Discuss the various aspects of direct to garment printing. DTG printers include Brother, T-Jet, Flexi-Jet, DTG Kiosk, Kornit, Mimaki, Tex-Jet and others! Discuss and learn about this up and coming printing technology.
Ok guys... Since I have only received 1 negative and about 20 positives I will post the video TODAY! This is the 1st one so it is ugly but it works. I am going to work on perfecting it later on this week.(I have a real job too)
I can answer a few questions first.....
1) I only used the parts from the printer and wood for the frame and table. I didn't use any type of tray or stepper motor and you can see in the video just
some wood working and thinking about how the printer works normally.
2) I am using bulk epson ink and after setting it with a heat press and washing it it looks just the same as it did while printing.
3) Once you take the printer apart it cannot be put back together and taken back to walmart! So If it doesn't work for you, plan on losing the money put in it, since I cannot promise you have the skills to build it and make it work.
4) the hard part is lining everthing up while building it, but the one in the video is the first one and everthing isn't perfectly straight.
5) It isn't perfect! Yet... But with everyones help I feel it can be!
Hold on tight because I couldn't believe it worked also! but when this makes it out, I'll either be sued or the price of the DTG printers will drop(Hopefully the price comes down)
Thanks to everyone with the positive comments!
I will post the link here Today Sunday Nov 11th. 2007!
T
don't see how you could be sued. Everyone is entitled to experiment with technology and share their findings. It's not like you are selling a ripped off copy of a DTG you are sharing you findings. Looking forward to seeing it.
WOW!! I'm totally impressed. I haven't really looked into DTG and I've only seen one in action at a trade show a few months ago. Looks like you're really on to something that could make DTG an affordable option.
Now I have question for the ones who have purchased the high dollar ones if they care to help.
I have read you need to pre-treat the shirts....1- Why? and what does it do? 2 - What is the pre-treatment made from?
I have only washed a couple of shirts that I printed and they look as good as they time I printed them.
I am heat pressing them with my t-shirt press to "set" the ink.
Next thing is the colors do look slightly fadded from a printed piece of paper.
I wonder if I could purchase the ink from a maunfacture of a DTG to improve the fadding or would the pre-treatment fix it?
Maybe someone could be nice and help with this.
Thanks!
great idea...great results...I think you may be on to something.. post the instructions....(after you get your patent!) and let some of us try to duplicate what you did. or maybe sell a cd with the instructions on it.....got to be someway for you to make a buck or two for sure
I have read you need to pre-treat the shirts....1- Why? and what does it do? 2 - What is the pre-treatment made from?
Pretreatment only comes into play for the most part when you are printing white ink. There is a new pretreatment that is used for just printing CMYK. The basic job of the pretreatment is to keep the ink on the top of the shirt. This is needed when you are printing white ink on a dark color garment because the white ink will settle into the fibers of the shirt and the dark color of the garment will come through the white ink.
Can I ask what type of ink you are using? Is it a dtg-type ink or is it a pigment / dye based ink? That could affect the washability of the shirt as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by makemygraphix
Next thing is the colors do look slightly fadded from a printed piece of paper. I wonder if I could purchase the ink from a maunfacture of a DTG to improve the fadding or would the pre-treatment fix it?
The profiles for paper is much more different than printing on to fabric. So, getting an ICC profile for it would be needed. If you wanted to print white ink (which is not possible with a C-88 because it only has 4 channels), you would need to get a RIP.
Hope these answers help you in your experiment. Nice job.
Thanks for answering the questions!
I am only using an epson bulk pigment ink, but I have heat set the shirts and washed them and the image is still the same.
I am using the standard c88+ icc profiles that came with the printer. I am going try using Flexi to print from next to see if that make a difference.
I know that most of the printers do come with it's own t-shirt software which may make a difference on how the printer prints.
Thanks to everyone for the great comments.... I'm still trying to improve it and may try a 6 color model epson next. I will draw up some plans to sell for a small fee so I can pay for my next printer and equipment to improve this. I appreciate any help I can get and I think WE can make this a great project!
Re: Made my own DTG Printer for $150 
