Something you need to know

In silkscreen printing, people want customized colors. Color mixing is an important step. The basic principles of it are the subtractive color principle of colorants and the additive color theory of colored light.

To get the correct color, ink mixing should be done under stable natural light, and several colors should not be observed side by side to avoid illusion.

When mixing fresh ink, dark ink should be added gradually. It is forbidden to add too much at one time, and then use a large amount of light ink to make up for it. The number of mixed hues should be minimized. The more hues there are, the greater the grayscale, and the less bright the color.

Pay attention to the color changes of ink before and after drying. For example, on light-colored substrates with large ink absorption, the ink color after drying is often light. The chromatic aberration between wet, dry and foamed states of foaming ink is large. Ceramic printing ink will have special changes in color after firing. White ink will turn yellow when exposed to high temperature.

Tips for color mixing

When mixing colored inks before use, first expose the color to be mixed on the color sample separately to correctly distinguish whether the original color is a primary color, an intermediate color, or a complex color. If it is an intermediate color or a complex color, you need to distinguish the ratio of the primary color to the auxiliary color.

Secondly, adjust the color according to the color indicated by the manuscript, and only when the chromatic aberration is small enough or equal to the original, can you mix in large quantities.

The mixing time should be short, and the amount should be appropriate. Too little mixing will cause work stoppage, different ink hues. Too much mixing will cause unnecessary waste. Ink mixing is usually carried out in a place with stable light.

There are some tips for color mixing.

When mixing inks, try to add as little ink of different colors as possible. The fewer the colors, the better the mixing effect.

Be cautious, light ink first, dark ink next. It is best not to mix inks produced by different manufacturers. Otherwise, there will be uneven tones. In severe cases, condensation will occur, and the ink will be scrapped.

Light colors will be lighter after drying than undried ones, and dark colors will be darker after drying.

Generally speaking, for solvent evaporation ink that is naturally dried, if the substrate is plastic, metal, paper, glass, etc., the color will not change. However, for the color material used in ceramics, since the color is not revealed until burning and oxidation, the color can only be adjusted based on experience.

For ink that is dried by heat curing or light curing, the color will change, as mentioned above. You can use ink mixing machine to finish the job in a short time.

Light-colored ink mixing is generally based on white ink, then add appropriate colored ink. For example, if you need light blue, add a little blue (cyan) to white ink.

When getting light-colored ink (printing material), try to add as little white ink as possible, because white ink is highly active. It can easily cause other colors to change color.

To mix ink, you must understand the various specifications and properties of the ink for production needs. Know the basic knowledge of color, and use it freely in ink mixing.

Find out the color sequence of multiple sets of colors to avoid incorrect color sequence and color changes. When mixing ink, pay attention to the brightness of the ink color. If the brightness is high, try to mix it with the original color. Otherwise, it will reduce the brightness of the original one.