White Underbase - What DPI?

John,
The "best way" would depend on the artwork and what printer you use. The 720 is faster, and if you are laying down good amount of ink on 4 channels, this will be adequate for some, if not most artwork. 1440 is more forgiving if your printer tends to show banding. Sometimes the finer mode is better, because it will give a longer dwell time for the white layer to gel for the CMYK to have a drier base to print on.

Ian

Thanks Ian

I guessed that would be the answer. What I want to avoid is using more white ink than is necessary and of course wasting time. I don't know whether printing at 1440 takes twice as long as printing at 720, probably not, but it must take longer.

I wonder if all Epson based 4800/4880 printers print at the same speed as most use the Epson drivers?

Cheers

John

Hi!

I also show the customer my sample prints at 720 x 720, 1440 x 720, and 1440 x 1440. That way they can decide on the color representation and thickness. Depending on their artwork, they will select one that fits the image and their budget.

I charge more for going at a higher dpi.

Thanks!

Manny

Hi John,

You are correct in assuming that all 4880 based printers will take the same amount of time to print the same size graphic at the same resolution. With the 4880 we find that 1440x720 is sufficient most times for good coverage when printing dark garments. If it is not enough for your tastes you can print at 1440 x 1440 and reduce the amount of ink used (if your software allows) so that you get exactly the amount of coverage you want.

Hope this helps.

The resolutions are governed by the Epson technology used. As stated you have options to print at 720, 1440 etc and combinations thereoff.

Many Rip software systems will also allow you to change the actual ink droplet size in % format, ultimately this will give you infinate control over the amount of white ink used whilst working with pre determined Epson resolutions.

The head scan time is also predetermined by the Epson engine, therefore the print time is equal on all machines based on the same Epson engine, however some manufacturers have been able to manipulate the loading time of the garment and can give increased production.

Regards
Jerry
DTG Digital

I use 1440x1440 at 85% on the ink drop.