Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I stated in another thread that I would be doing some test for Neenah paper. Because of my focus on trying new papers and doing my videos showing you folks on how I get the job done. I was asked if I would work with them. I guess that is an honor. Surprisingly they said they have seen my videos. So I said I would. One of the papers I mentioned in the other thread was Image Clip for Ink jet printers. This is not to be confused with Image Clip for laser printers which is available now. Image Clip for Ink jet printers will actually not be available until Jan. I also stated i would do a video on the process. Well that will happen but not before I meet with them at the ISS show and go over some details. The process used is not as simple as printing with your printer and pressing. The idea is to eliminate the Polymer coating from around the image. To do this requires several steps and in fact does require a Mono laser printer as well as a ink jet printer. My point today is to let you know that there is something coming that can very well compete with a higher priced paper that is on the market now. Now that said i can't give the cost. If any of you have seen the DEC. issue of printwear magazine you will find an ad for the paper and it show the suppliers that will be selling it. I am placing a picture of the product on a tee that was sent to me and I scanned. I now refer to the product as ICIJ. feel free to ask questions, however I may not be able to answer yet but after my meeting with them in January I am sure i will be able to answer. I know I whetted your appetite because of the number of emails I have already received by placing info on the other thread. So here is the pic. Take a good look.. There is absolutely no polymer showing. This picture has not been doctored in any way. The image was soft as well. What I don't know is how well it holds up in the wash.. That is coming. They said it does great. Lou
That looks really good...hopefully the price break will work for those interested...Most may not have a mono laser but the are really cheap now..some under $100. There is also a new paper around the corner for Laser printers, but I have not seen the results yet.
I got a coupon today from Office depot for $10.00 off $30. or more. Because I buy from them and belong to their advantage club I just got $15.50 in free money from them. So A $99.00 laser mono printer is going to cost me... $73.50 lets see.. that will make 5 printers that I have and one for my wife.. If you guys live near an office depot store sign up for their advantage club and reap the rewards. i get coupons almost every week. Most lately have been $10 off $30. That is 33% savings if I spend just $30.00. great way to save on buying ink. Lou
I am wondering how much work this is going to take with an inkjet and a laser, how many steps is it? have you washed the sample for color fastness yet? Does Neenah make the ImageClip for the laser?
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I am wondering how much work this is going to take with an inkjet and a laser, how many steps is it? have you washed the sample for color fastness yet? Does Neenah make the ImageClip for the laser?
The Image clip for laser has been out for awhile. I never used it because I don't do laser. There are several steps to using the paper but it is not that hard to do. I won't go into that just yet. I just received the sample shirt from neenah and have not washed it yet. But I will in the next few day. I am swamped trying to get orders out.. Neenah would like to work with me at the show before I do the video. I want to present to you the best instructions that are easy to understand. Sometime I think instructions are written by peiople who do not do the work.They think it will appeal to the professional printer who wants a nice design that may be too intricate for contour cutting. By the way have not got a clear cost yet but was told it would be in the general range of other transfer paper. It will not be priced as the wow paper is for sure. Lou
Still confused on the two printer aspect. I know image clip for laser printers but dont understand the two printer method mentioned for inkjet applications. I think its a three step paper that releases the polymer where not in contact with ink...guess we will wait and see.
I believe the concept is fairly simple and has been done with other companies in a similar format (i.e. two years ago, Sawgrass released a beta version of ChromaBlast 2.0 where they dropped a blocking agent down on the ChromaBlast paper). You have two pieces of transfer paper - one inkjet and one laser. One transfer paper is run through your inkjet printer with your graphic mirrored on it. The second paper is ran through your laser printer with your graphic inverted (i.e. everything that would typically be printed in your graphic is now blank and all the blank space typically on the transfer paper is now printed with a solid layer of toner). Then you take the pieces of paper and face them together (so that the ink on the inkjet paper will match up inside the blank area on the laser paper). Then you heat press the two types of papers together. The laser paper will have all of this toner on it that will act as a blocking agent for the polymer that will prevent that polymer you don't want to show up on your shirt (i.e. the window). After pressing, peel the two pieces of paper a part and now you have an inkjet transfer that only has the polymer where your inkjet ink is (i.e. no window).
As mentioned above, this is beneficial when you have a design that is to detailed to do print-cut efficiently. The key will be making sure that you properly press the two sheets together or you might not transfer all of the polymer properly to the inkjet paper and may get a poor wash test (similar challenge with Image Clip for laser printers only). Most likely, you will either want to print out all the transfers at the same time as the pressing of the two papers is typically done at a lower temperature than what you would press a transfer to the shirt (same challenge with Image Clip for laser printers only). Otherwise, you would need to heat presses or continuously increase / decrease the temperature on your heat press.
I personally have not played with this paper either, but I have heard about this paper in the works for well over a year and Neenah is a great company. So I am sure the results will be commercially acceptable. Just need to decide if these steps work for your business model.
Hope this gives you the quick summary of the process.
Still confused on the two printer aspect. I know image clip for laser printers but dont understand the two printer method mentioned for inkjet applications. I think its a three step paper that releases the polymer where not in contact with ink...guess we will wait and see.
I would assume that the b/w laser is used to make the clipping path or the mask that reduces the polymer.
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The original Thread Killah!™ Heavy Metal Art and more @ www.deathisgain.com
So here is the pic. Take a good look.. There is absolutely no polymer showing. This picture has not been doctored in any way. The image was soft as well. What I don't know is how well it holds up in the wash.. That is coming. They said it does great. Lou
So, Lou, that is actually a shirt that Neenah sent to you? What brand and fabric content is it?
Have you actually pressed with the Image Clip IJ paper yourself yet? Thanks.
I would assume that the b/w laser is used to make the clipping path or the mask that reduces the polymer.
Not trying to minimize all the R&D time spent developing the paper, but you got the basic concept for blocking the excess amount of polymer you don't want on the shirt.
So basically you need two sheets of paper, two different printers, three times the amount of time for printing, pressing and application. Its a novel idea but I will stick with JPSS. Now will Epson please make an desktop inkjet printer that prints white ink and someone produce a clear polymer paper for darks.
Neenah paper, new paper and I 
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