Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Is the only way to print on a black t-shirt, without getting a box around the design, to use a vinyl cutter? Also I've seen some videos about using a vinyl cutter to cut out shapes/designs, but how does it work when cutting out words?.... burning questions
You can screen print ,use plastisol transfers,use DTG, and vinyl with a cutter/plotter. The cutter and vinyl is the simpleist way if you have a cutter. You can order cad cut vinyl from several places and then apply with your heat press. ...... JB
Thanks JB . If I use the cutter for a word design, will it cut a box around my word design or will it cut each letter out individually? Black t-shirts are very popular in my country and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do them without getting the 'box effect'
If you use a cutter to cut vinyl transfers it just cuts the font or number or design you weed the vinyl away from the image and just end up with the image no window
Thanks ... so would you say that using vinyl is deffinately the best way to do black t-shirts? Please excuse me if I'm sounding kinda stupid . I just really want to know before I make any purchases....thanks again
If you want a print that is going to last a long long time, go with the pressed on vinyl. More durable than screenprinting in my opinion. Excellent product for doing text and simple graphics.
It really depends if you are printing a quanity of shirts with the same logo or letters. If you are printing multiple shirts with the same logo then screen printing would be the less expensive, but for short runs or one offs , vinyl is the way to go. We use both methods depending on the order. Good luck in your adventure.
I have vinyl shirts that are worn out ,but the vinyl still looks new. I think vinyl and Embroidery are the most durable forms of apparel decoration. ..... JB
trinitee, with a vinyl cutter, you can draw the cut lines any way you want to cut any design you want. In your case, it sounds like you want to just cut letters out. You would just type the letters into the cutter program in whatever font you want, mirror the image (for most heat press vinyl), then send the cut lines to the cutter. It cuts the lines, you then weed the excess vinyl leaving just the mirrored letters.
Here's a shirt I made for myself a couple of weeks ago...
Do a search on youtube for Josh Ellsworth, he has a number of videos on cutting heat press vinyl.
Here are some fireman shirts we do, using the pressed on vinyl, which involves a lot of detail. Takes a bit of time to weed but the end result is something that is going to outlast the t-shirt.
Mike
Last edited by mike2468; July 7th, 2008 at 07:02 AM.
Thanks for the detailed explanation and image attachment Ted.....and Mike your shirt looks really nice, and yeah that looks like it did take some time with weeding thanks for all the help so far guys
Using Vinyl on Black Tees 
. If I use the cutter for a word design, will it cut a box around my word design or will it cut each letter out individually? Black t-shirts are very popular in my country and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do them without getting the 'box effect'
. I just really want to know before I make any purchases....thanks again
