Help Help I am trying to print a design that has alot of red ink in it on a black tee. I am spraying with the pretreatment and laying down a layer of white ink first, the red ink looks great until I press it and then fades out too much. I have my heat press set at 340 and I press for 2 minutes. I need to have 90 shirts down by the weekend!
I have found that the colors print more vibrantly on 100% cotton, (vs. poly blends) and if I need to make the colors pop even more, place the setting on "color vibrant" instead of photo normal, and If you still need it brighter make the setting for the white layer at 1440. It does make the print cost more of course, but the colors will look great on the black tees.. =)
You can also increase the brightness of your post-pressed garments by first hovering the press over the print for a minute or so and then doing a normal press. It also won't hurt to reduce the pressue on your press to allow for more steam to escape.
Thanks alot Don I will try that. I also have trouble putting red on black sweatshirts the colors just dont come out a true red. After pressing they fade to dull red. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Also the sweatshirts are not 100 percent cotton, only 80 20. Does that make a differance?
Less than 100% cotton will tend to not give you as good a white as possible, thus you won't get as good color on top of it. Play with your white ink resolution as well, more white ink means brighter white - better colors.
Help Help I am trying to print a design that has alot of red ink in it on a black tee. I am spraying with the pretreatment and laying down a layer of white ink first, the red ink looks great until I press it and then fades out too much. I have my heat press set at 340 and I press for 2 minutes. I need to have 90 shirts down by the weekend!
Red is always a problem color, in screen printing as well. Try reducing your temperature to 330 degrees. Press on light pressure for a minute. Raise the press. Let it cool for a few seconds. Then press again. Also watch your total heat press time. You are using DuPont inks and the recommended time for prints with white ink with these inks is 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. You want to be careful to avoid washability problems with your customer by having it undercured.
Thanks so much Harry. I will give it a try but what a pain to have to do light press and then the normal pressure. I have reduced my temp to 330 and will give it a try.
Thanks so much Harry. I will give it a try but what a pain to have to do light press and then the normal pressure. I have reduced my temp to 330 and will give it a try.
You could also try doing it at the lower 330 degree temperature for the entire 3 minute time and see if you get a better result. Just make sure you are heat setting it for the proper amount of time as you do not want the shirts not washing well.
Red ink on black tees 
