Perfect nozzle checks

When trying to get your perfect nozzle checks every day you should remember a couple of things. First if it takes more than 15 head cleanings you should stop and do maintenance, becauser you are just wasting ink at this point. The first thing I check is the wiper because if it’s not doing what it’s suppose to the machine will never get a good nozzle check. The easiest way to determine this is to do more than one nozzle check and see if the nozzles that are not showing jump around. If this is the case you can refer to my website for a video on removing the wiper and cleaning it. After you have replaced the wiper, do a couple more head cleanings and then do a nozzle check, it should be corrected by then. If it doesn’t then give your support line a call for further trouble shooting help.

Good websites to keep up with the Direct to Garment marketplace

http://ping.fm/ctzxb
This is the busiest of all the garment printer forums
http://ping.fm/sV9r1
The private DTG forums
http://ping.fm/K0yAL
This is a Forum run by a Brother distributor
http://ping.fm/joAza
Decent forum, though not heavily visited yet
http://ping.fm/pmSuv
US Screen forum, really quiet lately, but still worth checking periodically

Clogged Ink Channels?

Try replacing the dampers and make sure there is a small hole in the bottle cap and it is not clogged. Then try sucking the color up with a syringe first, however If there was air in the lines and ink dried in the head, you can try flushing and back flushing. You could also try soaking the print head in cleaning solution, just get some in the capping station and let it sit there.

Hopefully you don’t have to spring for a new print head.

No more US Screen..but I still have the best prices on Fast T-Jet Ink and Flexi-Jet Inks

As we bid farewell to USscreen and grind our
teeth about our worthless warranty…let us all breathe a sigh of relief that
there are still parts, service AND Ink
available. Bye bye US Screen…it’s been err, ugh…disappointing……

---

On a brighter note, I want to thank everyone for making April my best month
ever. We were flooded with orders and
have received some really funny and sincere testimonials back.

Dean

Dude, you are hysterical…thank God your Ink is
serious. Everything is working great and
you can expect many orders to come

Dan – t-shirts n more

Garment Printer Ink,

I have to admit, I was a little worried buying your ink, but it worked
fine. I even mixed it with my
remaining FastINK without a hitch. You can expect a full order from me in a minute. The Pre Treatment offer was really smart….ya
can’t beat that deal.

Monty M

GF Imprints

Hey Dean,

Thanks for making me feel bad about my mullet. You said you wanted a referral..well, here it
is. I have used this ink in both of my
Fast T-Jets and extremely happy. For one…I
get the same results….two….IT SAVES ME MONEY!!!. Your two free liters of Pre Treatment offer
put it over the edge, however the price alone was enough to make me
switch. Shipping was fast, it was packed
nice and of course your top notch service! I have no problem recommending your INK to
anyone. PS. Can I shampoo my Ferret with it??

Johnny Ingalls

Blue Ferret Signs

—————————————————————————

Buy one complete set of CMYK inks (yellow, magenta, cyan
and black) and get TWO free liters of pre-treatment! ($50 value)…..(Go to the Fast T-Jet Ink Special)

How about an AWSOME deal
on White Ink…..Buy 2 Liters of White Ink and get $20 OFF your order (call in
orders only..631-858-0114)

Our Ink is compatible with:

• Fast T-Jet direct to garment printers
  
  
• Fast T-Jet 3
  
  
• Fast T-Jet 3 Plus
  
  
• Fast T-Jet Blazer
  
  
• Fast T-Jet Blazer Express
  
  
• Flexi-Jet digital garment printers
  
  

I know
you have questions…..call me at 631-858-0114

And don’t
forget about my world renowned embroidery repair training DVD’s (ok, the
world’s only embroidery repair training DVD’s) that can be found on www.embroiderytraining

New DTG Digital Garment Printer: The DTG Viper

DTG Viper Inkjet Digital Garment Printer DTG Viper from SWF East The DTG Viper Garment Printer is a 17” inch wide printer that incorporates the patent pending WIMS (white ink management system) and pressurized constant ink feed re‐circulation system that is a complete innovation of garment printers worldwide. The WIMS system offers a manageable white ink production process that delivers superior detail, vibrancy and a level of consistency unheard of in other direct to garment printers. The DTG brand is globally well known as a true innovator in the garment decorating industry and the new DTG viper will reinforce that reputation ever more. The DTG Viper ink‐jet garment printer is the culmination of 4 years of ongoing research and development and it was designed to meet the needs of all embroiderers, screen‐printers, color studios, kiosk operators and garment decorators world wide

The DTG viper was engineered from the ground up to offer higher speed prints with acute accuracy (utilizing precise engineering solutions that are unrivaled in this industry) and most importantly, white ink printing reliability!!

So what’s new on the DTG Viper?

