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For those of us who are applied to relate to the world of printing both documents, posters, flyers, or of course the presence of digital photo printing is quite fun because the method of digital printing data can be carried out easily and flexibly. This is due in the procedure of printing digital or film required no screen so images can be printed straight from the computer.

Related to conventional printing there are a few things to consider when we going to do print digital printing to print the final results we obtain can be maximized. Some of the main things that must be considered are as follows:
File size, try the file size in the process of printing to suit your needs. If you will print your personal or use the services of printing in large size you can also try a large file size of at least 50% of its original size.
DPI file, DPI (Dot Per Inch) number that describes how many dots per unit in your picture. DPI correlated with the size of the file, if your file size is 100% then the DPI does not need a large file and if the file size of less than 100%, the DPI should be large files. However the use of printing services , but if the DPI is not balanced with the size of the file will cause the prints to be broken. Typically for indoor digital printing DPI minimum used is 72 pixels / inch while the minimum DPI for outdoor use is 35 pixels / inch. As a reference for you can use the services of offset printing , etc.. Read More..

Craftrobo C330-20.

Target Transfers Launch the NEW NEW CC330-20 Craft Robo Textile A4 Vinyl Cutter
The new model has all the features of the CC220-20 but also has Auto Feed System and SD Card Reader.
The Craft Robo range is simple to use and . Its unique cutting tools ensures fingers stay safe, and using a coloured tip system allows you to change your cutting depth easily. Cutting onto the patented carrier sheet allows you to die cut shapes out of many different materials. You can cut sign vinyl, Cad-Cut textile t-shirt vinyl, adhesive sheets, card, paper and many other types of media.
The Robo Master software is so easy to use, cutting the most intricate shapes is simple.
New Features For The CC330-20?The new Craft Robo now comes with an auto-feed function, just line the paper up and press the feed button. This helps with accurate loading for printer registration mark recognition.
The unit also features an SD card reader which allows you to save your designs on your SD card and then select them directly using the LCD menu screen on the Craft Robo, ideal if you take your Craft Robo away from your computer.
Main Features A4 cutting area for cutting printed material and you can cut up to 1000mm long if cutting without the cutting mat.
The Craft Robo has an Optical Eye so it can read printer registration marks. This means you can print a graphic from any printer, insert the print out into your Craft Robo and then cut any shape, allowing you to create bespoke shaped labels.
Robo Master Software The Craft Robo software is so simply to use. You can draw, type text, create shapes and import graphics.
Computerised Die Cutting Full die cutting of paper, card or vinyl, perforated cutting available for fold lines.
All Software Included Not only do you get the Robo Master software the Craft Robo also includes plug in software for Adobe Illustrator and import of Corel Draw files.
Cut Printed Images Alignment of printed material is automatically done using the registration mark sensor. Easy to cut the outline of printed material precisely.
Tutorial kit included Full project tutorial kit including sample media, tutorial booklet and templates. Everything you need is in the box.
Cutting Force The cutting force has increased on the new Craft Robo by 50% from 150g to 230g, enabling you to cut a wider range of materials
Supporting 11 Local Languages 11 local languages for the Plug-in Driver 5 local languages for the ROBO Controller
New cutter set New improved design for cutter plunger. 2 levels of cutting force can be selected by plunger setting angle.
New improved design New design giving a 15 % reduction in weight Read More..

Direct to Garment Printing (DTG)

DTG is a relatively new fabric printing method that prints an image directly onto a garment or fabric through what is essentially a modified version of a traditional inkjet printer. Think of a regular inkjet printer which has been modified to “accept” garments instead of paper. The ink is printed directly onto fabric which results in exceptional “hand” (common term in the industry referring to how a garment feels once the image or design has been printed on it), and offers more flexibility than screenprinting in terms of color variation and turn-around time (especially for smaller orders).

Originally it was best suited for light garments as white ink was not available. As the technology continues to advance, however, major DTG printing providers are adding dark garments to their lists.

