[slacker27]

Hello a couple of questions

First: I am the graphics guy for our small shop and I was wondering if there is a way I can load ANARIP on my computer without having to hook it up to the MP5. Everytime I try to run the application it gives me an error.

Second: Do you guys have any ink per shirt $ saving tips you could share? We want to drop yellow on a dark garment.

Third: We ran a shirt with a white base and they yellow came out more highlighter yellow and had a distress look to it (which actually made it look cooler). Any tips on getting more of a gold color? I used photoshop don't remember if I started as CMYK or not.

Fourth: We made the mistake in getting 50/50 and from what I understand the worst brand of shirt for DTG (wont bash anyone). Anyway to make lemonade??

Sorry for the newbie questions. I've scoured this great forum and I've picked up a lot of help. First time dealing with DTG, I've done manual mostly, however this job requires me to get out of the stoneage!

 

[ericwin]

Here are my answers to your questions - hope it helps.

1. Start Anarip without a USB cable plugged into your mPower. If you need to get ink cost or want to put files on a usb flash drive for printing later, click the print to file button (can't remember if this button is available when the usb cable is attached to the printer but that would be easy for you to figure out). Meanwhile, you should not be getting an error from Anarip when your USB cable is attached to the print, let us know what the error is and maybe someone can help you fix it or call tech support.
2. Not sure it is worth it to try and save ink on a print - depends on what look you are going for. If you set the quality for your colors and your white to print on the speed setting, you will use less ink but your print will be less vibrant. You can also lower the color contrast for your underbase to use less white ink but you may not be happy with the results.
3. Not enough info for me to diagnose your problem here but my guess is inadequate pretreatment caused your distressed look. The best shirts for DTG printing are 100% combed ringspun cotton - they have a tighter weave and less fibrillation (fuzz). One way to try and get close to the gold you are looking for is to create an image with small boxes of different colors close to the color you are trying to achieve and then print it on the garment you are using. Find the box on your print that comes closest and then grab that color from your original image. From memory, if you search the forums here, I think you might find links to a few color charts you can try or create your own. Unfortunately, CMYK can't match every color so you may have to settle for something close.
4. I've never tried printing on 50/50 myself but I would suggest you experiment with pretreatment to see if you can get it to work. You might want to try Anajet's poly primer or look into some of the other pretreatments on the market such as Image Armor. I don't expect you will ever get a perfect print on 50/50 but you might be able to get something good enough for the application.

Good luck.


Eric

 

[ericwin]

I just did a quick search of the forums and found a message with a link to a color chart that might be helpful when trying to match print colors: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t82729.html#post488059

Eric

 

[MZDEELO]

Please review this thread to see my advice about color matching CMYK on Photoshop


http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=381650

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using T-Shirt Forums

 

[slacker27]

Just wanted to give you guys an update.

Still can't get the program to work offline, will call tech support Monday morning. The error I am getting is failure to launch program followed by this code
0xc0000142.

I've been messing with our MP5 ink settings, and have had success in lowering our costs. We used a very light coat for our underbase and saved quite a bit. Our shop was dropping more ink than needed.

I've read multiple times about avoiding 50/50 and sticking to cotton, however we were able to get a nice print. We've done wash tests and garments passed with flying colors. Maybe we just got lucky.

Pretreatment advice pointed me in the right direction.

Thank you guys for all the great advice.