I have had constant banding issues. My DTG is maintained well and kept in good humidity levels. Nozzle check is great.
When i print on white it is usually pretty good. I also had a lot of registration issues in the past but those were fixed. The techs replaced a lot of parts on my printer so i should basically have a whole new printer but the banding problem is still here.
My problems only occur when I print on dark color shirts and in particular with purples, bright blues, and reds. I attached an image of the colors I usually have trouble with. Its a poor quality picture, sorry, but you can tell the colors are not solid. Can anyone please let me know if they encounter similar banding issues with these colors?
I am starting to feel like the DTG in general just does a poor job of printing blocks of solid light colors on dark shirts. I hope I am wrong though.
We've had problems with banding (and what I can only describe as 'microbanding') in reds for a VERY long time - and after flushing the entire machine through and meticulously cleaning all the print parts, we're still having probs.
What colour profiles are you using? resolution? what software?
We've had problems with banding (and what I can only describe as 'microbanding') in reds for a VERY long time - and after flushing the entire machine through and meticulously cleaning all the print parts, we're still having probs.
What colour profiles are you using? resolution? what software?
I am using DTG Rip Pro. i print at 1440x720. I usually do 1 pass of white underbase and 1 pass of color, but have tested a number of different combinations. I print out of photoshop or illustrator. For me its mostly apparent on reds and lighter blues.
I guess you already know this, but those colours are going to be almost unobtainable without special mixed inks... Shame really, but with regular subtractive inks I guess we can't flout the laws of physics
Our HM1 isn't spectacular at large blocks of solid colour - we get weird microbanding, and occasionally you can see what I can only describe as 'waves' of colour. Almost undiscernable unless you really look at it closely, but it is obvious. Much worse for reds with us than with any other colour. Still looking for a confirmed reason as to why this is happening... Got to do some more experiments next week too.
Part of me is wondering if it's a combination of uneven pretreat... I do know for a while we had problems using bidirectional printing, but after going to unidirectional I began to notice that the results were even worse! So after flushing the entire machine and very carefully cleaning the print head (and dampers) I did notice that the results were marginally better with bidirectional printing.
Our printer is a very strange beast... I do usually print at 1440x1440 though - just can't get a satisfactory amount of ink onto the shirt at the lower resolution. (at least, not satisfactory for my standards!) if you print at 14x14, is the banding better or worse?
Microbanding is a problem with DTG since the beginning. I've had printheads that have banded in red white underbase prints since putting them in, and others which have printed reds perfect. It blows my mind.
Microbanding is a problem with DTG since the beginning. I've had printheads that have banded in red white underbase prints since putting them in, and others which have printed reds perfect. It blows my mind.
or not quite as bad? (that's our printer, before I flushed it through with cleaning solution and completely cleaned everything I could... I've not tried printing that image again yet!)
Utterly frustrating however, isn't it... You spend tens of thousands buying what you are promised is excellent gear, then you have nothing but issues down the line. How can we say to your customers that our equipment is functioning 100% when there's a chance they then turn round and say "well, why are there tiny lines in it?" :/
Last edited by christopherw; October 19th, 2009 at 04:30 AM.
hmm, mines not that bad. Maybe 1/4 that bad sometimes. The 'dodgy' fix is to print the colour layer also at 1440dpi rather then 720dpi. If your already printing at 1440dpi for the colour pass there must be a bigger issue.
hmm, mines not that bad. Maybe 1/4 that bad sometimes. The 'dodgy' fix is to print the colour layer also at 1440dpi rather then 720dpi. If your already printing at 1440dpi for the colour pass there must be a bigger issue.
Yeah, that was at 14x14 ... I think it was suffering a bit, given it a thorough flush through of just about everything but not printed that image yet since doing it. Fingers crossed it'll come out ok next time!
(this, combined with a few other factors, have been what's pushed us into beginning to invest in screen printing equipment. The profit vs. expenditure is almost not worth it as a main revenue stream, DTG must've been on the crazy juice when they worked out their P&E calculations!)
My guess from the pic & the good nozzle check is that it is starved of ink.
Every time a drop of ink is fired the firing chamber has to replenish and if the ink isn't perfect there is a delay.
I suspect that the ink is a bit of a compromise between performance on the garment and clogging/firing in the head.
Can you slow the head/go unidirectional/add a delay just to test the theory?
I really do love TSF. Thanks all for comments and tips so far, will update thread again when I next face off with the blue beast.
Now, as I've just realised this was a bit of a threadjack on my behalf, anybody have any more suggestions / experiments to help the OP with their own problems printing solid areas of colour?
I really do love TSF. Thanks all for comments and tips so far, will update thread again when I next face off with the blue beast.
Now, as I've just realised this was a bit of a threadjack on my behalf, anybody have any more suggestions / experiments to help the OP with their own problems printing solid areas of colour?
Hey christopher,
no thread jack here, you actually made me feel better in the fact that now i know its not just my machine. I have the same frustrations so let me know if you have any success in your experiments.
Trouble with image, banding on some colors 