Since the technology is relatively new it is more likely that small to medium-sized businesses will be able to incorporate a DTG printer into their operation as they are quite expensive. To give you an idea, I was at a trade show in Atlantic City marveling at a DTG printer in the process of printing a t-shirt when I was told the machine would cost upwards of US$10,000. For me, the discussion stopped right there…

Long story short, DTG printing is not for everyone-at least not at this point. It suffers from mixed reviews. Determining if its right for your business will depend on your own judgement and research. How “good” or “bad” it is seems to vary depending on the type of business, its client base, and individual experiences. It is important to remember, however, that it is a relatively new technology and once perfected could change the lives of many a t-shirt printer due to its flexibility.

Here is an exert from an article on www.impressionsmag.com by Mark Collins in which he pits DTG printing against Sublimation ink printing (a heat transfer process):

The DTG Process
…Direct-to-garment (DTG), also known as inkjet-to-garment printing, involves using a printer to print ink directly onto a cotton garment and curing the ink with a heat press. There is very little set-up time, which usually involves little more than sizing the image correctly in Adobe Photoshop or CorelDraw. There is one limitation — I can print only light shirts via DTG because I have not yet found a printer with a “white ink solution” to inkjet print on darks that I think could work in my production environment.

Since my shop prints about 275 to 350 shirts a day using DTG, I shopped for a printer that could produce that volume without much maintenance or down time. I chose the Brother GT-541 and have found it to be a reliable and fast four-color (CMYK) printer that works for my needs.

I looked at printers with 8-color printheads that can produce a larger color gamut and finer detail, but the speed was more important to me.

Inkjet printing directly to a shirt obviously cannot yield the same image quality as inkjet printing to paper — just as printing on copy paper can’t compare to printing on high-quality photo paper. The substrate dictates the limits of your image quality.

Knowing that, I shop for blank garments that are closer to “photo” paper than “copy” paper. I look for thread count and a fine, dense weave that will provide a better print surface. I avoid garments with too much fluff, or pile, because that inhibits the inkjet process. Ring-spun cotton is softer and more expensive, but that soft hand comes from all the tiny fibers that stick up off the fabric.

These tiny fibers block some of the sprayed ink from making a solid bond with the shirt and little bits of the image wash away as the fibers wear off. These tiny fibers also can lift up immediately after being printed, exposing areas that did not get full ink absorption. Avoid both problems by using shirts woven from open-ended yarn, or yarn that is card spun. Read More..

Sublimation Digital Heat Press

BRAND NEW 38cm x 38cm" INDUSTRIAL QUALITY DIGITAL HEAT PRESS TEFLON COATED HEAT PLATEN SURFACE + FREE BONUS GIFT 1 X TEFLON SHEET INCLUDED + 2 EASY TO REPLACE FUSE FREE + 10 FREE INK TRANSFER PAPER GREAT FOR CERAMIC TILES AND NYLON T-SHIRTS.

Brand New Modle 38cm x 38cm Industrial Quality Digitial Heat Press. We made all the improvments from previous modle. We added Teflon coating on the heat platen we also glued down the silicon rubber base and added two free fuse and ten sheets of ink transfer paper great for making transfers to ceramic tiles and nylon t-shirts. This Heat Press is compact, upward opening heat press modle, which saves space. Ideal for applying transfers, letters, numbers and images on T-Shirts, garments, bags, mouse mats, jigsaw puzzles, id bages, ceramic tiles and other items.

Advantages:

Safe, durable, and economic
Electronic constant temperature control Accuracy ±2°C
Electronic time control: precise time set-up
Pressure adjustable
Silicon gel base board: Endure to temperature till 650°Fwithout deform

Specification:

Voltage:110V
Power:2250W
Temperature Range:0-399°C
Time Range:0-999 s
Worktable Size:38CM*38CM
Weight:30KGBox
Size:72CM*44CM*39CM

Features:
15" x 15" Flat even heating area 38cm x 38cm
Teflon coated heat platen
Included Fee 16 x 16 Teflon sheet Two replacement Fuse included
Full range loading pressure adjustment.
Constructed with steel frame.
Adjustable timer and audible sound when preset time has been reached
Power Switch, high current circuit breaker
Press Temp: 00-399°C (+/- 2 degree)
Glued down silicon rubber base included
Timer/alarm starts automatically when the heat press is engaged
Extra thick heat plate provides even temperature and higher pressure
Easy to use open and close handle with spring assist
Power on/off indicator switch.
Input Voltage: 110V ~ 120V for regular outlet
10 Free ink transfer paper included great for ceramic tiles and nylon t-shirts. Read More..

