Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Morrison" <rmorrison@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, December 09, 2002 9:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Mayer Rod Substitute...the saga and workflow


> On 12/8/02 9:57 PM, "Peter Marquis-Kyle" <petermk@...> wrote:
>
> > I have never coated a print with a squeegee or a mayer rod, but it
> > seems to me that screen printing would allow you to put down a
> > precisely defined area of coating -- perhaps just larger than the
> > printed image -- rather than a messy edge that threatens to glue the
> > print to the workbench.
>
> Screen printing is high sheer process and really messy compared to rod
> coating.  It would require formulating a product specifically for that
> application.  I've seen a bunch of prints coated using conventional screen
> top coats and they have been brittle and yellow.
>
> Its possible to mask with a rod if you want the paper exposed.

Robert has an even less optimistic view on silkscreen printing than I have.
But I'm a silkscreen printer.
Silkscreen printing shouldn't be messy. You need more equipment than with
rod application. Manual rod application has its place up to a size and up to
a quantity. Above that you need a dedicated coating machine which could be a
silkscreen table or a machine. And like with any coating for inkjet prints
the coating has to be suitable for the process and the print. When someone
is new to coating and his prints and printruns are small then there's no
substitute for a rod.

Ernst