Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Hi people..I have asked this a couple times but couldent find a good answer. I bought a heat press,shirts and top of the line transfer paper. Am i on the right track? people are saying that i can get screen print transfers made that will look better then my epson printed transfers? arent they all just transfers? Whats the difference? And does anyone know where EXACTLY i can send my own custom logos to get printed to plastisol tranfers,since everyone says there the best? Please help...THanks
Screen print transfer is almost like Screen printing the t-shirt the only different is that you do it and not the silk print. the quality is ways better then what you will get with you printer it will feel like plastisol and it wont be soft. It all depend of the look your trying to give your t-shirt. I own a silk screen shop and I do transfer sometimes because it faster and less work so small order. I also silk screen print on transfer for people like you that want a plastisol transfer. Just send you logo to your local print shop and they should be able to do for you
Dear Stephen,
Where to begin. . .
The word plastisol in 'plastisol transfers' in itself should sell you on these marvels in the transfer world. In silk screening, silk screeners use plastisol inks on their shirts. One day a light went off in someones head and thought 'hey, what could be better than helping out the heat transfer community and making a quick buck at the same time?' Brilliance. So silk screeners began printing custom design work on to transfer papers instead on to shirts. This is where the word plastisol comes into play. The silk screeners use the same 'plastisol' inks that they use in their trade and on their shirts as they do on these transfers. How do they do this, well to make a longer story shorter the designer of a graphic, let us say me in this example, I take my desired design which is usually in bitmap form, because that's what us heat transferers' typically use, and then I must convert it to vector format using a trace program such as corel draw, adobe etc. It is very common that firms offering this type of service will set their screens up using vector images. I guess it's easier to create their 'seperations', meaning that they'll use a seperate specialized program to seperate out all of the colors and combine all like colors onto one screen. If convert your design just right the firm will not charge for art fees. If your drowning in money then there might not be a need to invest in a bitmap to vector based program such as corel or adobe.
So I get my design to the firm. They say it looks good, I say go ahead and print me 20 transfers and then they do such. Then they send me the tranfers and i press them onto the shirt. Ta da.
My friend, these type of tranfers has changed the way we do business. These transfers, if made correctly and if applied correctly will last and last and last. And they look great too. There is no transfer inbetween the designs elements. And there is no papery feel that one gets with opaque one step transfers that you put in your printer. They say that they last up to 40 washes. I have done some testing of my own and I am very satisfied. I have yet no worries. These transfers come in many varieties. Similar to regular heat transfers there is the following: we have hot splits, cold peels, double hot splits, cold peel with adhesive crystals, puff transfers and so on.
Now I get my transfers from www.First-Edition.com They have always worked with me to this day. And they are very friendly.
Keep in mind that with plastisol transfers, just like in silk screening, they charge by the color. You can't get that great array of any and all colors you want like you can get with a regular printer. Since every additional color you add to your design the firm will have to create another screen therefore upping the price per transfer. Usually the more colors the greater the price but as you up your order in transfers the price per transfer goes down.
Give a firm a call that deals with this and ask them for a sample package. They are usually free. Then press away. You'll be surprised at the superiorness of these transfers.
Sincerely,
Marc
Hi people..I have asked this a couple times but couldent find a good answer. I bought a heat press,shirts and top of the line transfer paper. Am i on the right track? people are saying that i can get screen print transfers made that will look better then my epson printed transfers? arent they all just transfers? Whats the difference? And does anyone know where EXACTLY i can send my own custom logos to get printed to plastisol tranfers,since everyone says there the best? Please help...THanks
I am always hearing names like Ace and F&M expressions. F&M has a plastisol called freedom, that is one price no matter how many colors. If you do come across a time you have alot of colors, don't forget to price that one out for your job as well.
Keeping in minid quality, price and ease of getting it added to your shirt... what is more cost effective with quality for a run under 400 for a small clothing company: screen printed tags (.85 ea) or plastisol labels?
Keeping in minid quality, price and ease of getting it added to your shirt... what is more cost effective with quality for a run under 400 for a small clothing company: screen printed tags (.85 ea) or plastisol labels?
Why not price the plastisol labels with some plastisol mfgs?
As far as ease? Screened for you, or lining up and pressing yourself? Already answered. Once you have the actual price of the plastisol, I think you'll be able to answer this easily.
Quality is comparable between sp and plastisol, so you are down to "cost" and "time". SP eliminates the "time" to apply them.
Any complaints about the quality of plastisol transfers? I have heard that after you wash them they crack or somtimes smaller letters fall off. Is this true? If so, screenprinting is the better option.
Screen print? Transfers? 
