Digital BW, The Print

Hi Heidi,

to clarify the cotton is going to laminated under the fibreglass on the surfboard so water solubility isn't an issue.

I'm printing with a 3000 using the standard dye inks, mainly because this is what I have to work with and the straight paper path on the 3000.

My main concern with Inkaid and the Digital Ground is if they contain any plasticisers (they just list proprietary polymers in the Inkaid MSDS) they will likely cause the fibreglass to delaminate.

I'm aiming to go one up from the traditional rice paper which is very difficult to use in large pieces and also to have more vibrancy to the image with something closer to inkjet paper output.

I may end up going with Inkaid or digital grounds, but I have gleaned a few interesting ideas from some reading on the net so far, so I'm going to do some tests in the meantime.

regards

Glenn

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Heidi R." <camerashyest@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Glenn,
> I hope I didn't miss the point of your question, but if you're printing with a pigment ink printer (Epson durabrite or ultrachrome inks are pigments), you can print on cotton (or any other fabric) without any kind of coating or treatment.  The result is pretty good -- the colors will be a little less true than on treated fabric, and the resolution somewhat reduced. 
> 
> If you're printing with a dye ink printer, then the inks will mostly wash out and bleed unless you pretreat the cotton with Bubble Jet Set 2000 or a similar fixative. 
> 
> You could also look into treating with InkAid or Digital Ground, although you'd have to seal completely because they're not waterproof.
> 
> I hope that helps.
> Heidi
> http://GardenDelightsArts.com
> 
> From: Glenn <glennrbarry@...>
> Subject: [Digital BW] DIY coating for cotton fabric
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, April 22, 2010, 7:40 PM
>     
>       Hi All,
> 
> I'd like to try a test printing on cotton fabric, yes I know that there are pre-prepared products available, but nothing locally for me anyway.
> 
> I am considering just sizing the cotton with gelatin to reduce bleedthrough.
> 
> It's going to be for the whole bottom of a surfboard, which is why it has to be 100% cotton instead of nylons/polyester blends and I don't think (actually hoping) the resin will be rejected by the gelatin.
> Resin doesn't laminate properly to anything synthetic.
> Does anyone have any other suggestions?
> I have read about using a combination of water based PVA and white acrylic paint, but that much PVA glue will likely delaminate.
> I'm going for cotton fabric as opposed to rice paper as this board has compound curves that are problematic for papers.
> thanks
> Glenn
>