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dub3325 · July 11th, 2006

I have been doing a lot of my hands on research with heat transfer printing the last couple weeks. Problem I am having, as you may have known from the title, are carrier paper lines showing through.

I am printing on very cheap hanes undershirts that I just have lying around so that I can just get a feel for the press and to see how the transfers are coming out, so that may make the lines more visible.

My options:

1) Buy a vinyl sign cutter (i.e. I think craft robo was mentioned in another thread, does anyone have experience with this?). I have no idea how vinyl cutters work, so I would have to add that to the "to learn" list, if it is a reasonable solution.

2) Try plastisol, which I would eventually have to do for all my designs anyway. Some of my designs contain too many colors for plastisol and it just would not be efficient to print them via plastisol.

3) Get a magnifying glass and keep at it with my exacto knife (j/k)

I am leaning towards researching more on vinyl cutters right now. Craft robo seems like a hobby tool, but from the sounds of it, it seems to get the job done.

The obvious solution would be screenprinting, but that is just way out of my league at the moment.

PS. I'm using New Milford IronAll Transfer paper

M-BLaze · July 11th, 2006

I have a craft robo and have found it excellent at cutting my designs. I use Illustrator and can cut straight from there. All you have to do is reverse the image before you cut. The only problem with the craft robo is the maximum cutting width is about 8" but if you buy vinyl in rolls you can make the length anything you want (within reason) usually about 13", should cover most t-shirts. The cut transfer is perfect, the weeding off of the excess vinyl takes a bit of getting used to and you have to watch that your design doesn't become ridiculously detailed as weeding becomes painful and frustrating.

Rob

dub3325 · July 11th, 2006

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the quick response. Would I be able to use regular transfer paper vs vinyl to have it cut? Or is the robo craft a bit too powerful for typical transfer papers?

M-BLaze · July 11th, 2006

Got to be honest I haven't ever used transfer paper but I think these cutters can take many types of media as you can adjust the depth of cut, but if transfer paper is very thin might be a problem.

jvbadart · August 12th, 2006

Hi there.

Just go my Craft Robo yesterday. Did not know when I ordered it that I had to order the special T-Shirt transfer paper which I did the next day. So while I am waiting for the Transfer paper I thought I would try out regular green line paper. The first sheet did not work as it was to thin but then I put it on the Carrier Sheet and it was wonderful. I was able to cut designs for 4 shirts in less than an hour (and that included the designing). I think I have found my new best toy. I can't wait until I get the actual transfer paper for the cutter.

But I do have a question if anyone has the answer. I was able to do basic letter outlines and apply white letters to shirts. I cannot figure out how to cut out the actual detailing of an image. If anyone has any tips please let me know.

J