I wish I had learned a lot more about pre-treating. Once you get it down it really is not big deal. But it is Messy and time consuming and sometimes, not very consistent with the outcome. When I got my DTG it came with a power sprayer, I had no Idea what that would come to mean. Also, the best printed shirts are on 100% Cotton...that is it. If folks want 50/50 it will not be as great of print as on 100% Cotton. I am sure for any DTG there is some equipment sitting that has to be done. You have to keep the inks flowing and it is not good for it to set idle for more than a couple of days. I also wish I had checked out the maintenance that has to be done ahead of time. Guess these are the main things I wish I knew before taking the plunge!
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Because fabric expands when wet.
The heavier the white layer, the more it will expand.
Correct. The way I do it, the average print costs around $0.30 for both dark and light garments, and my ROI for the 4 printers was less than a month. But my method is hybrid DTG... because I screen print the white under base, and I print minimum 100 shirts per design. This is also one of the reasons why I had to have custom made printers. I will be converting them to 9ft flatbeds this year, so I can print 6 shirts at a time. It's less than $150 in parts for each printer.
Now you reveal yourself at last to be an evil geniusCorrect. The way I do it, the average print costs around $0.30 for both dark and light garments, and my ROI for the 4 printers was less than a month. But my method is hybrid DTG... because I screen print the white under base, and I print minimum 100 shirts per design. This is also one of the reasons why I had to have custom made printers. I will be converting them to 9ft flatbeds this year, so I can print 6 shirts at a time. It's less than $150 in parts for each printer.
How do you ensure alignment of the screen printed underbase with the DTG print? Even with building a bit of a border/bleed into the DTG image, you must have a reasonably quick and accurate means of achieving alignment. My best guess is that you mount the garments to their DTG hoops/platens/whatever before screen printing, and that those serve to register your print on press as well as on the DTG. But that is just my WAG.
i was thinking the same..how do u line those up!Now you reveal yourself at last to be an evil genius
How do you ensure alignment of the screen printed underbase with the DTG print? Even with building a bit of a border/bleed into the DTG image, you must have a reasonably quick and accurate means of achieving alignment. My best guess is that you mount the garments to their DTG hoops/platens/whatever before screen printing, and that those serve to register your print on press as well as on the DTG. But that is just my WAG.
Now you reveal yourself at last to be an evil genius
How do you ensure alignment of the screen printed underbase with the DTG print? Even with building a bit of a border/bleed into the DTG image, you must have a reasonably quick and accurate means of achieving alignment. My best guess is that you mount the garments to their DTG hoops/platens/whatever before screen printing, and that those serve to register your print on press as well as on the DTG. But that is just my WAG.
Well, this method woks best for designs having an outline, but it can be done without it as well.
You've answered your own question about registration.
Obviously DTG printers will print layer over layer with excellent registration. So, all I had to do is make removable platens that can be mounted on the press and on the printer. The base plate of the press is aligned to the base plate of the printer, and two alignment pins ensure perfect platen registration in seconds. This way you can actually align all the press stations between them, and to one or more printers.
All common sense really.
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