[frankp]

Ok, I am having some serious trouble figuring out how to design for Spreadshirt plot prints...

I'm starting to feel like a complete moron... all my designs get rejected.

Possibly it's a problem with using Flash to create graphics... I have Flash and Freehand.

The most recent rejection said:

Your design is made up of contours or paths to make up the vector graphic. In your design, two contours/paths layers overlap, which means it cannot be printed. The blade of the print machine would end up cutting through the part of your design that overlaps. To fix this, please remove all overlapping and unnecessary lines from your graphic.

The same goes for anchor points. Anchor points are what mark the beginning and end of a line. A straight line can be made with just two anchor points. Your design has extra anchor points, which make the design unnecessarily complicated. Please remove extra anchor points from the design.

What I had done was drawn a figure in flash, in black, and then filled his face and eyes etc in white.

Here's a little extract of the image to show the type of thing I want to achieve - is it possible even (the grey would be transparent)?

I am looking for some advice on how to go about designing for plot print.
Is it possible to draw something in Flash and export it as a Freehand file?

How do you handle more than one colour?

How do you create complex plot print designs and have them accepted?

I now have another design which I did mostly in Freehand, but to do certain bits and pieces, I brought it into flash and just made it one big solid one colour shape - I haven't sent that one in yet as I want to try and understand the process more before further rejection!!!

Any tips GREATLY appreciated!!!!
Thanks,
Frank

 

[Foxy]

hi Frank,

I'm not sure how spread-a-shirt program works or how to submit art for it.

What i can tell is from a manufacturer point of view that uses a CAD computer cutter/plotter to make iron-on transfers fom your artwork.

There are different types of files etc you can submit.

The most basic file and process that will get the job done is with a Windows Bitmap (.bmp).

Simply provide a BMP file ( 300 dpi - in 100% black ) for each color in your design ( more than 3 colors may make it hard to apply on the garment ). Then your BMP artwork is imported into a Cutter Software Program, Traced and then shoots out to the Cutter/Plotter that works like a printer. From there you lay it out on the shirt and heat press.

Be sure your BMP art has no backgounds or invisibe data (white), since the tracing make pick this up and set the cutter/plotter on a cazy spin.

Hope this helps some !!!!!!
cheers.

 

[jdr8271]

A bitmap would not work for vinyl plot printing. For printing using vinyl, the art must be prepared in vector form, since the plotter blade traces the lines from the vector image to cut it out. With a bitmap, the plotter would have no lines to trace, since it is made out of pixels instead of lines.

Your image would work fine for vinyl, as long as you have it in vector form.

 

[jdr8271]

and also, spreadshirt is right about having shapes overlap. This wont work, becuase since the vinyl cutter traces all lines, there would be sections of your design cut out that you want to tbe there.

 

[Foxy]

hi jdr82,

sorry but you are wrong.

all you need is a BPM file.

Your Cutter/plotter software will trace a BMP file and that's all you need.

Don't want to start bragging about who this type of work was done for to prove my point. Please !!!!!

Sure Vector files are fine and prefered for most in this trade, color seps etc.

But again, a BPM file will do. It's That simple.

Cheers

 

[frankp]

ok, i'm not really sure where this leaves me...

Obviously there is disagreement out there, which doesn't surprise me considering how difficult I've been finding it to get info on set up of these types of designs...

Regardless of whether BMP is possible or not, Spreadshirt only accept vector files, so that kind of leaves that argument to the side for now...

Could someone with succesful experience in designing for plot printed Spreadhsirt shops post some info on how they set up their design?

If I removed the white, do you think it would work as a single colour design?
Is it just the difficulty in cutting out the black and white complex areas...?

Or would his face be too complex anyway, for example his eyes...

I think I am slowly getting somewhere here...
thanks guys,
Frank

Thanks!

Frank

 

[Foxy]

Frank, it's not as complicated as you may think.

BMP covert it to EPS, CORELDraw, vector whatever. Same principle, the cutter software will trace your design. As long as your design is traceable it's all good.

Here, the best is by example.
Send me a BPM's and i will have one of my contacts in the Industry Make you your design for free.

Send it as a BMP ( 300 dpi - 100% black ). here is my email zip it if you want. Inclued specks, like how big it should be etc.

I will not be offended if you say no.

cheers

 

[jdr8271]

hi jdr82,

sorry but you are wrong.

all you need is a BPM file.

Your Cutter/plotter software will trace a BMP file and that's all you need.

Don't want to start bragging about who this type of work was done for to prove my point. Please !!!!!

Sure Vector files are fine and prefered for most in this trade, color seps etc.

But again, a BPM file will do. It's That simple.

Cheers

thats not true...yes, if you convert a bitmap to vector it will work, but you cant use a bitmap with a vinyl plotter. I have a vinyl cutter and am posotive of this.