• New White Ink Management system for reliable white ink prints
• Image area 16″ X 25″ = 45″
• Prints up to 70+ garment per hour (less for dark garments with white ink)
• Pressurized CMYK ink system
• Prints 2 garment at a time (standard). Optional four shirt pallet available
• Conveyor Platen drive system for super accurate prints
• Ink Mist extraction fan

High Performance Prints

Let’s start with the all new one inch, 180 nozzles per channel, Piezo print head with ink repelling coating that’s now standard on all DTG Viper garment printers. This provides superior reliability and long term durability that other machines just can’t match.

WIMS (White Ink Management System)

Another breakthrough is the WIMS white ink technology. The WIMS system finally offers a manageable white ink production process that delivers superior detail, vibrancy and a level of consistency unheard of in other direct to garment printers.

Along with the WIMS re‐circulation of ink via a pressurized peristaltic pump system the DTG Viper incorporates a constant pressurized ink delivery system for colored inks as well.

Viper Conveyer Pallet System

The DTG garment pallet system is truly unique on the DTG VIPER and prints two garments at a time as standard with our specialty pallet assembly and auto registration built in. The micro servo motor driven conveyor system produces perfect dot registration accurate to 0.017mm.

Better engineered ink management, brighter prints, faster production, more flexibility and easier to use without the maintenance levels currently experienced in the market, that’s the DTG Viper!

See a more detailed explanation on our specifications page

With innovative engineering and easy to use features the DTG Viper is your final solution for fast and reliable prints every time.	Superior ink management, brighter prints and faster production means more time printing and less time maintaining.	The flexibility of the DTG Viper opens up more opportunities for profit than ever before	Better engineered ink management, brighter prints, faster production, more flexibility and easier to use without the maintenance levels currently experienced in the market, that’s the DTG Viper!

New RIP Software, for DTG Digital Garment Printers

New RIP Software, for DTG Digital Garment Printers

Offered By  SWF East/DTG Digital

The latest version of DTG’s RIP software, RipPro v. 4.0, allows users to automatically format designs to be sent to their DTG direct-to-garment digital printers from an open graphic file without needing to have the program on that computer. Multiple users also can share the program via a server.

Operators can print directly from Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or CorelDRAW—or directly from the RIP. Other features include seamless step and repeat for textile printing, PostScript Level 3.0 support, simultaneous RIP and print, RIP once and print many, and dithering to control the placement and shape of the dot to create a smooth image. It also has the capacity to drive multiple garment printers at the same time to increase production. For more information contact:

SWF East, 5409 S. West Shore Blvd., Tampa, FL 33611,

Call 877-793-3278, Web: www.swfeast.com/

Marketing Ideas for your DTG Digital Garment Printer

Amercian Flag Shirt

Congratulations on your investment into a DTG Digital Garment Printer. Now it’s time to get down to making money with this exciting machine. There’s a seemingly endless number of angles you can take to be successful with your DTG, following you will find a few of these options.

Focus on a specialized market
Every one of us has some sort of hobby or passion that absorbs a good amount of our free time (and sometimes it absorbs some of our not-so-free time). Try to tap into the marketplace for your passion or hobby. Some examples of good vertical markets would be – boat enthusiasts, horse enthusiasts, bikers, hunters, fishermen, any type of youth sports groups, dog shows, the list goes on and on. If you are involved in any of these pursuits (or some similar type pursuit) check out the opportunities to attend and set up a booth at one of their events. A custom garment printed on demand will garner a much higher selling price than a generic event garment. If your window to sell is very limited, consider creating a couple of generic sample custom prints and take orders for the garments, promising a quick turn around time. Shirts at events like these can often sell for $25, $30 or even more, calculate the price of a priority mail envelope into the pricing and drop the prints into the mail the next day. Have your customers fill out the envelope so there are no address issues.

Include digital garment print samples in every order of apparel that you sell

If you already have an apparel decoration business, you already have a potential customer base for your new DTG printed garments. Whenever you deliver or ship an order to a customer, be sure to include a sample shirt printed on your DTG digital garment printer. It’s a good idea to print with your DTG everyday anyway, so why not develop a sample t-shirt that shows the quality you can print and offers ideas for reasons to have shirts DTG printed – such as – family reunions, golf tournaments, charity events, baby births, milestone birthdays (Lordy, Lordy, Look Who’s 40!) etc. A white t-shirt printed with a typical image may cost you $1.50 – $2.00, and you need to run the printer anyway! This is a great way to “harvest” more income from your existing customer base, while providing your customers with an exciting new product.

Use their logo from a business card or website to generate a quick, custom sample
If your business model is more business to business (B2B) – like promotional products companies – then a slightly different approach will work. Invest in one of the inexpensive business card scanners (they are available for less than $150) and simply pick up business cards from prospective clients and generate a custom shirt with their logo on it and bring it in to them. This is a great ice breaker and can very easily open doors for you, maybe for even more business other than just your direct to garment printer. With a little cleanup you may also be able to pull this feat off from potential customers’ websites (be aware that most web graphics are only 72 DPI – so you may need to do a bit of software magic!).

