DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
I've ordered black t-shirts from CafePress's service before, but the white inks were less than spectacular.
After I went to the CP Conference, I noticed a few people wearing shirts printed by CafePress that looked much better than my initial purchases, so I decided to give it a shot again.
Attached are a few closeup shots of a navy blue, army green and black t-shirt printed with 300dpi graphics on CafePress's direct to garment printing machines (Kornit brand machines).
There isn't a "zero" hand, but it's very minimal. The white on dark garment has greatly improved (it was just gray, but now it actually pops white).
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
I saw Kornit running the machines that Cafe Press has at the SGIA show. I was really impressed. The whites where brighter than what you even have in these pictures.
I also noticed, the colors look out of register to the white. I think Cafe Press needs this machine tweaked. From what I saw at the show, these can be much better. The good thing is, the average person buying the shirt would not have a problem with these shirts.
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
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I also noticed, the colors look out of register to the white. I think Cafe Press needs this machine tweaked.
It might be just my photo. The whites look fine in person. The photos above were taken without a flash, so they are probably a bit "warmer" than normal.
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
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Originally Posted by Rodney
It might be just my photo. The whites look fine in person. The photos above were taken without a flash, so they are probably a bit "warmer" than normal.
Actually what I was talking about is in the photo with the color over the white, you can see white to the right of the color everywhere, including the holes and cracks in the letters. This tells me the alignment needs adjusted. This should be able to be done in the software. The other thing is, when I was at the SGIA show, the white truly looked screen printed.
I know what DTG machines can do when they are set properly. My guess is, the machines are set up and are getting them by. But when you spend that much money on a machine, you need to be well versed in it. Not only that, but you have hundreds of thousands of customers (possibly more) depending on you getting it right. The image just doesn't look as good as what I've seen it could do. Of course with a flash, it will look too bright and not realistic either.
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
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The other thing is, when I was at the SGIA show, the white truly looked screen printed.
For the white on dark garment that I just received, the white does look screen printed.
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My guess is, the machines are set up and are getting them by. But when you spend that much money on a machine, you need to be well versed in it. Not only that, but you have hundreds of thousands of customers (possibly more) depending on you getting it right.
You also have to remember that they are dealing with hundreds of thousands of different source artwork files, whereas in a showroom setup, the environment is more controlled.
If they are processing hundreds of thousands of different images of different resolutions and different color profiles, each print off the machine being different than the last, it's a bit understandable that there are some minor discrepancies.
I know they are constantly trying to adjust the profiles and work with the settings to make them work for the largest majority of their images. I wouldn't assume that they aren't tweaking the software.
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
They do need to fix that registration problem though.
(unless it's just because the machine gets a lot of use and hadn't had its daily maintance yet or something; it might be in a regular cycle of falling out of registration and being fixed given the scale of their business).
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
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Call me old Fashioned, but I aint gonna go out and Git me no cotton pickin fancy whippersnapper when screen printing looks better. Dag-nabbit!
Sure, screen printing looks better , but it's also impossible to create and sell ONE screen printed t-shirt with 4-5 colors for $20 and have it printed on demand while you're sleeping
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
Your totally right Rodney, But on the other hand, I wouldnt want to hit "Print" and line up those shirts on the littl ebracket thing 500 times!
I think that T-jet printing { Or DTG } Has a time and a place { 4 colour one offs for one}, as does Screenprinting.
Also , I aint gonna be droppin no 25000$ bux on a piece of equipment!
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
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Originally Posted by ffokazak
Your totally right Rodney, But on the other hand, I wouldnt want to hit "Print" and line up those shirts on the littl ebracket thing 500 times!
I think that T-jet printing { Or DTG } Has a time and a place { 4 colour one offs for one}, as does Screenprinting.
Also , I aint gonna be droppin no 25000$ bux on a piece of equipment!
You actually load a shirt on the Kornit the same way you do a screen printing press. The 931D has side by side platens, so you load one shirt while the other is being printed. And it prints extremely fast (compared to other DTG printers) because they use a Xaar head. For a 5"x11" image, they rate it at 295 shirts per hour on lights and 80 shirts per hour on darks using the normal mode. The machine also costs $195,000 so it's out of the price range for almost all small businesses.
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving
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Originally Posted by Rodney
I've ordered black t-shirts from CafePress's service before, but the white inks were less than spectacular.
After I went to the CP Conference, I noticed a few people wearing shirts printed by CafePress that looked much better than my initial purchases, so I decided to give it a shot again.
Attached are a few closeup shots of a navy blue, army green and black t-shirt printed with 300dpi graphics on CafePress's direct to garment printing machines (Kornit brand machines).
There isn't a "zero" hand, but it's very minimal. The white on dark garment has greatly improved (it was just gray, but now it actually pops white).
The type on the second pic looks very cracked, but nice and white.
DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving 
Re: DTG print samples from CafePress's Kornit improving 
, but it's also impossible to create and sell ONE screen printed t-shirt with 4-5 colors for $20 and have it printed on demand while you're sleeping 
