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I finally stopped using the default black for dark shirts and it fixed my green every time | CMYK Hack Lab - The Design Community Hub

the_diana•1mo ago

I finally stopped using the default black for dark shirts and it fixed my green every time

So I run a small print shop out of my garage and for months I kept getting this muddy green on black tees. I tried adjusting the ink density, I tried different screens, I even swapped my mesh count twice. Nothing worked. Then my buddy who does vinyl cutting told me to stop using straight C100 M0 Y100 K100 and switch to a richer black underbase, like C60 M40 Y40 K100. At first I thought he was nuts because that's more ink and more cost. But I tried it on a rush order last Tuesday and the green finally popped. Now here's the thing, I see old timers swear by the simple black underbase and new guys say you need the trap layers. Which side are you on? Does a rich black underbase actually matter for spot colors or is it just overthinking a simple job? I'm curious if anyone else has had the exact opposite experience where the rich black made things worse on certain shirt materials.

1 comments

1 Comment

thomas_johnson351mo ago

Wait, are you actually telling me a C60 M40 Y40 K100 underbase is gonna make purple look better on a 50/50 blend tee? I mean, that just seems backwards to me. I've been running spot colors for like 7 years now and every time I've tried adding extra colors to a black underbase on cheap poly shirts, it just makes the whole thing feel heavy and stiff, plus you get this weird ghosting on the edges. My old mentor ran his shop with a straight K100 underbase for 20 years and his greens always came out clean, the trick was just laying down the black in two quick passes instead of trying to fake it with a recipe. Maybe it's your mesh count or the way you're flooding the screen, because I've seen guys get perfect greens on black with just a simple underbase if their off contact is dialed in right. I mean, if it works for you, awesome, but I'd be worried about that extra ink cost adding up on a big order, and I've definitely had rich blacks bleed through on lighter garments before.