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Epson Garment Creator Software

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68K views 289 replies 51 participants last post by  clearmountain  
#1 ·
Many people are talking about RIP's for the Epson SureColor F2000, but Garment Creator comes standard and has some great features.

Free Workflow Software Developed by Epson
- Raster-based software application supporting - JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and BMP graphic files
- Available for both Apple® Macintosh® and Microsoft® Windows® platforms
- Available via free internet download only

Easy-to-Use Garment Layout
- Choose your platen size, place your image file, position, scale, rotate, etc. - then print
- Very simple interface - quick learning-curve

Robust Color and White Ink Control
- Independent controls for color and white imaging - even on the same garment
- Powerful color adjustment features

Built-In Job Accounting Tools
- Keeps track of ink usage by job for better cost estimation and expense tracking
 
#120 ·
This is a quick guide to an underbase for a black shirt, GC vs a RIP.

The GrangerRainbowpcRESIZED is the original graphics with no post processing (meaning no black removed already).
You can remove the black in GC, but it doesn't do any feathering (I know Jerid tested a version that did, but as far as I know that has never shipped).

So if you looked at the underbase (White) for GC it would look like GrangerRainbowpc GC (so you have a hard edge and in the dark shadow colors are either putting down lots of white or none (so lose the darker colors).

GrangerRainbowpc RIP shows how it might look in a RIP where it will feather the underbase so that dark colors only need a little white and lighter colors use more white.
A RIP will also have settings to control the feathering so you can control this and how much underbase you want in the shadows and midtones.

This is just a rough guide and there are other things which will vary in the RIP (such as how you calculate what a dark color is).

You can create the same output in GC as in the RIP, but it requires you to setup transparency in the original image in a program like Photoshop first.
For example open the GrangerRainbowpcRESIZED in Photoshop,
make a layer
use the magic wand (or color selection tool) to select the black point at the bottom with the appropriate color range.
Click delete.
Save as a png and import into GC

The workflow for a RIP is drop image into RIP and print.

The advantage of doing this in the RIP is it knows how much black is removed and its default settings will generate just enough white to hold shadow colors, doing this manually in Photoshop you will have to learn how color range to use by trail and error, but once you know the range its not to difficult.

Best regards

-David
 

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#122 · (Edited)
Yes, Dave has a thorough understanding. But with all due respect, hasn't answered my original question.

Other than a 'base white' that utilises the garment colour... how does a RIP improve the reproduction of the bold white areas in a design? What do I have control over using a RIP? (My original question).

Garment Creator can't do what I want it to do in terms of the white being bold where it needs to be. It lays down fantastic bases, and I'm sure an aftermarket RIP does it better, but...

What does a RIP offer me concerning the requirements I brought to light in my previous post? I have many questions, specific answers are what I seek.

Here's another example of a reproduction of a photo onto a black shirt that includes small areas of White that need to be bold. A suitable base white has been created by GC, but lacks the bold white in areas that need the White to be strong! GC white settings are level 2 + 20 Density on this example.


This is a bitmap reproduction with vector attributes included. The photo reproduced well on black just using GC, but the White in the 'think cloud' isn't strong enough for a black garment.

I am seeking solutions to my original question please.

Edit: I can just use setting 3 for the White in GC which makes the visible solid white areas look good, but that lays down too much white where I don't want it...
 

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#123 ·
Sorry Mark,

Yes you can in the RIP produce what we call a highlight white and normally (on other DTG machines) we can do this when we print the color pass.
It just puts down white in areas that are pure white or close to pure white (you have some control over what is considered white).

But the F2000 doesn't allow white ink to be printed at the same time as the color ink, you can only print either white in a pass or color.
So if you want to do a highlight white it means adding another pass to the print (which yes you can do in the RIP).

If you go to youtube and do a search for Digital Factory apparel you will find a video channel and one of the videos is called Digital factory Apparel Epson.
See around 5:30 into the video for adding a highlight pass / layer.
You can do this at any resolution, so it doesn't have to be as slow as the underbase pass as you don't require such a high resolution.

I am sure other RIPs such as the product from AA can also do a highlight pass.

Best regards

-David
 
#125 ·
Thanks Dave. I thought I remembered you saying the F2000 will not allow for color and white in the same pass but without confirming, I was hesitant to post. Thanks for the clarification!