Evaluate the t-shirts that you have purchased in the past
Take some time and lay out the t-shirts from your “t-shirt drawer” onto your bed. Look at the shirts and try to remember where, when and why you purchased them. In most cases, t-shirts are an “impulse” item. No one wakes up in the morning and says to himself or herself that they are going to go down to the Wal-Mart and buy a t-shirt with “fill in the blank” on it. More than likely, you are going to be walking through the Wal-Mart and see that shirt with “fill in the blank” on it and decide to buy the t-shirt. By evaluating your own t-shirt buying habits you can get some insight into the reasons that folks buy them, which will help you to better market your DTG output. (By the way, make sure to put the t-shirts back into the drawer or your spouse will not be happy!)

The Secret is: you gotta show them some output to generate interest! a few of these options.

What is Digital Garment Printing?

What is Digital Garment printing? (or known as apparel printing, direct to substrate printing or DTG digital direct to garment printing)

What is Digital Garment printing?

The Decorated Apparel Industry was taken by storm in late 2004 when some of the first commercial based direct-to-garment printers were released. Before you can truly understand why DTG digital garment printing has become so popular, you will need to understand some background history.

For years, if you wanted to print a couple of cotton shirts you would use either digital transfer paper or try to screen print the order. Both of these decorating methods have their positives, but they also come with negatives. Digital transfers allow you to create as little as a one-off shirt via a standard desktop inkjet or laser printer. The cost to make a single transfer can range from $0.50 to $2.50 depending on what ink and paper is used by your printer. However, the transfer paper is covered with a polymer (AKA adhesive) that glues the ink to the top of the shirt. The polymer typically will leave a hand where it is applied and can discolor the shirt or create a window around your graphic. New transfer papers have been released that either minimize the window or uses a 2-step process to eliminate the window completely.

Screen printing has traditionally been the decorating method of choice for most of the apparel that you see in retail stores. With screen printing, ink is only dropped down on garment where the design is, thus eliminating the undesirable window that can occur with some digital transfer paper. However, a graphic must be separated (the process that breaks the down graphic into the different colors needed to print it), a screen must be burned for each color and it requires a screen printing press to be setup. This can become a very time consuming and expensive process when you only need a few shirts. Commonly referred to as a short run, which can be as low as 1 shirt to as many as 48 depending on the size of the shop, the cost per a screen printed shirt could easily be more than what your customer is willing to pay for.

With the changes in fashion leaning more toward short-run, limited edition personalized garments, the need for a high quality solution grew. Of course, apparel decorators are never satisfied with the concept that things are never going to get any better.

Manufacturers and distributors continued to push the boundaries by finding cheaper and faster ways to screen print or to creating better inkjet transfers papers with less hand or feel to them. But the introduction of DTG digital garment printing allowed us to take the positive aspects of both inkjet transfers and screen printing in a solution that could be done in a compact space.

The concept of DTG digital garment printing is basically using a digital printer to lay down a textile water-based ink that has chemical binders that allow the ink to remain on the garment without a polymer being applied to the top of the shirt like a transfer. The ink is then cured to the garment using either a heat press or a textile conveyor dryer.

On average, an apparel decorator can take the artwork from a customer, put it on to a garment and get paid by the customer in less than 10 minutes. With some modification to the artwork, the decorator can personalize the next garment with a name, number(s) or different colors and produce another custom garment in minutes. That is the beauty of DTG digital garment printing – short run, personalized garments in the matter of minutes.

Which type of method should you use for imprinted apparel?

When looking at garment decoration printing options, many times the decision comes down to a choice between four main options—each with its own strengths and weaknesses. For printing directly onto the garment your choices are direct to garment digital printing (DTG) and traditional screen-printing. The other methods would be sublimation or thermal transfers. As stated above, each of these processes has its own pros and cons. You should make your decision based on the factors that are most important to your business application.

Thermal Transfer Printing

Thermal transfer printing involves the smallest initial investment, you simply need a conventional inkjet or color laser printer with the proper transfer paper and a heat press and you are ready to go. The most common complaints about thermal transfers are cost per print, inconsistent wash results, peeling and/or cracking of the transfer, outline of transfer paper visible on the garment and unnatural feel of shirt where the transfer was placed (heavy hand).

The issue of the outline of the transfer paper can be addressed by trimming the transfer prior to pressing, which can greatly add to the production time. The typical inkjet printer using off the shelf inks and moderately priced transfer paper will print a letter sized transfer (8½” x 11″) for about $1.50 – $2.00. The process is simple to learn and friendly to most cotton and cotton blend garments but, it is also a process that any consumer can reproduce at home with their own desktop printer and a “t-shirt printing kit” from their local office supply store making it somewhat difficult to sell. As inkjet and laser printer inks are translucent, thermal transfer printing is a white or light garment decoration option only.

