Printing Photos onto Silk

 

 

 

I have updated this page because I have simplified my process and have found a better means of getting the silk through my printer with more commonly available supplies.  See Update

Steps – briefly noted

1.  Pre-wash silk with mild shampoo (Neutragena or baby shampoo)

2.  Air dry

3.  Soak in Bubble Jet-Set..  I lay out my silk flat onto a towel.  I use a 2-inch foam brush to slather Bubble-Jet-Set onto the surface, being careful to keep the silk smooth and flat and to fully saturate the silk.

4.  Air dry

5.  Prepare the carrier.  I have found that adhesive vinyl shelf covering called Magic Cover by Kittrich Corporation - available at Lowe's and Target works better than the heavy-duty freezer paper I first used. I got the clear one because it seems a little stiffer than the other ones.   You do need to flatten it out first - I rolled it the opposite direction onto some PVC pipe I had.  You can also moisten the paper side and let it dry flat on the counter.

Cut the carrier to size, attach it to butcher paper (or other stiff paper) with double-sided tape at the top edge so that the paper is against the non-sticky side of the Magic Cover sheet.

6 Attach the silk to the carrier. Cut a piece of silk slightly bigger than the carrier.  Remove the paper from the Magic Cover to expose the adhesive side. Smooth the silk onto the adhesive and trim it even with the carrier.  Trim off any loose threads

7.  Load silk with carrier attached into printer one sheet at a time.  I have found that I do not need to use the special media tray in my printer.

 8.  Let air-dry for about an hour and remove silk from the carrier.  Don't let the silk stay attached to the adhesive any longer than that so that it will not absorb adhesive residue.  Wait at least 24 hours after removing the silk before rinsing.  This allows the inks to set.

9.   Rinse in cool, lukewarm water with a little mild shampoo (Neutragena) and then rinse again with cold water.  The directions on the Bubble Jet set bottle tell you to do this - they also recommend their own rinse agent.  I have not tried it.

10.  Gently soak up excess moisture by rolling the silk in a towel and iron dry.

Equipment and Software

Camera:  Nikon D40X

Computer:  IBM Thinkpad T41

Printer:  HP Photosmart Pro B8850

Monitor Calibration:  Eye-One Match3

Silk:  10mm Habotai

Pre-soak:  HP Bubble-Jet Set 2000 http://www.cjenkinscompany.com/HP_Bubble_Jet_Set_2000_p/hp%20bubble%20jet%20set%202000.htm

 Editing Software:  Lightroom2 – image exported to JPEG with AdobeRGB color

Printing Software:  Qimage

Settings

Qimage Printing Software

Color Management:  Adobe RGB

 

 Print sharpening set to "medium"

 

HP print driver - under "properties"

Paper Type:  Other matte brochure

 Quality:  Best

I usually "tweak" the print driver colors based on my experience with this printer - Under  Color tab “more color options” set:  Saturation -10, cyan -10, and magenta -10

Adobe Lightroom

Contrast was raised to +95

Comments

[custom signs]

I see the Blog and it is a nice one . I like the method that you have given here to print the photo on the silk and it is a easy one so I like to try it .

[Nancy McKay]

Using Bubble Jet Set and pigment-based inks, there is no need to heat set the image. I simply wait a day and gently wash the silk by hand with Bubble Jet Set Rinse

[brochure printing]

Place the silk and an article in the printer and print the photo on the side of the silk. Let the ink dry thoroughly and heat set by ironing it for two minutes with a piece of paper covering the image.

[Michelle]

Thank you for the great lesson. I have 2 questionsL: Does the size of silk matter AND do you offer this service to anyone?

[pam hoffer]

wow. what incredibly skillful and GENEROUS teaching your site provides. you must be an amazing person! :-) thanks. pam