How to Start a Digital Printing Business

If you are interested in starting a digital printing there are several steps that you must take. This is not the type of business that you start on a whim, and hope that you become a success overnight. With that being said, anybody can start a digital printing if this is an industry that they are truly interested in. To get started, it is important to have a plan that will guide your growth. This may not seem like a big deal, but in the competitive world of digital printing it is more than necessary.

Here are several steps that go into starting your own digital printing business.

1. Learn about the industry before you dive in. If you have already worked for a digital printing company, you will know the ins and outs. Of course, if you are starting fresh there will be a lot of knowledge to gather. The more that you know about every aspect of digital printing the better off you will be.

2. Make a comprehensive list of the services that you are going to offer. This is very important for a couple of reasons. First off, it will help you to decide what type of equipment you need. Additionally, a service list will also assist when putting together a marketing plan. Obviously, your services have a lot to do with the clientele that you will be chasing.

3. Where is Tyour digital printing going to be based? This is one of the biggest problems that you may run into. Do you have a building in mind? If not, where are you going to search? You will have many options ranging from expensive downtown space to more affordable options in the suburbs. Before you decide to lease or buy workspace, make sure that you do your homework. Not only do you want to impress clients, but you also need to have enough room. And remember, you may expand in the future.

Is there money to be made in the digital printing industry? Most definitely. If you know what you are doing and offer a high quality service, there are clients to be had. Sure, you will be competing with established companies and big names, but over time you will be able to join them at the top. The key to success is having a plan, and then offering more than the competition.

Overall, the steps above should give you an idea of what to think about when starting a digital printing business. As you become more vested in your idea you will begin to see if moving forward is the right move Read More..

What is Sublimation

The actual process of sublimation involves placing a sublimation transfer that has been printed on paper onto polyester or polymer-coated material and then applying heat (usually with a flatbed heat press) to both. The heat changes the solid print on the paper into a gas, which then prints into the polymer surface

The operative word here is into. In addition to the heat causing the sublimation process, it also opens up the polymer so the gas actually goes into the surface coating. Seconds after the surface starts to cool, the gas reverts back to a solid and the polymer closes back up, trapping the solid. This is why you can run your finger across the surface of a sublimated metal plate and you will not feel anything.

The two most common methods retailers use to produce printed transfers is with an inkjet printer or a single color desktop laser printer. Either one requires the special sublimation cartridges used to produce heat transfers.

Laser Printer Sublimation: We provide laser printer sublimation toner cartridges for over 500 different types of older and newer laser printers. The most common printers used are Hewlett-Packard's. Everything from the still excellent HP II & III, to the more modern HP 4000 & 4050 are great sublimation transfer printers. The list is too large to list all the other printers. Call us to see if your printer is supported, or before you buy one for sublimation.

The four most common colors used in single color laser printers are black, blue, red and green. Black is by far the most commonly used color and there is a reason for this. Laser printer transfers print deeper and cheaper on gold, silver and bronze polymer coated metal than inkjet printers. The print is deeper because the sublimation toner lays down heavier than what is possible for an inkjet so the metal color does not bleed through.

The transfers are cheaper because the prints are done on ordinary copier paper (all inkjets require more expensive coated paper) and the yield per cartridge dollar is much, much higher with laser printer sublimation cartridges.

Almost every personalized badge, button, wall sign, desk name plate, plaque, legend plate, trophy plate and more, that displays crisp black print on a gold, silver or bronze colored metal plate, has been printed, using the laser printer sublimation process.

Blue, red and green also sublimates very bold and clearly. It is possible to put two colors on the same plate (a blue logo and black text, for example) by printing one color first and then printing the paper again with the second color.

While laser printer transfers will certainly sublimate onto fabrics (t-shirts, for example) its main use is for metal plates. As one nationally known sublimation expert recently wrote, "There is no comparison with a good (looking) metal plate done with laser printer sublimation - especially in price. If the need is to quickly produce lots and lots of lettered plates, there is no (better) option."