Sublimation Transfer Printing

Sublimation transfers differ from thermal transfers in that they are a dye that actually transfers from the carrier paper to the garment. When heated, sublimation pigments pass from a solid state to a gas state (never becoming liquid) and imbed themselves in the fibers of the garment. Sublimation produces a print that has virtually no feel (little or no hand) on the garment. Sublimation is more expensive to get into than thermal transfer printing, as you need a dedicated inkjet or color laser printer as well as specialty sublimation inks and a heat press. A full set of sublimation inks can run into the $300-400 range for the typical inkjet printer toners for color lasers are sometimes $500-600.
Unlike thermal transfers, screen-printing and direct to garment printing sublimation needs a synthetic substrate to effectively transfer to simply put it is not cotton friendly. Sublimation is definitely the process of choice for decorating non-textiles such as mugs, plates, brass and aluminum.

Certain manufacturers now make sublimation ready garments that are cotton with polyester “front”. These shirts do address the issue of needing a polyester shirt (most people don’t like the feel of a 100% poly shirt against their skin) but it comes at a price. A traditional 6-ounce white cotton t-shirt costs a little more than $1 while a similar sublimation ready shirt will cost from $5.50 – $7.00 just for the blank. Add to the cost of the garment another $1.00 – $2.00 for the transfer (8 1/2″ x 11″) and a single sublimation t-shirt can cost as much as $9.00 to produce.

Sublimation does produce very vibrant prints when printed on the correct type garment and their wash fastness is excellent, however, they do tend to fade with exposure to sunlight, so they are not the best solution for garments that will be worn extensively outdoors.
Most manufacturers of sublimation inks/toners offer specialty software for printing sublimation transfers that contain profiles for better color matching while these packages a nice, they also add additional cost and learning curve to the process of producing good output. Because of its’ nature, polyester is a white, or light color garment decoration process only.

Screen-Printing

When most of us think of decorated t-shirts we think of traditional screen-printed shirts. The process of screen-printing is the oldest and most proven of the four common methods of garment imprinting, it is also the most labor intensive. Screen-printing lends itself well to large run orders as well as to simple logo work. The more colors and the smaller the order the less that traditional screen-printing makes sense. Unlike the other three processes discussed here, with screen-printing once the artwork is done on the computer: the work really begins.

A typical 4 color screen-print job can take 2 hours from the time the artwork is done on the computer until the first garment is printed. Once the job is set up, though, shirts can be produced a very high rate. Orders of 12-24 shirts are definitely not practical with a screen-printing set up and many screen-printers won’t take an order for less than 72 garments.

Once everything is setup a traditionally screen-printed garment may only have 5-10 cents worth of ink on it, however, the typical screen-print job costs $10-15 per color to set up. Because screen-print inks can be opaque, screen-printing lends itself to white, light and dark garments (though printing on darks does require a bit more skill than lights and whites).

Other issues of concern with screen-printing are workspace and disposal of waste products as well as a moderate learning curve. Overall, if high volume production is your main objective, screen-printing is a good route to explore. Learn more about SWF East’s screen-printing solutions.

Direct to Garment Digital Printing (DTG)

The newest and most exciting way to imprint garments is Direct to Garment Digital printing or DTG. DTG digital garment printing involves the use of a highly modified inkjet printer with specially formulated garment inks which are heat set with a heat press or tunnel dryer. Unlike screen-printing, DTG output does not require separations, films and screens. Once your artwork is ready on the computer it is output directly onto the garment.

Because of the lack of steps required for DTG, short run orders can be quickly and economically produced in a seemingly infinite number of colors. The cost of output onto a white or light colored garment is typically under 20 cents for an 8½ x 11 image and output onto a dark garment for the same size image is generally around $2.00. Production times on a DTG digital garment print are similar to those for a sublimation or thermal transfer, and generally a bit slower than those for traditional screen-printing (once the press is set up and printing). With DTG digital garment printing there is virtually no hand on light and white garments and minimal feel on dark garments.

A typical 6-8’ table provides sufficient room for your DTG digital garment printer and a heat press completes the package. DTG digital garment printing does not compete with simple one and two color screen print jobs when quantities exceed 3 or 4 dozen, but, it does fit in nicely for larger runs of more complex artwork (full color graphics).

The biggest challenge most new DTG digital garment printers face is marketing their product. As the process is only a few years old, many end consumers are not familiar with the process, however, once they realize that they can design their garments from a full colored palette (as opposed to a limited palette offered by most screen-printers) they will quickly transition to DTG output for a lot of their imprinted apparel needs.

With the advent of white ink for DTG printers a whole new marketplace for short run and custom dark shirts has developed that is virtually impossible to address with any other form of garment imprinting methods. DTG Digital Direct to Garment printing is the wave of the future for garment imprinting.

