[rmick15]

I been searching youtube to find videos on imageclip or forever laser light that shows its stretchability. I can find thousands of videos how the image looks after pressing but no one "shows off" how it doesn't crack when stretched. I've probably tested 25 shirts with laser transfers and they all crack when stretched. I'm I expecting to much from this technology? The images come out looking great, none of toner comes off, they just crack when stretched. I'm using Alstyle shirts, I also test two Gildan shirts. Everything has been 100% cotton. I have a ricoh printer and a Geo Knight DC16.

With the thousand of video out there on laser transfers, you would think people would show this critical result. I can find videos of post washing and how the images look but never people pulling and stretching the shirt. Anyone care to post their best results demonstrating the lack of cracking when stretching a shirt?

Thanks for reading.

 

[MadeDesigns]

I been searching youtube to find videos on imageclip or forever laser light that shows its stretchability. I can find thousands of videos how the image looks after pressing but no one "shows off" how it doesn't crack when stretched. I've probably tested 25 shirts with laser transfers and they all crack when stretched. I'm I expecting to much from this technology? The images come out looking great, none of toner comes off, they just crack when stretched. I'm using Alstyle shirts, I also test two Gildan shirts. Everything has been 100% cotton. I have a ricoh printer and a Geo Knight DC16.

With the thousand of video out there on laser transfers, you would think people would show this critical result. I can find videos of post washing and how the images look but never people pulling and stretching the shirt. Anyone care to post their best results demonstrating the lack of cracking when stretching a shirt?

Thanks for reading.

I have found laser toner to crack very easy if not applied onto a transfer paper. Image clip is "OK" . Last time I used it was 10 years ago so I don't know if it has gotten better.

The worst part was step one where you heat the paper with another paper to make the final transfer. There would always be small uneven spots. Just overall bad quality.

Damn shame too because it is a great idea to make something similar to plastisol transfers using a laser printer.

 

[paradigmprint]

I don't think it's realistic to believe that "any" laser transfer will fail to crack when stretched. There is simply no way to get the toner down into the fabric itself. In fact, I think I'm correct in saying that the "only" print that will not crack, ever, is sublimation since the color becomes part of the material.

That said, I've found that screening the print (Rip'ing) does go a long way to preventing noticeable cracking. By the simple fact of the tiny holes that appear in the print (up close), the print allows for more stretch. Even this, though, will in the long term show some cracking.

That all said, I've done thousands of prints for individuals off sites like Etsy, local youth groups, and small businesses. The "only" issues I've ever faced has been regarding the shirts themselves not being "right" (i.e., cut too small or large, seams giving way, etc) but have received none on the print itself.

Again, eventual cracking is going to be a fact of life with shirts. Using a tight knit (I find that 50/50 blends work best) and using the right paper properly (I find that Forever has worked best for me for darks with Image Clip best for lights) produces a product that is sell-able with customer satisfaction.

(The "only" time I'll use the print/press/peel laser paper is for what I call "throw-away" shirts - those shirts that are printed to be given away at fund-raiser events like 5K runs. That paper fades and splits with minimal washing but allows a pricing that the charity events want. (The quality and durability is always explained up front).

 

[rmick15]

I don't think it's realistic to believe that "any" laser transfer will fail to crack when stretched. There is simply no way to get the toner down into the fabric itself. In fact, I think I'm correct in saying that the "only" print that will not crack, ever, is sublimation since the color becomes part of the material.

That said, I've found that screening the print (Rip'ing) does go a long way to preventing noticeable cracking. By the simple fact of the tiny holes that appear in the print (up close), the print allows for more stretch. Even this, though, will in the long term show some cracking.

That all said, I've done thousands of prints for individuals off sites like Etsy, local youth groups, and small businesses. The "only" issues I've ever faced has been regarding the shirts themselves not being "right" (i.e., cut too small or large, seams giving way, etc) but have received none on the print itself.

Again, eventual cracking is going to be a fact of life with shirts. Using a tight knit (I find that 50/50 blends work best) and using the right paper properly (I find that Forever has worked best for me for darks with Image Clip best for lights) produces a product that is sell-able with customer satisfaction.

(The "only" time I'll use the print/press/peel laser paper is for what I call "throw-away" shirts - those shirts that are printed to be given away at fund-raiser events like 5K runs. That paper fades and splits with minimal washing but allows a pricing that the charity events want. (The quality and durability is always explained up front).

Thank you so much for the reply. Is there a way to get the ripping affect using corel draw without a separate RIP? I will also take your advice on the shirts. I'm currently using Alstar shirts which isn't help me. The "trenches" are very deep and wide.

 

[paradigmprint]

I have zero knowledge of Corel .... I use Adobe products exclusively.

There "is" a method for achieving the Rip effect using Adobe but it's time consuming with a number of steps involved. The way I figured it ..... while the Rip software was not inexpensive, I justified the purchase by assuming an added $1 wholesale cost of shirt for the next 500 shirts I printed. After that, it was "free money" since the Rip not only improves hand and durability but also, since I'm using the Oki 920WT White Toner Printer, it also saves money in the long term by a reduction in the use of the White Toner itself.

(Hope all that made sense!)

 

[NoXid]

At a guess, I would say those "Holes" the rip creates are set to transparent. So if you overlay a fine dot pattern over your art using a color not used in the art and then set that color to transparent when you export to png, then you might have something that would work ... Worth a try or two for $500 ;-)

The RIP can't just be setting those dots to white or black as either of those would print, right? So think it must be generating a bitmap with the dots knocked out as transparent.

But not sure how, or if, one compensates for the shirt color showing through all those little dots :-/
If the RIP doesn't adjust for that, then I don't see it being worth $500. If it does, then it is probably worth the money.

 

[LucidDavid]

I been searching youtube to find videos on imageclip or forever laser light that shows its stretchability. I can find thousands of videos how the image looks after pressing but no one "shows off" how it doesn't crack when stretched. I've probably tested 25 shirts with laser transfers and they all crack when stretched. I'm I expecting to much from this technology? The images come out looking great, none of toner comes off, they just crack when stretched. I'm using Alstyle shirts, I also test two Gildan shirts. Everything has been 100% cotton. I have a ricoh printer and a Geo Knight DC16.

With the thousand of video out there on laser transfers, you would think people would show this critical result. I can find videos of post washing and how the images look but never people pulling and stretching the shirt. Anyone care to post their best results demonstrating the lack of cracking when stretching a shirt?

Thanks for reading.

Have a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oy9v6RF_-0&t=25s

One of the reasons you likely don't see many videos here is because they are all branded in some way and Admin pulls them and dings us with a point lost which can get us banned.
This video is one from our LAB and is not at all promotional but strictly informative - please don't DING me!