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Chapter 2 - Halftone Printing

The content of this article is an excerpt from the ASPA training course The Secrets of Printing
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To be able to screen print photographic or

grayscale images, an image must be converted
into what is known as “halftones”. A halftone
image consists of many small dots that make up
the grayscale portion of that image. Screen
printing halftones can present certain challenges
and we’ll address them in this chapter.

HOW BIG A “DOT” SHOULD YOU USE?

The size of the halftone dot used will of course be

determined by the type of artwork that you are

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 HALFTONE PRINTING
going to print or the printing technique that you will use.

For example, screen printing on apparel typically involves printing halftones in a range of 35-65
LPI. There may be occasions where you want the halftone to be very noticeable and
exaggerated for a special effects look, where you may want to go down to a 25 LPI size halftone
which will produce a very noticeably large dot.
If you are printing four color or simulated process color with a manual screen printing press it is
recommended that you print from 45-55 LPI.

If you have a high end automatic screen printing press along with a point light source exposure
unit and are using professionally produced film positives you may want to consider printing 65
LPI.

25 L.P.I. HALFTONE 55 L.P.I. HALFTONE

If you are new to halftone printing we suggest you experiment with various LPI sizes so you can
see what the limitations of the equipment are in your particular shop.

DOT SHAPE AND ANGLE

The ideal halftone dot shape for printing on apparel is an elliptical dot. When outputting your film
through Adobe Photoshop or similar programs choose an elliptical dot shape whenever
possible.

If that is not possible, make round halftone dots your second choice.

Regarding the screen angles which refers to the alignment of the dots as they reference to each
individual color in the print order, a good rule of thumb for simulated process printing is to use
an angle of 56 degrees for the white underbase and 26 degrees for all other colors including
black.

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 HALFTONE PRINTING
The dot angle is another function that you can adjust when outputting through Adobe
Photoshop.

One of the main purposes of adjusting the dot angles is to minimize or eliminate a moire
pattern.

MOIRÉ PATTERNS

Moiré is the visual effect of radiating

curves created by superimposing two
regular patterns. For example, a moi-
ré pattern can result from overlap-
ping two halftone screens of different
angles, dot spacing, dot size and the
weave of the fabric.
MOIRÉ CAUSED BY FABRIC WEAVE
Moiré patterns are the undesirable
result of rescreening an image with a
different halftone screen or with the
same halftone screen on an angle
different from the original.

Moiré patterns create a

“herringbone” appearance and make
the printed image visibly distracting.
Eliminating moiré can be as simple as choosing a different brand of shirt or as complicated as
outputting the art at different halftone angles and reburning the screens.

Moiré in multi-color prints is covered in more detail in the chapter on simulated process screen
printing.

DRAWBACKS OF VELLUM VS. FILM FOR HALFTONES

The ideal halftone dot on a film positive will be as dense a color black as possible and each
succeeding color separation will line up in registration as perfectly as possible. Because of that
you will find that ink jet positives or professional made film positives will produce a film positive
that is vastly superior to using vellum paper.

Vellum paper will shrink as it is going through the laser printing causing a slight registration
error. And the toner deposited on vellum paper from a laser printer cannot produce a dot as
dark as can be obtained from an inkjet printer onto ink jet film.

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 HALFTONE PRINTING
As a result, we recommend that you print halftone and halftone color separations whenever
possible using an ink jet printer. Be advised that to print halftone dots will require that you
have a Postscript printer and/or a RIP processor for your ink jet output device. There are
software utilities that can be used for creating halftone images that can be printed a regular
inkjet or laser printer. Wilflexeasyart.com has a free download of one such application. Adobe
Photoshop is required for the use of this halftone creation utility.
COATING YOUR SCREENS FOR HALFTONE PRINTING

Use the sharp edge of the scoop coater for mesh counts of 162 and up. Most jobs involving
fine detail and/or small halftone dots do not require a heavy ink deposit and you'll want to be
able wash out the image on the screen easily. The sharp edge of the scoop coater deposits
less emulsion on the screen resulting in a thin ink deposit on the printed product. For mesh
counts of 162-305 and up put just one coat of the emulsion on the print side and one coat of
emulsion on the inside using the sharp edge of the scoop coater.

MESH COUNT CHOICES FOR HALFTONES

For apparel printing, we recommend the following mesh counts for halftone printing. 162-200
for the white underbase and 305 mesh for all top colors. If you are printing large halftones from
25-35 lpi, you can use mesh counts as low as 140.

BURNING HALFTONE SCREENS

High end exposure units that have a light

integration system are the best possible light
source for screen making, particularly for exposing
screens that contain halftone dots.

A light integrator is an electronic component in the

exposure unit that detects and controls changes in
light intensity. It will automatically adjust the light
output to a consistent light level despite changes in
electrical power line levels and for the light intensity
changes due to the aging of the light bulb.

With a light integrator, you will be assured of getting

the same amount of light each time you expose a
screen.

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 HALFTONE PRINTING
When exposing images such as fine halftone dots, having a light integrator will improve the
quality of your screens considerably. Without a light integrator, you will experience light
scattering and the halftone dots will not resolve as sharply.

If you are burning screens that contain large halftone dots (25-35 lpi), almost any light source
will work provided you have a dense black film positive. When burning halftone screens it is
important to expose them for the correct amount of time. Over exposure will result in a screen
that is difficult or impossible to wash the dots out.

An under exposed screen will result in the dots being “washed away” during the screen wash
out process. Also be sure to blot out the screens with newsprint or newspaper after the wash
out process so no clogging will occur during the screen drying process.

WASHING OUT HALFTONE SCREENS

As was previously noted, care must be taken when washing out any screen that contains
halftones. If your screen is exposed properly you should not experience any problems.
Washing out a screen containing halftone dots should not be any more difficult than washing
out any other type of screen.

PRINTING HALFTONES

This discussion is limited to manual screen printing only. The angle, pressure, and speed at
which you pull the squeegee will effect how a halftone dot is printed on the substrate.

Our recommendation is to use as little pressure as possible to clear the ink from the screen
and to print at a regular and deliberate speed at a normal squeegee angle.

You want to try to print “like you are a machine” with consistent, repeatable strokes of the
same angle, pressure and speed. Automatic screen printing machines always produce a better
result than a manual printer and your goal is to try to “emulate an automatic press” in your
printing technique.

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 HALFTONE PRINTING
Avoid flood stroking if possible and use as
few strokes as possible with one stroke
being ideal.

Probably the most important element that

will control manual halftone printing is the
angle of the squeegee.

The more the squeegee is angled

downward (assuming equal pressure and
speed in the stroke) the more ink that will be
deposited and the darker the print will
become.

Printing halftone dots by hand to achieve good looking prints requires a certain amount of
practice and experimentation.

Further, it is recommended that the squeegees that you use for printing halftones have sharp
blades that are free of nicks and other imperfections and are of medium, hard, or multi-
durometer.

Again, practice makes perfect. The more experience that you have, the better you will become
at printing halftones.

DEALING WITH DOT GAIN

As mentioned above, it is important that you limit the number of strokes, be mindful of your
squeegee angle, and control ink buildup on the bottom of the screen once that starts to
become a problem.

Dot gain is simply the function of the halftone dot enlarging in size during the printing process.
While it can not be eliminated completely, it can be controlled to some extent by using the
proper printing techniques described and by periodic “wiping clean” the bottom of the screens
during the print run.

Published by:
American Screen Printing Association, Inc.
www.aspaUSA.com

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