Eric Solomon

How to engineer water-based for success. Art preparation, print order, screen selection, garment choice, ink behavior, and production planning all shape the final result.

Why Someone Should Come

Successful water-based printing starts long before ink hits the screen. Art preparation, print order, screen selection, garment choice, ink behavior, and production planning all shape the final result. This session gives attendees a stronger understanding of how to design for water-based printing and how to think through the variables that affect opacity, hand feel, color, registration, and durability. Val and Eric Solomon bring the perspective of award-winning screen printers who have solved the same production problems thousands of times and know how to translate theory into practical shop decisions.

Who Should Come

This session is ideal for screen printers, production managers, art department staff, shop owners, and experienced decorators who want to improve their water-based results at the planning stage. It is especially useful for printers who are comfortable with standard production but want to move into more advanced retail, licensed apparel, discharge, high-solids acrylic, or hybrid water-based techniques.

What They Will Learn

• Designing for Water-Based Printing: Learn how artwork, separations, garment choice, and print goals affect the success of water-based production.
• Print Theory for Better Results: Understand how mesh, stencil, ink deposit, opacity, underbase strategy, and print sequence work together on press.
• Advanced Decoration Concepts: Explore how water-based systems can be used for soft-hand retail finishes, discharge effects, high-solids acrylic applications, and hybrid approaches.
• Problem-Solving Mindset: Learn how experienced printers diagnose issues early, make better production decisions, and avoid repeating the same mistakes on press.

Water-based printing rewards strong production systems and exposes weak ones quickly. Print multiple types of inks hands-on and learn how to avoid ink drying in the screen, inconsistent flood and print strokes, poor humidity, bad curing, and production lags.

Why Someone Should Come

Water-based printing rewards strong production systems and exposes weak ones quickly. Ink drying in the screen, inconsistent flood and print strokes, humidity, curing, screen tension, press setup, and operator habits can all determine whether a job runs smoothly or becomes a fight. This session brings the full WB Camp workflow together by focusing on the production decisions that help shops run water-based jobs with confidence.

Who Should Come

This session is for press operators, production managers, shop owners, and experienced printers who want to improve their water-based production flow. It is ideal for teams trying to reduce downtime, run more consistent high-color-count jobs, execute advanced techniques, or build a water-based process that can scale beyond occasional specialty work.

What They Will Learn

• Press Setup for Water Base: Learn how screen setup, flood bars, squeegees, print stroke, off-contact, flash strategy, and press rhythm affect production quality.
• Managing Production Variables: Understand how humidity, ink open time, curing, garment selection, screen condition, and operator habits influence results.
• Advanced Water-Based Workflows: Discover how discharge, high-solids acrylic, and hybrid methods can be organized for efficient production and stronger finished garments.
• Shop-Level Execution: Learn how better communication between art, darkroom, ink room, and press teams creates smoother runs, fewer mistakes, and more profitable water-based printing.