Tips for Getting the Most
from Caseys' Translucency

CONTROLLING HUMIDITY

Caseys' Translucency is a vellum-like material especially designed for you, the screenprinter, to make inexpensive positives directly from your laser printer or copier. Caseys' manufactures Translucency at approximately 30% relative humidity (RH), which is fairly dry. A few customers, who live in moist climates have experienced difficulties with registration of color separations. These difficulties are easily fixed and can be attributed to differences in humidity. When our hermetically sealed package of Caseys' Translucency is opened, it absorbs moisture from the air. The dilemma is that the page at the top of the stack may achieve 65% RH, while 10 sheets down may be only at 45% RH.

Pages wiith different moisture levels will print differently. Your laser printer applies heat that drives out moisture and contracts the page. A sheet printed at 65% RH and one at 45% , will shrink by different amounts respectively, and separations won't align. This matter is further complicated because relative humidity is constantly changing with the weather. In an ideal situation all of the sheets would be at 30% RH, the lower the RH the better, however it is better to have all the sheets at 65% RH, rather than have some at 30% and some at 45%. What you are trying to accomplish is a stable moisture level for all your sheets of Translucency.

If money is no object, climate control the room with your laser printer and exposure unit at 30% RH. A more practical approach would be to keep your Translucency in a sealed zip-lock bag until it's time to print separations, then return the printed separations to the bag for storage until you expose the screens.

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EMULSION

Caseys' has found the number one obstacle to good screens is choosing the correct emulsion. The correct emulsion depends on many variables, such as; type of ink (water base or plastisol), screen cleaner (water or solvent), number of prints expected from a screen, color of screen mesh (white, yellow or orange), and the light source (point, diffusion, metal halide, mercury vapor, fluorescent, etc.). There are hundreds of emulsions available, and the expert who can help you choose the correct one is just a phone call away:

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 EXPOSURE

Make sure your emulsion is bone dry before exposing. If your screens are:
 

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DARKER PRINTS

If your printer doesn't print dark enough for quality screens, try lightly spraying the printed page with the clear fixative Caseys' Ultra Black This will dissolve the toner allowing it to flow and fill the pin holes. If you are now using clear Krylon try a can of Ultra Black, it is far superior for this application and costs less than $10 per can.

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 REGISTRATION

A. Pre-shrink
If you are using regular drafting vellum (not designed to withstand the heat of the laser printer) you may need to pre-shrink it by running it through a dryer. However, this isn't recommended nor required with Caseys' Translucency. Caseys' Translucency is shipped preshrunk and coated for stability.

B. Pre-warm printer
To eliminate variations in separations, try warming your printer by sending two sheets of paper through before using the Translucency.

C. Vacuum
If the Translucency is in registration but your screens are out of registration, try reducing the vacuum on your exposure table. Too much vacuum can stretch the Translucency.

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MOIRÉ

Moiré patterns may be caused by interference between the halftone dots and the screen fabric. A Moiré Test Sheet (MTS) is shipped with our Translucency. Use the MTS to burn a screen, then select the frequency and angle of halftone which eliminates the moiré pattern.

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