I laminate my CAs at 150 degrees celcius without a carrier.

StencilPro Update - California

Template I Used
http://sharebee.com/1560df86

In my opinion silk screening is the best method to replicate the California hologram. However the
quality of the hologram is about to increase as Circuit Bridge has upgraded their product!

I recently ordered some more StencilPro and when I received it I realized that unlike the original
StencilPro their is no clear plastic on one side of the stencil. Also, after developing I realized both sides of
the new StencilPro are durable. Unlike the old StencilPro that has one durable side and one tacky, softer,
more fragile side.

Also to develope the origonal stencil I would have to carefully brush the unexposed lines off. With the
new StencilPro I blasted it with my faucet with as much power as I could, and nothing except the
unexposed part washed off!

I also modified the Hologram Image slightly to give bigger text and decrease the outer circle thickness.
This modification combined with this new StencilPro just gave me the most genuine looking hologram
ever! The text is not only legible (like can be achieved with the original StencilPro) but also thin and
defined like the real thing!
I highly recommend ordering some of the new HiRes StencilPro, this thing is amazing!

Let me caution you that exposure time do differ than from the origonal StencilPro. To expose this new
stencil Pro I used a 23w CFL bulb in a 8.5 inch clamp light 3.5 inches from the art for 25 seconds. I cut up
many small test pieces to get exposure timing right, so I suggest you do the same. Also, after the 25
seconds I placed the stencil into luke warm water in a dimly lit area. With the old StencilPro the design
would immediatley show up. This is no longer the case. In fact it looks the same in the water. It isn't until
the aggressive blasting of the faucet, that the design showed up.

Clamp Light- http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?

storeId=10051&productId=100664506&langId=-
1&catalogId=10053&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=100664506&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D27X-_-
100664506&locStoreNum=6175&marketID=373

Now with the old StencilPro I was producing very good holograms, but the text was two thick, and the
"CALIFORNIA" at the bottom of the seal look nothing like the real deal. However now it does.

Also add the smallest spec of Golden Acrylic Mars Black to your mixture. Like extremely small. Like so
small you think it wont do anything. It increases the silver/grey look.

I will try to post pictures and template I updated in a few days if someone could post a good site to host
on.

In my opinion silk screening is the best route to do, so much more economical. I know the website tries to
make it sound like a scary process but it really isn't. Just go to your local art supply store, buy some
screen, and buy some emulsion and MAYBE a squeegee if you dont have one. Then just coat the screen
in a layer of emulsion, and let it dry for a day. Then its the exact same process; put a transparency with
your graphic on top of if and leave it under a light bulb for a little while, then wash off.
If you are making multiple stencils, in the long run its way more economical, plus unless you live in the
sticks, you should have an art supply store in your area, which means you don't have to disclose your
address, or wait on shipping or anything.

Read up on it guys, it might prove to be a good option for some of you. Its also useful since its so
versatile, for shirts and what not.

I have been ordering my Stencil Pro from an on-line store called Curcuit Bridge
(hxxp://www.cbridge.com/). I can say that they are:
1. pretty decent on delivery time. 4 days delievry max after order (ordered from them 2x times thus far)
2. order flexible, meaning I had clicked on Standard instead of Hi-Res when ordering and finalized by
mistake. I called in to the store and they fixed the order without charging the extra fee which was nice of
them.

If you knew what you were doing, yes.

Just in case anyone is getting into traditional screen printing, make sure the screen you get its
MONOfilament not MULTIfilament. You can tell this because a monofilament will be graded with a straight
numbers system (150,200, etc) and a multifilament screen will be graded with a number followed by some
Xs (8x, 12xx, 14xxx, etc) Monofilament screens will produce a much more detailed image because the
threads arent composite like a multifilament.

Just for reference as well, stencilPRO hi res has a mesh count of 200, so when purchasing a screen, you
want to be in that range, maybe on the higher side depending on the complexity of your holo.

Higher number=more detail, less deposit

Lower number=less detail, more deposit

ok. yeah I'll get some green and black to mix in. and yeah a water based would probably be better, as
speedball is water based. on a side note i tried using an acrylic base and it just didn't work well at all, and
you have to pretty much immediately clean out your stencil or else it dries up real quick. good thing i used
a bad stencil to practice lol.
I use stencil pro. i wish more people did lol. once you get the paint mixed up in a small container, I can
make near perfect holos and UV and never get the paint on anything else. I take my full sheet laminates
and a rule to mark off 8 evenly sized rectangles and cut them up. silkscreen the holo and let it dry. and
then do the red uv, dry, and green uv. that way i only have to spend a few minutes every now and then to
make up a batch of holo/uv sheets. I don't have to make holos every time i make an ID. And its gonna get
easier cuz I got my CISS in the mail today and the UV ink is on its way. need to finish up my UV image in
PS though. BTW, after spending an hour or two examining a real cali UV with a backwards pair of
binoculars, I noticed that red of the bear is a solid color, and the green is actually variable sized dots over
the top. the variable size in certain parts give the "shadow" look on the bear.
and yeah I'm using NatGeo's adventure paper. I had the red bleeding on brainstorms teslin (aka artisyn
lol), perfs, and the map paper. but if you don't have that problem and want to put your holos on the teslin,
then go for it. each to their own lol. Map paper FTW though. much better print quality than any other that
I've used, and its even cheaper than other places. $.80 a sheet.

I've tried both ways, stenciling onto the laminate and onto the teslin. The results were not noticeably
different. The ones stenciled onto the teslin had a very slightly darker/more solid look. But you really had
to look CLOSE to notice it. The ones on the laminate did seem to dry a little faster. I prefer to stencil a
whole bunch of laminate so I have them on hand, that way I can toss out the bad ones with out having to
do them over. If you take all the time to print out an ID then have the Holo smudge or smear...you have to
print a WHOLE NEW ID!! If the laminate doesn't look right, just pull a fresh one out of the stack!!

Don't buy the 8.5x11 sheets just yet. Stenciling a full sheet of lam at once is going to be harder than you
think if you are trying to create a convincing hologram. You should decide on your stenciling technique
before you jump into the 8.5x11 sheets. What kind of paints are you going to use? Are you going to
supplement the paint with pigments like PearlEx? How are you going to apply the screen print? With a
home build press or a few clips and clamps and a squeegee?

All these variables are very important but are generally not even considered. Starting off slow will help
you get a feel for what you like and what works for you.
Thus I recommend, to be cost effective and productive, to buy the following:
-10 pack of 4x5 HiRes sheets. (you will need to use several sheets to get the exposure time perfect)
-The exposure frame
-Clamp light
-23Watt CFL

The biggest problem with the 8.5x11 sheets will be exposing them. One would need an exposure unit for
all the small details to me accounted for. Also to be efficient one would need a small press so paint might
be conserved and even pressure be distributed to each holo. However the real issue I forsee stems from
the fact that I have always found stenciling the laminate to be inferior to stenciling on the teslin. Although
the laminate is more efficient.

After practice with a 4x5 sheet what I'm saying will make more sense. But if you could find a paint mixture
that would look perfect on the laminate mass producing holo laminates with an 8-up temp and a screen
printing press would be better and faster than an Alps.