Screen E-Book (.PDF) - MacDermid Autotype

In 2003 we published a handbook explainingthe causes and cures for moiré. Theoriginal print run was very modest, but itsoon proved so popular that we had toprint and send out many more copies. Ithas been translated into a number of languagesand has hopefully helped manyprinters solve their moiré problems.The original version of the handbookcame with a personal guarantee. Sincethen we’ve been challenged many timeswith moiré samples and each time the diagnostictechniques in the handbook haveproven capable of correctly determiningthe root cause. So the guarantee remains:“I have strong opinions backed up by lots ofgood data. I am happy when I’m shown to beright, but even happier when I’m shown to bewrong – because from error comes greaterunderstanding. As with all my screen publications,I am happy to offer a public admissionof error in the light of good data, and willupgrade the Handbook accordingly. If youare the one to correct me, I will be happy toacknowledge your input.”We’ve found that we didn’t have to makemany changes to what follows, so if youhave a copy of the original handbook, youdon’t have to read this part of the eBook.Over the years the Mesh Moiré Calculatorhas proven particularly effective at solvingthe most frequent source of moiré. At onetime it was used to solve a problem at aprinter’s in India whilst I was in America.The software comes with a video-recordingcapability and the video explainingwhy he got moiré with a particular mesh/angle combination was sent to the printerwho was able to understand the causeand cure in record time.IntroductionMoiré drives us all mad. Screen printingwithout moiré would be a much easierway of earning a living. There is no way toeliminate moiré from our lives, but at leastwe can reduce it to an acceptable level.This section of the eBook has only one aim– to allow the practical screenprinter to getcontrol over moiré and make more money.The first part gives you proven recipes forsuccess. The second part (for those wholike such things) explains why these recipeswork.The recipes have been thoroughly testedin the real world and checked against ahuge number of moiréd prints. They arebacked up by a sophisticated computermodel which examines moiré at a fundamentallevel.A lot of bright people have helped producethe ideas in this article. A primesource of inspiration is Mark Coudray’s in-93