We will close this section with a business thought. No matter what sublimation process you eventually decide upon, always keep single color laser sublimation in your mind.
It is just too profitable to ignore.

If you would like to see how great our cartridges print transfers, click here and send us your request for free samples and transfers. We'll even include a free e-mail subscription to our sublimation business newsletter, "Toner Times".

Inkjet Printers: Inkjet printers are most commonly used if most of the sublimation is going to be done on white fabrics like t-shirts, ball caps, mouse pads, etc., some white plastics, and polymer coated coffee cups and the need is for a full color process.

Inkjet cartridges do not print good colors on metal especially on gold. The bright color of the metal bleeds through and produces a slightly faded appearance. This is true, even if you are printing with black. On white metal it does look good.

Be aware that most inkjet printers are not suited for sublimation inks. The two most common inkjet printers used are the Epson 980 and Epson 3000 and (unlike laser printers) they should be dedicated solely to sublimation.

The Epson 980 has a much smaller price tag but only uses two cartridges, one for black and one for cyan, magenta and yellow. The Epson 3000 printer has a much higher price and require's a separate cartridge for each of the four colors.

The 980 may be a good choice if you know that you are not going to do very much sublimation and the lowest possible entry level price is your most important consideration.

However, the operational cost of the 980 may be much higher than the 3000. You will frequently run into situations where one color is used a lot more than the other colors. The cartridge is sealed and cannot be refilled. If you run out of one color, the entire cartridge has to be replaced, no matter how much is left of the other two colors.

If we were using a 980 to print sublimation transfers we would definitely keep a couple of extra cartridges on hand. After all, have you ever run out of anything at a convenient time?

The Epson 3000 has a much higher price but, if you are going to use it a lot, is probably cheaper in the long run. It holds four cartridges, one for each color. This, by itself, can quickly make up for the difference in price between the 980 and the 3000. When a color runs out, you only replace the one cartridge.

For the price, most of our laser printer sublimation cartridge customers seem to be fairly satisfied with the Epson 3000 when they need full color, especially on whites. When they need single colors on metal, they always go with their laser printer.

For diversification a great number of our customer's use both processes, although most started off with laser printer sublimation. There are two primary reasons for this fact. First, is cost. A sublimation print from an inkjet costs about twenty times more than a print from a laser printer. Second, is the fact that while there are several dozens of "white" items that look great in full color, there are many hundreds of items that look great with a personalized metal plate attached. Read More..

Create Your Own T-shirt

Have you ever been out somewhere and someone's t-shirt showcasing a witty line or funny image catches your eye and sense of humor? It is most likely happening more often because more and more people are not relying on shirt manufacturers to be clever, but they are applying their own ingenuity into making their own shirts. The possibilities are now limitless in making your self, your friends, and the rest of the world envious of your duds by engineering your own shirts. You don't need many tools to accomplishing this fashion feat!

What You Will Need

- Software
- Artwork
- Transfer paper
- Printer
- Iron
- Hard surface
- Pillowcase
- T-shirt

There are kits that you can buy that supply almost all of the provisions you will need. Here are some tips to remember during the process.

Print a Preview

Always print a preview copy before printing it on the transfer paper. Do this to make sure that colors print correctly, the image does not delve into the printer's no print zone,' and to see a life-sized version of the image.

Flip the Image

You have to flip the image, especially if you have text in the design. The text should be backwards on screen or on the print out.

Use the Right Side of the Paper

The transfer paper has stripes on the non-print side. Put the paper in the printer so that it prints on the clear white side.

White Does Not Print

Consider the background color when selecting the color of text or the color of an image. For instance, white does not print, you will just get an outline of the desired image, but not the complete image.

Test Your Design of Scrap Fabric

Wasting the transfer paper is bad, but wasting a t-shirt is worse. Some fabrics will take to the image more readily than others, so keep this in mind.

Make it HOT

It is easy to get anxious during the process, so be sure to set the iron on the hottest setting without producing steam. It will take a great amount of heat to produce the image, so be sure to keep the iron on for a while and evenly cover the design onto the fabric. Peel the paper while it is still hot.

Use a Hard Surface

A harder surface will retain heat better, so make sure that you are using the hardest surface you can find in the process. Ironing boards are not the best surfaces to use for this particular process. Read More..