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Rodney · March 12th, 2008

Quote:


	Here's a thought, why can't they print out a sample of the job, so the operator can see what he is dealing with

I think they do use a small printed copy for a proof. But even then, how it looks on paper will be different than how it looks on the screen, which will be different than how it looks on a garment.

Gunslinger · March 12th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by prometheus


	Here's a thought, why can't they print out a sample of the job, so the operator can see what he is dealing with.

That's how I run my shop. I have a printed garment for every job, every print I have ever done. So, I could use them for quality control checks and consistency. This became vital, whenever changes to the software or new releases to the inks came out, if I ever needed to do another run for a given print/client.

But, while I believe this is the way every shop should be run ... I can see Tim's point, I just don't know how feasible that could be when dealing with that much volume. You also have to consider ... just how many less-than-desired prints go out and not returned, compared to ones that are and need to be refunded or reprinted. Numbers to numbers ... it's just less costly and more efficient for the big dogs to pumpin' out the product, keeping within acceptable loss percentages.

This is a great thread, but Rodney's right ... way too many factors to consider making a cut and dry decision with any one of these companies.

Where is Consumer Reports when we need em???

Girlzndollz · March 12th, 2008

And does the consumer view the resulting product in the same way a printer does. It's possible the level of printing expected here may exceed what the everyday consumer is expecting.

I know the shirts for our school are literal junk, but folks buy them without much thought.

tim3560 · March 12th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girlzndollz


	And does the consumer view the resulting product in the same way a printer does. It's possible the level of printing expected here may exceed what the everyday consumer is expecting. I know the shirts for our school are literal junk, but folks buy them without much thought.

I think there's a lot of truth to that last statement.
I have honestly found that 9 times out of 10 even though I might not be 100% satisfied with something I've printed, the customer is usually thrilled.

Rodney · March 12th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girlzndollz


	And does the consumer view the resulting product in the same way a printer does. It's possible the level of printing expected here may exceed what the everyday consumer is expecting. I know the shirts for our school are literal junk, but folks buy them without much thought.

This is also a VERY big point.

Some stuff is obviously bad.

But a LOT of the stuff that we would see as really bad, a customer would not ever know the difference and would probably LOVE the design when they received it. They may even be a return customer after receiving a "misprint".

I remember going to one of CafePress's meet and greets, and they talked about how their focus on always improving the quality of what goes out and customer satisfaction rates.

One surprising thing that they found was that one of the highest measures of customer satisfaction didn't come from the quality of the print, it came from how fast the item reached their doorstep after ordering.

That's not to say that they stopped focusing on the quality of the prints, far from it. But it's just interesting to note what customers see as a priority when ordering custom printed apparel online.

More info here: Top 10 Things I Learned at the CPConnect CafePress User Conference

Gunslinger · March 12th, 2008

So true ... I know I never paid any attention to all the details we now see and fuss about, until getting into the industry.

prometheus · March 12th, 2008

It reminds me of a job we had a work a while back. We spent a lot of time trying to get this one aspect right, everytime it printed. Then one day someone brought it up to the customer, and they didn't even care about it. Nobody had really asked them.

kitkaplan · May 23rd, 2008

I sell my photographs on t-shirts for the Coney Island Wonder Wheel at wonderwheelstore.com on CP and am looking for a better source if anyone has recommendations. I need a place with total custom CSS and great photo tees. Since CP stopped heat pressing the quality of my photo tees has been unacceptable and in general I have had ro return 50% of my orders done on direct print. Some have been so obviously unacceptable I wonder if anyone has looked at them. They are happy to send a new one but I want it right the first time.

Xeon · May 23rd, 2008

Have you tried Spreadshirt? They are the best POD I can recommend to anyone, especially since their paid "premium" service lets you customize the invoice etc.

Recently, they've introduced Direct-to-Garment printing and you can interact with their staff on their forums. Pretty good.

bob emb · May 23rd, 2008

Hi All,
A few of you folks have asked why doesnt CP or Zazzle print out a sample. Alot of you may not realize that if an order is a 1 off and you print a sample you are taking twice as long to print and making 1/2 the money.
Who will pay for the second shirt!!!!

Artwork is especially a problem. We had 2 orders this week where we had to go in and change all the colors- no charge and another order that was a jpeg pix that was so pixelated if you tried to increase the size it was unrecognizable. Also their was so much noise around the text we decided not to print it and sent it back to the customer to redo.

We are not cafe press zazzle or any of the others. If a customer sends lousy art work
2 things can happen one is send it back as unprintable or do what CP Zazzle etc wont do redo the art, but the customer has to pay. In the case of a 1 off IS IT WORTH IT.

Bob

bob emb · May 23rd, 2008

Bob here again,

I went to page 3 and looked at the schneider studio samples in turquiose and white. My eyes may be going but that certainly does not look like DTG printing.

a post or 2 down from Dan in VA showed a Scneider print with an apple- thaqt is certainly a DTG or screen print. But I would bet Dans life-hahaha- that the schneider samples are not ink they look like sone very lite film or vynil. the edges are way to sharp and their is no shirt under it the image is as flat as if it were on a non apparel surface.

Any thoughts

Bob

sunnydayz · May 23rd, 2008

You know what Bob, I just looked and you may be right. I too do not see any fibers with the logo print he has there which does make it look like their flex print they carry which I think is vinyl.

SchneiderStudios · May 24th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob emb


	Bob here again, I went to page 3 and looked at the schneider studio samples in turquiose and white. My eyes may be going but that certainly does not look like DTG printing. a post or 2 down from Dan in VA showed a Scneider print with an apple- thaqt is certainly a DTG or screen print. But I would bet Dans life-hahaha- that the schneider samples are not ink they look like sone very lite film or vynil. the edges are way to sharp and their is no shirt under it the image is as flat as if it were on a non apparel surface. Any thoughts Bob

All the information i posted next to the picures is correct.
all true and %100 right..

Belinda Flanagan · May 24th, 2008

Well that's good
You just made my mind up about Cafe Press!!!!!!!!!
Did'nt think they would be any good..
Sounded good but that's usually the case!!
Can't trust anything that sounds too good to be true!!!!
I'm just new to the forum. Well even that net!!!!
Been seeking a good quailty printing company it is not an easy mission!!!!!!

Getting samples sent from many different company
DTG Digital Printing Machines Screenprinting And Transfer Prints
Keep you informed if I find the right one.........

prometheus · May 24th, 2008

If you are talking about this post: Zazzle Vs. Cafepress vs PrintFection vs Spreadshirt, print quality pics! , it is from Spreadshirt, which is vinyl.

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