Concept
White Underbase
A layer of white ink printed beneath color ink so the design reads correctly on dark or colored fabric.
Definition
White underbase is a layer of white ink printed beneath the CMYK color ink on a DTF or UV transfer. The white provides an opaque background so that color ink reads true on dark or colored substrates. Without an underbase, color ink on a dark garment looks dim and muddy because the fabric absorbs and shifts the color. In DTF production the white layer is printed last (so it sits face-up against the fabric at press time) and is automatically masked to the shape of the artwork. White underbase is what makes full-color decoration possible on any garment color in a single pass.
Related Terms
DTF
Direct-to-film transfer printing process used to produce full-color heat-applied graphics for apparel decoration.
CMYK
The four-color subtractive print model (cyan, magenta, yellow, key/black) used by most production print engines.
Knockout
An area of a design where the white underbase is removed so the substrate color shows through the print.
Color Separation
Splitting an artwork file into individual ink channels for each color the press will print.