about this process and others!

daydreamer said...

yes, My Mane, it's exciting because the results can be so incredible when it all goes well. I did this successfully with my R2400 Epson, but now i'm really sticking my neck out there using my Epson 4880! this printer goes up to 17inches wide and as long as infinity for all I can tell. I was printing on commecially prepared silk products, but the silk just wasn't the same quality and the performance of important features like a nice clean release of the carrier paper was inconsistant. so i'm working with silk that I have to attach to a carrier paper myself. pictures soon!