 

[frankp]

Foxy, I really appreciate the offer, but what I really need ehre is to learn the limitations and therefore be able to produce my own designs... so I won't take you up on your offer for now... but I might pester you with more questions later

thanks again!

 

[Solmu]

ok, i'm not really sure where this leaves me...

Obviously there is disagreement out there

It is hard when you get conflicting answers.

If I were you I would go with the poster who backed up their point with a well reasoned argument related to the nature of vector art, not the one who has on more than one occasion failed to be remotely comprehensible, refers to a bitmap (.bmp) file as a BPM and relies on unproven "industry contacts".

 

[Foxy]

hey jdr8271 vbmenu_register("postmenu_6464", true); ,

not sure what cutter software you are using, but most CUT/SOFTWARE will take a BMP etc. trace your design and covert it DIRECTLY into a cut-file and that's it. By-passing any vector conversions.

A VECTOR file alone will not work without being converted to a cut-file via your cut-software. Just like a printer does not work if you do not have printer software installed.

As long as your design is traceable it's all good. Your cut-software will convert it into a cut file that is required for the cutter to output your design.

what software and cutter are you using ???

 

[Foxy]

hey Solmu vbmenu_register("postmenu_6467", true);

bmp bpm whatever. If you are to thick to read beyond the typos, then you have no clue on topic, stay on the side lines and learn something.

 

[Foxy]

Frank & jdr8271,


gotta run now. PM anytime to if you would like to further into more research/experiment discussions relating to cutter stuff.

cheers

 

[Mind Your Mind]

Foxy, would you be willing to share any info here? I am interested in getting a cutter. Specifically looking at a Roland SX-8. I figure that is all I need. i just use text on t shirts. I currently have some screenprinted and have some plastisol transfers done. I really like the transfers. But they seem to work only on lighter colours. Dark shirts tend to lighten the transfer. That is why I was looking into getting a cutter and trying that route. Any comments?

 

[monkeylantern]

Beware the prophet proclaiming "Industry Contacts". This board contains more "Industry Contacts" than you count on 4 or 5 hands, and it collectively smells something fishy.

 

[Chris]

PM anytime to if you would like to further into more research/experiment discussions relating to cutter stuff.

Last time I used one (a few years back) we called it a PLOTTER. Has it changed?

As for industry contacts.. I live in LA, my girlfriend's got a degree from FIDM and her friends (also from FIDM) work in the industry with their own respective businesses/jobs.. luckily for me they've all been open books and great resources while I get started. As a bonus, I get to attend alumni networking events.

Anyone else care to lay out what "contacts" they have?

 

[TROskell]

Hi

I have never submitted to spreadshirt but think I understand what they mean. I am assuming you are printing a single colour black on a white T-shirt? Where you have drawn the black and then placed the white areas over the top in effect this will be treated as two colours overlapping eg imagine you had cut the out line of your figure out of a piece of black paper then cut the white areas of a white piece of paper and put those on top. In effect everywhere you have a white piece of paper you have a black piece of apper underneath it. What you need to do is cut out (I use illustrator you could use layers to helpI'm not sure how you do this in flash) the areas that are going to be white out of the black and remove them. If you are printing on a white t-shirt the "white areas" will actually just need to be holes in the black. If you wanted to print the design on a colour t-shirt this would need a 2 colour print - black and white, you would need to do the same thing , using the paper analogy again - you would have your black piece of paper with all of the areas that are going to white cut out of it. and then the white areas cut out and fitted in the gaps, making up a jigsaw of the design. I hope this makes sense!

 

[monkeylantern]

Last time I used one (a few years back) we called it a PLOTTER. Has it changed?

Exactly....

 

[Foxy]

Foxy, would you be willing to share any info here? I am interested in getting a cutter. Specifically looking at a Roland SX-8. I figure that is all I need. i just use text on t shirts. I currently have some screenprinted and have some plastisol transfers done. I really like the transfers. But they seem to work only on lighter colours. Dark shirts tend to lighten the transfer. That is why I was looking into getting a cutter and trying that route. Any comments?

hi there,
from what i know the Roland SX-8 is more of a hobby type machine (vinyl sign making etc.) and may not give the flexability with various iron-on materials like flock, holographics, glitters etc. I think it's only a 12" feed, there maybe more selection of material rolls with 15", 24" feed etc.

You may want to have a look at Easy Cutter, 24" feed about $ 1800.00 CND, comes with stand and cut-software, hummm. i think the distributor is LacerGroup or something like that ????? try a google search for Canada. They are also located in the USA, but try the CND office for this. Not sure how many they have left but one of my clients purchased a bunch for retail mall locations and they work fine.

As for your iron-on ink transfers problem, not sure ??? perhaps try it with a thicker screen, this may help.

Cheers

 

[Logo-Mechanix]

I don't know anything about spreadshirt but I think TROskell nailed it. I was reading the first page of this discussion and was going to reply until I read the second page and found out I was beaten to the punch by TROskell. And it is still called a plotter.