[ShirtPlace]

Hi everyone. I just started running my sprint. I did dual cmyk, no white. We do not intend on running white any time soon. Currently we are only printing directly on white shirts. I am just wondering if there are any tricks to getting it image to be more vibrant. We are not doing photos, just spot colors. We have messed with all the settings, and it always looks great when you print but gets really dull after you cure with heat press.

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but the colors seem to look faded.

Any advise would be great.

I really like this machine (sprint), but all my customers and say it looks faded.

Thanks, and I look forward to your response

 

[spiderx1]

Couple of things first a very very light pressure or hover for first 30 sec or if white underbase first minute can help. Also play with saturation and lightness setting in original art program. Try +35 sat and same with lightness. Also work with RGB vs CMYK in art work. A pretreat for white or light colors can help as well.

 

[ShirtPlace]

Thanks spiderx for the quick response.

Does anyone know what ideal temperature for heat press for hover and temperature for actual 2nd press for final curing?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[spiderx1]

I like 335F. But you need to check your heat press for true temp. Using a contact temp gauge. Lasers are not that accurate although if verified with a contact gauge first they maybe used. Also you can check against boiling water. 212F at sea level approx -3 deg F per 1000 feet elev. example 1000 above sea level is 209F b

 

[23spiderman]

you must prepare your clients that DTG is NOT screen printing. up sell them on the unlimited colors, eco-friendly, soft hand, etc. spot colors are tricky to work with, but i highly recommend getting some light shirt pretreat. you can check out DTGinks.com, or All American Screen Supply (NeoFlex). you spray a light coating and cure using heavy pressure and your colors will really pop. do some wash test to make sure you aren't using too much as i've seen the print "chip" off a bit when too much pretreat is applied. make sure you get the light shirt pretreat since you aren't using white ink. if you ever use white ink, you need the "normal" pretreat for white ink.

like Randy said, your pressure should be as light as you can get it while still touching the shirt. i cure all my prints for 90 seconds at 330 degrees.

 

[ShirtPlace]

Thanks Spiderx & spiderman! Unfortunately, pretreating is not an option, not an option right now because of environmental isssues. We are printing one off's on demand for customers in a retail environment. Thanks for all your help, I will try saturation settings along with temp settings for now.

 

[spiderx1]

You can pretreat off site. Cure / dry and store. You do not have to do it just before the print.

 

[23spiderman]

also, the light shirt pretreat is tame, and you can just use a spray bottle. you don't need the wagner. you could do it in a back room, bring it right to the press, and you're good to go.

 

[ShirtPlace]

Sean,
Are you saying that you just hover press for 90 seconds straight? What I have been doing is hover press for 30 seconds, then I do a second press touching shirt lightly for another 30 seconds. Is it wrong to do a double press?

Thanks guys for all your help.

 

[23spiderman]

nope. i still press the shirt, but with really light pressure. for me, i don't find that hovering helps unless the ink is really wet and there's a white underbase. i can't tell the difference between a CMYK only print that was hovered or pressed immediately. if a print with white ink is too wet and your pressure is too high, then you can get a decrease in quality. this is why i press with the lightest pressure i can while still contacting the shirt.

 

[ShirtPlace]

Thanks everyone.