Learn more about printing with white ink on a Direct to garment printer and how the DTG isn’t just for garments anymore.

Digital Garment Printers are also referred to as: Garment Printers, DTG Printers, Digital Apparel Printer, Inkjet Garment printers, DTG Direct To Garment Printers, DTS Direct to Substrate printers, DOG Direct on Garment Printers, Direct Garment Printers, Apparel Printers, Tshirt Printing Machines, T-shirt printers, DTC Direct To Cotton Printers, DTS Printers, DTC printers

Digital Direct To Garment Printers updates on Wetpaint

Digital Direct To Garment Printers updates on Wetpaint
http://digital-garment-printers.wetpaint.com

Digital Garment Printer Video Page

Digital Garment Printer Video Page on Magnify.net
http://digital-garment-printers.magnify.net/

DTG Large Format Digital Direct to Garment Printer Video

DTG Large Format Digital Direct to Garment Printer  Video

This is a great video about the DTG Bullet, from DTG Digital. This Printer is a Large Format DTG Digital Garment Printer and can print stuff like large beach towels or even an 8 shirt setup. check it out… Or for more info, visit
www.swfeast.com/en/dtg.asp

How do I know if DTG printing is right for me

Inkjet direct-to-garment (DTG) digital printers have captured the industry’s attention with numerous suppliers introducing cutting-edge equipment that can quickly and easily produce some amazing looking prints. If you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge, but have questions about how to pick the right printer, here’s a guide to getting started on your shopping journey. “How do I know if DTG printing is right for me?”

Inkjet direct-to-garment (DTG) digital printers have captured the industry’s attention with numerous suppliers introducing cutting-edge equipment that can quickly and easily produce some amazing looking prints. If you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge, but have questions about how to pick the right printer, here’s a guide to getting started on your shopping journey. “How do I know if DTG printing is right for me?”

Actually, this is an easy question to answer. Whether you’re a screen printer, embroiderer, trophy and awards dealer, sign shop or other type of business, the answer depends on this: If you’re looking to expand your decorating repertoire with the ability to handle short- to medium-run orders, then DTG technology may be perfect for you. On the other hand, if you are a high volume contract shop, you have different variables to consider.

For instance, if you have access to a group of people with a similar interest — boat enthusiasts, dog lovers, fair attendees or bike riders at motorcycle shows — then a DTG machine can be an ideal fit. The technology is well-suited to answer high demand for small, custom orders. If you buy the right machine and know what you’re doing in terms of artwork and production, you can generate some great margins.

Mass customization seems like an oxymoron, but it’s the new frontier in the apparel decoration marketplace, and some smart decorators are capitalizing on the opportunity. For instance, if your shop is primarily an embroidery operation that has been sub-contracting screen printing, then DTG offers independence from relying on an outside source. That can bring peace of mind and reduce the risk of exposing your customer base to a potential competitor.

On the other hand, you may be disappointed if you think a digital printer will enable you to produce large orders more easily and inexpensively than you can with a good crew running an automatic screenprinting press. Such unrealistic expectations will result in frustration.

Further, you need a good understanding of graphics programs, or a willingness to learn, so you can feed good artwork to the digital printer and get consistent, professional results. And you must commit to learning a new garment decoration technique.

Finally, the process may not fit your shop if orders are dominated by polyester or high-polyester content apparel, such as athletic jerseys. The inkjet DTG process is currently a cotton or high-cotton content process.

READY, SET, SHOP

Assuming you’ve crunched the numbers and are ready to hit the market, how do you prepare to shop for a digital printer? First, set a realistic budget that dictates how much you’re willing to invest. As you look into financing options such as leases and bank loans, set a goal for a time period in which you’d like to return your initial investment. You also should have a basic understanding of the technology and how it works. Finally, you must have a target market in mind, whether it’s your existing customer base or an entirely new one.

Next, determine which type and size of machine to get. Picking the right digital printer requires you to have a good understanding of your business model. Unless you know exactly who you’re targeting and what type of garments you’ll be printing, you can’t make an educated decision. You need to have a projected daily output, as well as a realistic daily maximum you expect to print.

It also helps to do some prioritization. Is speed more important, or is budget a bigger concern? Do you need the printer to output to non-textiles? Is power or ease of use more significant? Does it matter if the printer can handle light shirts and dark shirts? Is power or portability your key interest?

For instance, if your business model requires you to set up shop at fair grounds, you’ll obviously want to buy a digital printer that is portable and durable.

THE DARKS DILEMMA

To assess whether you should get a machine with the ability to print on dark garments, consider this: While the cost to print on a typical white or light garment is somewhere between 20 cents and 75 cents, inkjet printing on a dark garment costs a lot more. The process requires pretreatment and a base layer of white ink, which can drive costs up to between $1 and $3 per shirt.