Even with 1 pass of white, 1 pass of color and another pass of (highlight) white, it should be quicker than a typical 2 pass white, 1 pass color scenario. It will print only where white is needed, so it will skip areas, there is no highlight white and of course, it would use less ink since it's not print 2 passes of underbase.
 
#132 ·
Rahmone said:
Hi,

I watch the video (Digital factory Apparel Epson.) in you tube. it seems that GC is much easier to use,, the video is not that clear.

Harry, I can not thank you enough for replaying that fast..... Thanks man...
Click to expand...
Digital Factory should be easier to use as all you need do is drag and drop your job onto the queue and print as all the settings are already setup.

For example if you are printing a black shirt, don't remove anything, leave the black background in and just add it to a black shirt queue and print and it should give you great results, the same process in GC involves removing the black and selecting the printer options for the underbase and color pass (on ever job).

Have a look at the Digital Factory Apparel overview video to see how easy it can be to use.

Where it can get more complicated is when you want to change settings from the default options we have already configured for you and its more complicated because it there are a lot more options.
But that the price for flexibility and features and for most users the default queues should be all you need, so it should be easier to get started.

Best regards

_David
 
#137 ·
The basic concept behind the Digital Factory Queue based system is that if you want to setup your own workflows you can do so by simply creating more queues.
There is no limit to the number of queues you can have (unlike other RIPs eg Onyx).
Once a queue is setup, when a job is added to that queue it inherits its work flow setup from that queue.

So you can customise the workflow and still work with 1-2 clicks, add job - print, as I said once you have configured the workflow.

Best regards

-David
 
A
#140 · (Edited)
Oh! How about make Cell Phones to start to work? 4clicks or less? Is this closer than car to Printers? I am not sure.
We all love easier and simpler. But this case ? Not Yet and Not Now.
Our dream will come real someday. As many old dreams become real.
If any one said "I want to go to moon" 50 years ago All people think he is crazy or dreaming.
110years "I want to fly" same siht.
I am thanks for what I have now. Especially on ThanksGiving time.
Cheers! RIPs are on me always.
 
#144 ·
In Digital Factory you can setup templates to auto size and position and even print automatically in the scheduler, its used by many internet providers where there is no interaction with the queue and jobs are added by hot folder.
But you can add the job and it will do the rest, if you want to automate the complete RIP and Print process.

Like Amazon 1 Click :)

Best regards

-David
 
A
#150 ·
One Click? Amazon? Kidding or serious?
Lol, You mean last click is one click among so many clicks and clicks.:)
Not log in?
Password?
Choose merchandise you like? Page after page?
You may not checking Product satisfaction rate :)
Not give credit card number?
Check out?
Accept?
Summit?
Check you email for confirmation?
If you do all this in one click. If you want to have anything I have Consider it's yours.
Cheers! RIPs are on me always.
 
#168 ·
What settings are you using for the underbase ?

I have found that the shirt can make a big difference and some shirts just need a lot more white than others.
For example I can get a good white at 1440x1440 on a good shirt, but on a bad shirt I can literally double that to get anything remotely acceptable.

The RIP can help, but start with the shirts, if you are running 2880 mode for the underbase and 100% on the white then you could be using twice the amount of ink just because of the shirt.

Best regards

-David
 
T
#152 ·
Tough to say without knowing the details of the project, as even "average" sized designs can take quite a bit of white ink. Does the design have a lot of white area, are you double-striking the white and underbase, have you boosted the white ink output? All of those things can dramatically increase how much white is used, and many times it ends up being a lot more white ink than necessary. If the designs use 10ml of white ink each (which is alot, I know, but not impossible) then it is pretty easy to see how you have dropped down to about half of your 600 ml white cartridges. Over time, we have learned that many designs can be pulled back to use much less ink than is necessary. We dropped the cost on one design yesterday from $1.65 to $1.15 by running a couple samples before production. That is about a 1/3 reduction in ink usage and cost, just by taking a bit of time to test a few things.

All that to say, 57 shirts should be incredibly profitable even if you used $200 worth of white ink, so mark 'em up and enjoy the margins :)
 
J
#154 ·
the rip will help tremendously recently i tried both the garment creator and kothari RIP , there was no comparison. The rip saves alot of ink and if you only did 57 shirts thats alot of ink. Most of our shirts printing in the rip 10x12 or 14x16 range from 1.5ml to 4ml at most at average from $.50 to $3 at most each. Also this is just me loading the image into the rip and printing. not doing anything with any other settings. it makes my life a whole lot easier and increases work production being able to print on the fly without any tweaking!
 
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