Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I have a potential order from some friends who own a beer brewery in W. Africa. I came up with the idea or imitating their label but now am coming up with a technical wall. The label was printed in offset which allows a metallic looking design. The only way I can see to do this would be to print foil over a plastisol red colored blank but I'm guessing from the various forum discussions that this would involve a three step process - print the red blank square, apply adhesive, then print the foil design. So this would require two separate transfer orders and be very labor intensive, plus be really iffy when lining up the foil design over the red blank. Does anyone have a better idea? Any chance there is a vendor who can do one transfer with both the red background and the foil overlay? I don't see how that could work actually since the red plastisol transfer would have to be face down on the shirt to transfer the ink and the foil face up. The design is attched. Any advice would be appreciated. Maybe i should do the foil alone but then the back ground would be the color of the shirt. Might be a good effect. Thanks. Mike
I think this is beyond the capabilities of a heat press solely and should be done in a screen print shop. I could be mistaken, but I can't figure out myself how you could pull it off with consistent results with just a heat press...
I think this is beyond the capabilities of a heat press solely and should be done in a screen print shop. I could be mistaken, but I can't figure out myself how you could pull it off with consistent results with just a heat press...
Thanks Dan. I'm hoping there is but share your doubts. The problem is if I had it done in a print shop and was only a middleman there really wouldn't be any profit in it. I was thinking if the foil could be placed on the paper face down then the plastisol applied then when it was pressed the plastisol would go on the shirt and the foil would be good side up. Just don't know if a custom transfer company could do that. Thanks again. Mike
Ed: I would probably be going for three sizes - 12x12, 5x5, and 3x3 - or some variation based on ganging them. They would be a back design for men, front for women, and one for a hat. As to quantity, if they are good and the people like them, I could conceivably see hundreds initially with reorders fairly frequently. 1,000 or more per year would be possible. Mike
Thanks Ed. I did query Dowling Graphics on this, with whom I have been very happy with on other things but they could not match the ink. They have a metallic gold that I was hopeful about but the color was too light and it could not be underbased for clarity/brightness on dark colors. If you have any suggested sources I'd be grateful. . I'm not sure really if glitter would work since the actual label is kind of an antiqued gold. But I am certainly willing to try options. Thanks much. Mike
Foil/Plastisol design 