Again, understanding your business model will help you answer this question. If you will specialize in selling Holly Hobby type designs on pastel and light-colored shirts, then you’ll be fine with a printer that only outputs on light garments. If you will be selling T-shirts to rock bands or motorcycle enthusiasts, you’ll probably need the ability to print on darks.

Some suppliers sell printers that can be retrofitted with a white ink option later, meaning you can add the capability to print to darks if you need it. Ask suppliers if they offer this option, and if so, how much it costs.

WHAT’S WHAT

With the many different machines that are available, it can be confusing to compare and evaluate them to find what’s best for your business. For starters, compare apples to apples by evaluating each printer’s true cost and speed of output. Have the same image printed at the same size on all of the machines you’re considering, and get the exact output cost and speed for that print.

When you see the machine in action, it’s ideal to use your own art file that represents the type of work you’ll be doing, not an image the supplier has prepared — and, perhaps, tweaked to make the most of his printer’s output. evaluate each machine, pay particular attention to how easy it is to use; the options it has for different sizes and types of textiles; and, of course, the quality of the printing.

Ask to keep the samples so you can study them closely and compare washability. Does the sample have the desired detail? Do the fades and halftones print well? Are there problem colors? How much editing did it take to make your file print well?

CAVEAT EMPTOR

It’s also important to evaluate the company’s reputation in the industry for quality, customer support and service. Network with other decorators who have already taken the plunge. There are several online forums where decorators from all over the U.S. (and the world) share their experiences.

You will eventually purchase your printer from either a distributor or directly from the manufacturer. Make sure you know whether the distributor or the manufacturer will be your support contact and, again, research other decorators’ experiences with the service and support for your machine.

ART SMARTS

Just like any output device, a DTG digital printer requires artwork — and the output is only as good as the artwork you input. If you don’t already own clip art or have the ability to create artwork with a graphics program, you’ll either need to acquire these tools or establish relationships with freelancers who can provide it.

If you have been in the traditional screen printing business, don’t think your bag of tips and techniques to tweak artwork for CMYK separations will work when preparing DTG output. There are many subtle and not-so-subtle differences, and it’s worth taking a class on preparing artwork for inkjet garment printing. Software vendors and distributors offer classes, there are online courses and you can attend seminars taught by experts at any of the Imprinted Sportswear Shows.

As for your computer, you won’t necessarily need a new one, but you do need plenty of RAM (memory), and you must find out if the digital printer is compatible with your system. Microsoft recently introduced Vista, a new Windows operating system. Some suppliers haven’t yet made their printing software (RIP, or raster image processor) Vista-compatible, though it’s likely just a matter of time before they do.

Finally, it’s important to realize that success with DTG digital printing requires setting realistic expectations, and then having the training it takes to achieve those expectations. Although the technology is relatively simple to use, it still requires an investment of time and energy to get the most out of it.

Schedule a training session with the supplier a few weeks after you’ve had the machine up and running. This way, your questions will be based on real-world experiences, not hypothetical ones. If a trainer is coming to your shop, you might want to clear your production calendar so that you can focus on it without interruptions. If possible, record the training session so that you and your employees can review it later.

So what else should you know before you start shopping to make the right decision? Don’t get too bogged down worrying about whether you’ve researched every nook and cranny of the industry and have picked the absolute perfect machine. If you follow the guidelines set in this article, you will have most likely narrowed your decision down to a finite number of valid options. When push comes to shove, many machines are fairly similar, so it’s not likely that you’ll make a terrible decision.

Direct-to-garment digital printing is still a relatively new technology. The sooner you get started using it, the better. Don’t wait until your competitors gain an insurmountable lead on your business by using the technology and becoming experts at it. Not getting started soon with the technology? Now that would be a bad decision.

Don Copeland has 16 years of industry
experience and is the digital products manager
for SWF East, Tampa, a company
which offers the DTG line of digital directto-
garment printers. He can be reached at
dcopeland@swfeast.com or via Web sites at
swfeast.com or dtgamerica.com.

Pros and cons of digital garment printing with white ink

The pros and cons of printing with white ink

Printing Dark Shirts – The Scoop
Digital t-shirt printers have forever changed the way that we view t-shirt decoration.  Once you have decided to buy a digital t-shirt printing machine you are faced with not only a brand decision of whether you want and/or need the ability to print on dark garments.  Do you buy a dtg garment printer that uses white ink or not?

There are several pros and cons to digital garment printing with white ink.  They range from the cost of the actual output, to the added maintenance to the learning curve.  When you boil it all down, the decision to use white ink is really based on the market you will be addressing, your willingness to learn and your expectations of return on your investment.  Buying a direct to garment printer with white ink can be a great boost to your business – if the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros and Cons of Printing Dark Shirts

So, you’ve decided to add a direct to garment printer to your existing apparel decoration business or even to start a business based on direct to garment printing.  One of the first things to consider is the marketplace you will be selling to – simple example – are you selling to motorcycle clubs that require Harley Davidson style shirts?  If so, no doubt you will be printing a lot of black shirts – white ink is a necessity.  Unfortunately, not all situations are that cut and dried.

