Impressions - January/February 2025 - 45

Another clever way of avoiding faded edges, like the edges in the dragon image at left,
is to place your image inside a shape, or shapes with a clean, hard edge, like the letters
in the design shown below. Although you can always use basic shapes like circles or
rectangles, try thinking outside the box as well. Images courtesy of Dane Clement
Working With Faded Edges
When creating your designs for DTF transfers,
one of the biggest issues you need to
be mindful of is faded edges or transparent
areas. The reason for this is that after the
image is printed from an inkjet printer, an
adhesive powder is applied to the ink, which
helps the transfer stick to the fabric. As a
result, with DTF transfers the ink droplets
or tiny spots used to produce faded edges
and transparent areas are too small, so the
powder doesn't have enough surface to
cling to. They may, therefore, not adhere
properly or could peel over time, leaving
rough, splotchy areas. To prevent this, there
are a few different options you can utilize
when creating your art from scratch or
adjusting a design you may already have
to make it work.
Hard Edges - The simplest way to avoid
printing faded edges is to create a solid
image with a clean, hard outer edge. If you
already have a design that has a faded edge,
you can easily fix this by using a selection
tool like the pen tool. Create a path around
the edge of the main element or area that
you want to keep with the pen tool, then
make a selection of the path, invert the
selection and delete the unwanted faded
areas. Now you can use the image in a layout
with no worries.
Using Shapes - Another handy trick
to avoid faded edges is to place your image
inside a shape with a clean, hard edge. You
can use basic shapes like circles or rectangles,
but try thinking outside the box as well. Try
pasting the image inside of text or create
unique freeform shapes using the pen tool
or any other tools like a hard-edge paint
brush. Create a shape that complements
your image or layout idea. For example, if
you are creating an image for a swim team
or a fishing design or something with a
water-related theme, make a giant splash
shape. It will create a much more intriguing,
eye-catching design.
Large Halftone Dots - Among the
advantages of DTF transfers is the ability
to print small details. It is this advantage
that provides the next option for dealing
with faded edges to work. In fact, the use of
large halftone dots has become very popular
with DTF transfers, as it allows you
to keep the integrity of the design instead
of needing to eliminate areas and sacrifice
the original look.
If you have a raster design with faded
edges, start by making a selection of the
original image. When using Photoshop,
you can do this by holding down the Command/Control
key and then clicking on
the art layer. You should see " marching ants "
running around the perimeter of the image
denoting the fact it has been selected. Make
a new layer and fill the selection with black.
Duplicate the file so you have two separate
files available. The new file will be used to
create the halftone.
In the Menu Bar, go to Mode > Grayscale.
Turn off all the layers except the layer with
the black faded shape. Go back to the Menu
Bar > Mode and select Bitmap, where you
will be prompted to flatten your image. In
the first window that pops up, make sure the
resolution matches the resolution of your
image. (I always set up my images at 300
ppi.) Click OK, and in the next window
set up the halftone specifications.
For the frequency, the smaller the number
the larger the dot. The larger the dot,
the more " graphic " the image will look. I
recommend a frequency of 20 lpi. For the
angle, I use 61 degrees and a dot shape that
is either round or ellipse. Round dots will
give a more traditional, graphic look to your
image, while elliptical dots will look more
organic and provide more surface area to
adhere to the garment. The look you want
the final product to have can help dictate
the dot shape you're ultimately going to
want to use.
Once the halftone screen is set, change
the mode back to grayscale. Now you need
to transfer this halftoned greyscale image to
the original layered art file. To do this, click
on the tab at the top of the window for the
grayscale file and drag it out of the window
to separate the files into two separate
windows. Now you can go to the channels
panel of the grayscale file and drag it to the
art file. It will automatically create a new
channel in the art file with the halftone in it.
That done, hold down the Command/
Control Key, click on the halftone channel
and go back to the layers and make a
new layer. Fill the selection with a color
that will work with your image. It can be
black, white, gray, a neutral color or even
something that will match the shirt color
the image is going to be applied to. The
Jan./Feb. 2025
P.45

Impressions - January/February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - January/February 2025