fanmi2008

Hello!

My wife and I are new to this. We have read some of the posts and they all seem pretty helpful and informative.

We are both taking baby steps reading all information on this great web site.

We haven't bought any machinery or software to start printing t-shirts yet. We both are new to this and it seems to be pretty fun.

Any feedback on starter kits and software would be greatly appreciated.

I have also looked at both Corel Draw X4 and Corel Painter 4 with the Bamboo tablet. I'm not sure if the tablet will work with Corel Draw X4.

Like I said we are just starting to look at printing t-shirts and right now there is information overload. Any suggestions on where to steer our focus first.

Thanks.

 

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moe_szys1ak

When I was starting out (not that I'm overly advanced right now) I bought some hinge clamps, a few large screens, a squeegie, a scoop coater sized to the screens, a clip-on lamp with a 250 watt utility bulb, and some Diazo emulsion and reclaiming solution. Using an old table I had in the garage, I screwed the hinge clamps to the table and played with it all. It's a perfect set-up for 1-color prints and not expensive. Perfect for getting your feet wet.

Software is a little different. I already had Photoshop and Illustrator CS3. I suggest going with the Adobe Suite over the Corel Suite (though I know a lot of people who love Corel). The Adobe Suite is industry standard and I have always found them easier to use. You definitely don't need to get the latest versions, either. You can currently find the CS2 and CS versions very inexpensively on eBay and they will do everything you need. There are also a number of free open-source options available, but I'm not too familiar with them.

 

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fanmi2008

Thank you for your feedback it is appreciated.

Quote: Originally Posted by moe_szys1ak When I was starting out (not that I'm overly advanced right now) I bought some hinge clamps, a few large screens, a squeegie, a scoop coater sized to the screens, a clip-on lamp with a 250 watt utility bulb, and some Diazo emulsion and reclaiming solution. Using an old table I had in the garage, I screwed the hinge clamps to the table and played with it all. It's a perfect set-up for 1-color prints and not expensive. Perfect for getting your feet wet. Software is a little different. I already had Photoshop and Illustrator CS3. I suggest going with the Adobe Suite over the Corel Suite (though I know a lot of people who love Corel). The Adobe Suite is industry standard and I have always found them easier to use. You definitely don't need to get the latest versions, either. You can currently find the CS2 and CS versions very inexpensively on eBay and they will do everything you need. There are also a number of free open-source options available, but I'm not too familiar with them.

 

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tman07

Go to a trade show if you can. There are are some coming up in Chicago and Indianapolis soon.

You can see up close different equipment and supplies and the people are willing to answer all your questions.

 

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