When you are considering whether your garment printer should have the ability to print on dark garments you should know and weigh the pros and cons.  Why is this so important?  Some printers, like the Brother GT 541 Digital Garment Printer, the Mimaki garment printer and the Sawgrass Direct Advantage printer do not offer a white ink solution at this time.  Other printers, like the DTG line of t-shirt printing machines, the Fast T-Jet machines by US Screen Printing and the Flexi-Jet garment ink jet printer offer white ink either as standard or an option.  By determining whether white ink is necessary for your business up front, you can quickly narrow your choices and save time researching printers that do not fit your needs.  Surveys of t-shirt blank distributors confirm that a full 70% of the t-shirts they sell for decoration are NOT white.

What exactly are the pros and cons of using digital t-shirt printers with white ink?  Let’s look at the cons first:

printing with white ink costs more

o       true – you will generally spend as little as 20-25 cents to print a white shirt and $2 or more to print the same image on a dark shirt

o       just as in any other type t-shirt printing or decoration – the more it costs to produce, the more you need to charge

o       false – for short run jobs, the added ink costs far outweigh the costs of  separations, films, screens, and setup associated with traditional screen printing
printing with white ink is not as fast as printing a light shirt

o       true – when compared to printing the same image on a light colored garment with no white ink, when you have to print 2 layers as opposed to one it stands to reason that it will take longer

o       false – when compared with the time associated with traditional screen printing setup – short run orders done with a digital t-shirt printer can seem amazingly fast

printing with white ink is more difficult than printing white shirts

o       true – as above, when compared to printing on light garments without white ink, dark garments are more difficult, that being said, the perception of difficulty is more based on the ease of not using white in than on the difficulty of using white ink

o       false – as in all methods of garment decoration, once you have learned how to properly do something, it becomes a matter of consistent repetition

printing with white ink requires more maintenance

o       true – as the white ink used in all digital garment printers has different properties than the color inks, you will need to do a bit more maintenance than you will on a machine without white ink.

o       the difference in required/recommended maintenance between a machine with white ink and one without is literally only a few minutes a day – a small price to pay for potentially increasing your customer base by a factor of 3 to 4

Now, let’s look at the pro’s of printing with white ink with your digital textile press

By offering white ink printing on your dtg printer – you are equipped to handle all colors of garments your customer will request

o       true – literally 70% of the imprinted t-shirts sold every year are not white and may require at least some white ink

o       you can always try to “sell” your customer on using a lighter color garment that does not require white ink – the problem with this is that you risk upsetting your client

o       this is really THE reason for buying a machine with white ink – if you are not willing to give up potentially 70% of the business that is out there and don’t want to send your customers “somewhere else” to get their dark garments printed, you need white ink.

When it comes down to it, if you feel that you can keep your digital garment printer busy full time just printing light colored garments – then the decision should be easy.  If, on the other hand, you are like the majority of direct to garment printer owners, you will find that there are times when the light shirt business is not booming – then printing with white ink can be a saving grace.  Even if you do not want to print with white ink immediately, it is a good idea to buy a direct to garment printer that will allow you to print with white when you are ready.  The DTG line of digital t-shirt printers can be configured to print with or without white ink and changed at any point to fit your needs.

Application of DTG Digital Garment Printer White Ink Pre-Treatment Solution

Application of DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment Solution

DTG INK APPLICATION GUIDELINE for DTG digital garment printers

Application of DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment Solution

DTG Digital Garment Printers is committed to providing you with the most up to date information regarding the processes surrounding the evolution and development of the Direct To Garment printing process. The information provided below will give some additional and most current information for the best methods of application and process to give you the best prints and wash-ability.

Benefits of this improved pretreatment include:• Fewer  garment printed t-shirt defects
• Less sensitivity to fading due to UV Exposure
• Reduced post-pressing shine

The DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution is for use only with DTG white ink. In order to achieve consistent and even white prints on dark or light colored cotton fabrics, proper application of the DTG Garment Printer White Ink Pre-Treatment solution must be practiced. Application of the pretreatment solution is key to obtaining white opacity and ink adhesion to the fabric.

Equipment needed for proper DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution application:

• N95 Approved Respirator (3MTM Model # 8210 or similar)
• Foam Roller (the type used for painting)
• Liquid Mistifier (airbrush, air pump sprayer, fine mist power sprayer, such as Wagner® Power Sprayer Model HVLP)
• T-shirt Press
• DTG Release Paper – Part# – DTGRPAPER (In some cases, parchment paper with silicone base may cause insufficient bonding issues)

Recommended procedure:

The following procedure will help ensure consistent quality and performance of the DTG White Ink:

1. Agitate or shake the pretreatment solution prior to filling your sprayer. Locate the sprayer area in a different room than your printer(s). Overspray can find its way into the printer and potentially damage the device.

