[Twinge]

Being the new kid on the block, I was not aware of the pre-press process. Does that mean I have to heat-press the shirt first without the paper, then press again with the paper? Is that meant to "pre-heat" the fabric?

Correct process - you usually want to press the shirt without the paper in place for about 3-5 seconds. There are a few reasons to pre-press like this:

It removes excess moisture. You'll see steam rise off the shirt after a pre-press; this moisture can cause faulty prints without a pre-press.

Pre-pressing also straightens out the shirt, giving you a nice wrinkle-free surface to transfer on to. Wrinkles can cause major problems when pressing on to them.

I don't know how important the fact that it also "pre-heats" the shirt is, but it does that too

 

[Twinge]

Are you suppose to press the paper right after the pre-press while the fabric is still hot, or do you wait for the shirt to cool first?

I don't think that it makes a lot of difference. I press it right after pre-pressing, but I don't frantically rush to press it quickly while it's still hot or anything either.

Maybe someone that had pressed more shirts than I can provide further insight here.