Why does 100% cyan and yellow still look like a weird lime green on my prints?

I finally gave in and tried printing a test shirt with just straight 100C/100Y on a dark tee thinking I'd get a perfect bright green. Instead it came out looking like a faded neon lime with a grayish undertone. Super disappointing after spending 40 minutes setting up the screens. I learned you gotta add a touch of black to really get that solid rich green. Anybody else struggle with getting greens to pop on dark fabric?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.dakota7d ago

The underbase is what really makes or breaks greens on dark fabric. Most folks don't realize that the shirt color itself acts like a filter through the ink, so that yellow and cyan mix can get muddy quick without something opaque underneath. A white underbase changes everything because it gives the inks a neutral starting point instead of fighting the dark background. Also check your mesh count a 110 is too open for fine detail and can let too much shirt show through, making that green look dull and washed out.

elliot_harris257d ago

Is it really that deep though? I've printed green on dark shirts plenty of times without an underbase and it came out fine for what I needed. Seems like a lot of extra work for something most people wouldn't even notice.