Digital Grounds: Testing on Lutrador

Some of you have asked how Digital Grounds works with non-woven materials like tyvek and lutrador. Today let’s look at Lutrador.

I like using lutrador for certain applications; much for the same reasons that I like to use dryer sheets. They both have a beautiful web-like texture. Lutrador of course is stiffer than a dryer sheet, and a dryer sheet is softer but with a luminous quality. So both have different qualities but share the web-like texture which I really like.

So how does lutrador perform in the printer with digital grounds?

Judge for yourself …

This image was printed with a piece of lutrador that was painted on the left hand side with a “wash” of white matte digital ground, and the right hand side was left untreated. The difference is quite noticeable.

White Matte Digital Grounds tends to give the best image reproduction on most fabrics I’ve tested but because it’s opaque, it’s not always suitable for every fabric. The advantage of using white matte as a “wash” is that if the “wash” is diluted enough it doesn’t mask the beautiful surface texture on certain fabrics and materials such as dryer sheets and lutrador, yet still produces an exceptional quality print.

You can see in this closeup of the treated side. that the image is crisp and clear, the colors deep and rich, and the web-like texture is still quite visible under the wash.

On the untreated side, the image is faint and the colors are washed out.

And this is a photo of the backing paper – worthy of a digital print all by itself!

So if you haven’t yet tried Digital Grounds you don’t need to run around town to find it coz I don’t think you’ll see it in the stores – simply click and grab a sample pack from DickBlick.com. It’ll be on your doorstep before you know it.

Digital Grounds Sample Set