My reclaiming went ok but my hand drawn exposure is still not quite there. I moved my light a bit higher as my measurements were off the first time. i lost some lines again. I will have to play with exposure time and maybe try a different approach. Also
I was still able to pull some prints though. I still need to get c clamps so it’s definitely shakey. I did make a 2nd color for my unicorn but I haven’t had a chance to try the 2nd color yet.
Hi Patricia,
Your unicorn is so cute! I look forward to seeing the second colour and watching your design progress.
Hi Patricia Looking at your screen, we can see that parts washed out (the bright clear areas) and parts didn’t wash out but show (those fogged in bits that still have emulsion)
The quick answer is the black on the lines was not dense enough, so the light coming through partially exposed a small bit of emulsion, which stayed in the screen.
How to fix?
1) If you have done a good washout, with a hard fan spray, from both sides, and it looks like your screen above, a way to save the stencil is to take a soft wet sponge, or even your finger, and rub the parts that won’t wash out. Do this from both sides. This may loosen that last little bit, and with a bit more spray, the lines can open up. Do this carefully, as you can also wreck the image completely if the edges get rough.
2) If they won’t come out with rubbing and more spray, but the rest of the stencil area is hard with no sticky residue on the squeegee side of the screen, you may be over exposed (too much light) If your time was for example 14 minutes, try backing the time off to 11 minutes next exposure. You can also try a thinner stencil coat – do the 2 plus 2, then run the coater without tipping and scrape excess emulsion off. You should still back the time off. A thinner coating will need less time (and light) but if the issue was the density of the black line (see #3) it will need to be fixed as well.
3) Take a look at your film with some backlighting. Is there a significant difference between the darkness of the parts that did burn, and the parts that didn’t burn? Before your next exposure, make sure all the lines are as dark as the parts that burned. Ink the backside to gain more density.
4) We are constantly trying to find the perfect hand drawing pens and film combo. If you have any other markers, try some thin lines on a piece of scrap film (always on the sticky side if using the inkjet clear film) Burn the sample down in the corner, see what works best. Old fashioned rapidograph pens (you fill with India ink) were the best, but they are hard to find anymore, everything has switched to non-refillable.