Here is a brief beginners guide to rasterising with the Forever TransferRIP
Masks:
- Mask means rasterising
- 2 of them removes a colour (one black – dark media, one white – bright media)
- 1 doesn’t, instead puts in a uniform number of dots – micro mask
- Transfer is softer (less toner is used)
- Transfer lasts longer (more durable)
- Transfer is stretchier (less toner is banded together because of the dots)
- Transfer is cheaper (less toner is used)
Saturation:
- Colour is being removed and the garment colour comes through other colours which dulls them down. Therefore, upping the saturation in step 3 of the transfer RIP helps bring the vibrancy back.
Which mask to use?
If we have a family portrait, half of them in the sun, and the other half in the shade:
- If you use bright media, you lose half the family that is in the sun
- If you use dark media, you lose half the family that is in the shade
- The best option is to use micro mask, don’t lose anyone.
- Micro mask is mostly used by people who just print logos but can be used to make the best of an artwork.
So how to use the settings?
Let’s start with dark media, the most popular.
Mask:
- Higher the number, the smaller the dot. Lower the number, the larger the dot
- For example; 40 would be a pin prick and we don’t recommend it. It’s so small that the glue would sit around the dot, and it wouldn’t give you the desired result. So, 35 is the absolute minimum
- Start with 25 it’s a safe zone
Dot shape:
- Euclidean and lines are the most popular.
Ignore angle, highlights, and shadows. Pretend they’re not there, we’ve never changed the settings.
Shadow Tolerance:
- The most important factor, this is the one that effects how much colour you are going to be removing. So, in this case, how much dark colours you’ll be removing
- Quite sensitive, so a bit of experimenting with the amount and pressing preview is the best way forward
- Lower the number the less dark colours it removes
- Higher the number the more dark colours it removes
Preview:
- To view in black and white = all separations black
- Scale is what you use to zoom in
- This is all personal preference, so it’s up to you what you think looks good as a result.
If you haven’t used it for a while or just can’t seem to get a result, you’re happy with then send it over and we are more than happy to send you our guideline settings for that file.
What I’ve explained above is the same for Bright media, but just with removing bright colours instead.
Micro mask:
- People mainly use this for stretchier garments such as a muscle fit tee
- There is no shadow tolerance with this, it is instead a percentage (works with the density of the dots)
- Higher the % = more dots throughout, lower the % = less dots
- Wouldn’t recommend going below 10% as there is no impact
- Tend to stay around 30% and play around with that
- Turn off separations black in preview
- Shows the even spread of dots in the artwork
- When doing text with micro mask, angle = 0, this creates a vertical line rather than a diagonal. This is more readable and wearable on the body as the sliced-up effect allows for stretch-ability