2. Locate the sprayer area in a well ventilated area. Set the heat press for 170°C (~340°F)

3. In humid environments, it is often beneficial to pre-press the shirt (using the parchment paper as a barrier from the press) for 10 to 15 seconds prior to applying the pretreatment. This removes some of the water naturally trapped in the fibers.

4. Using the spraying system, spray DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution evenly on the area that is to be printed. The recommended coverage is about 20g to 25g (0.7 oz to 0.9 oz) for a 14″ x 17″ printing area.

For example :

- Set your sprayer for medium coverage. This is normally the setting between no liquid being sprayed and the maximum available.
- Prime the sprayer for a few seconds by spraying into a large cup, but not on to the shirt area. This helps prevent larger drops that occur when the sprayer is starting up.
- Keep the sprayer about 12 inches (0.3 meters) from the shirt and begin spraying from the top to the
bottom in a left to right (and then reverse, right to left) motion without ever turning off the sprayer.
- It is good practice to allow the sprayer to go beyond the edges of the shirt before beginning or reversing direction. This prevents more pretreatment from being deposited on the shirt during the direction change.
- If all settings correct, you should dispense the proper amount of pretreatment solution in about 15
seconds.

5. Following the application of the pretreatment solution, and prior to heat pressing, close examination of the garment’s surface should show the appearance of fine droplets not unlike dew on grass.
A representation is shown below:

6. After spraying the garment, wipe with the foam roller, uniformly and in one direction, to get even coverage.

7. For best image quality, drying the pretreated garment in a t-shirt press (using the parchment paper as a barrier from the press) is preferred. A minimum of 15 seconds, up to a maximum of 60 seconds at the 170°C (~340°F) setting.

Examples:

1) Correct Pretreatment:

The image below represents a shirt that has been properly pretreated, printed, heat-pressed and subsequently washed through three (3) industrial washes. Note the white under-base and color
retention.

This is a properly treated, printed and post-treated shirt.

2) Insufficient Pretreatment:

If too little pretreatment solution is applied, the white ink will have a mottled appearance after printing.

This is due to an insufficient amount of pretreatment to keep the white ink layer on the surface (the ink soaks into the fibers of the shirt).

An example of insufficient pretreatment:

3) Excessive Pretreatment:

Applying too much pretreatment solution will provide you with a very good looking print prior to washing. However, excessive application of pretreatment will cause poor wash fastness and durability. The white layer becomes much more susceptible to flaking off of the shirt in a wash if too much pretreatment is applied.

Here is a shirt with an excessive amount of pretreatment looks very good after printing and pressing:

The same shirt, with excessive pretreatment solution applied, is shown below after washing.

This shirt exhibits the cracking and loss of color associated with too much pretreatment being applied.

Digital Garment Printer Service site from SWF East

Digital Garment Printer Service site from SWF East

Check out this Digital garment printer service site from SWF East.

http://www.swfdtg.com/

Digital inkjet to garment printers

Great Squidoo lens about Digital Garment Printers, with a whole bunch of good articles, videos and helpful links.

read more | digg story

Why DTG Garment Printing over Screen Printing

These are my Top 8 angles / reasons I use to recommend or up sell a customer on DTG Digital Garment Printing. (in no particular order)

-Image Quality (digital garment print image quality)
-Unlimited # of Colors ( customers like the option of unlimited color choices on garment prints)
-Fast Turn Around (garment printers can offer same day service)
-Prints on Multiple color shirts (digital garment prints are not limited by screens set up & ink setups so you can print on multiple color garments)
-4 color process on Front & Back of the Shirt ( forget 1-2 color fronts and 2-3 color backs, because your customers will forget every shop who told them, that was their only choice! unless they want to pay $20 a shirt, of course…)
-Extra Soft Hand (Digital Garment Prints have one of, if not the softest feel of any garment print)
-Multiple Versions of Design (Example: A High School Sports Team might need 4 different Versions of a shirt- Parents, Coaches, Athletes, & Volunteers)
-Reasonably priced reprints Or Scheduled day each month to print any new shirt orders(keeps min down upfront & helps prevent wasting money on extra shirts that don’t sell)

Over the next month or so in this blog, I plan on elaborating and expanding upon each of these 8 angles for selling dtg direct to garment digital printing over screen printing and how it will help you sell more garments at a higher profit margin.

This Squidoo Garment Printers Page has a lot of good information

http://www.squidoo.com/inkjettogarmentprinters

Garment Printers Group on Facebook

Check out this new Direct To Garment Printers Group on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=6716&uid=36127547355#/group.php?gid=36127547355&ref=mf