Drawdown bars and opacity cards help printers determine the degree of opacity loss when using soft-hand extenders. Shown is a comparison of a gray ink cut 50% (left) compared to the standard, uncut ink (right). to a standard ink will vary among manufacturers and - as with any additive - mixing instructions should be strictly followed to achieve the best results. Although most plastisols are designed to be printed straight from the container, there always are situations where special modifications are needed to enhance the ink's performance based on the application and substrate. When it comes to mixing in these additives, just remember to adhere to the manufacturer's recommendations to achieve optimal results. Rick Davis is an industry veteran with a background in plant and contractor management, quality control, process troubleshooting and consulting. He currently is the screen-print process manager at Scalable Press and is a member of the Academy of Screen and Digital Printing Technologies. For more information or to comment on this article, email Rick at rickd5050@yahoo.com. Use Info*Action #16 at impressionsmag.com/infoaction SEPTEMBER 2019 P.29https://www.spsi.com/ https://www.spsi.com/ http://www.impressionsmag.com/infoaction