A photographic silkscreen is a silkscreen print that uses a photographic adverse to construct a print that looks coextensive a photograph. Anyone with screen-printing involvement can beget a realistic-looking photographic silkscreen print using Photoshop and screen-printing evolution inks in the colours cyan, crimson, craven and coal.
Instructions
Prepare the Screen
1. Place the Shade frame-screen side down on the screen-printing base unit. Join the screen frame to the printing base unit using the hinges and pins provided with the base unit or included in a screen-printing kit.
2. Detach the frame and clean the screen using a nylon brush and dishwasher powder diluted with water. Cover the wooden frame on the back and front where the frame meets the screen with masking tape. Leave no wood exposed.
3. Apply an even coat of screen print emulsion to the front and back of the screen with a silkscreen squeegee. Allow the emulsion to dry at least six hours in a dark room away from lights.
Prepare the Photo
4. Make a digital copy of your photograph and import it into Adobe Photoshop. Select "image" at the top screen, then choose "mode" and select "CMYK color."
5. Click "window" at the top of the screen and choose "channels." You will see five channels in your palette called CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Four of the channels will appear as gray scale and represent that area of color in your photo. These are the photo negatives.
6. Click the fly-out menu on the palette and choose "split channels." Choose "image" on the top menu bar, then highlight mode and click on "bitmap." Set the output to 600 pixels/inch in the window that pops up, and set the "use" to "halftone screen" in the drop-down menu.
7. Divide your screen mesh's threads-per-inch count (TPI) by 3.5 to determine the "frequency" number in the next window that pops up. For example, a 200 TPI screen would need a "frequency" of 57 lines per inch. Change the "angle" to 75 degrees for cyan, 15 degrees for magenta, 105 degrees for yellow and 45 degrees for black, then change the shape to "round."
8. Print the images in black on a transparent surface, such as acetate.
Exposure and Printing
9. Lay a piece of black paper larger than the screen frame on a flat surface, then lay one of the photo negatives on the paper. Insert a 150 W clear incandescent bulb into a lamp with an aluminum shape to reflect the light. Set the light to face down, directly onto the screen for one hour. Adjust the time if needed.11.
Place the screen on the negative and black paper screen-side down. A large screen may fit more than one negative at a time.10.
Spray pressurized warm water at the screen to reveal the stencil in the photo emulsion. Spray until no more emulsion washes away.
12. Dry the screen and replace it to the base unit. Place a piece of printing paper under the screen, then pour ink at the top of the screen and pull down with the squeegee. Use the corresponding color of ink, for example, if the negative you used is the "cyan" channel, print using the cyan ink. Repeat this process for all four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
13. Apply emulsion remover, scrub the screen with a nylon brush and rinse clean with pressurized water. Repeat the screen preparation, exposure and printing steps for the remaining negatives.
