Impressions - March 2018 - 44

this category.They still can be decorated
successfully; however, extra preparation
will be necessary, including double pretreatment.This adds time and cost to the
process,which is why using a DTG-friendly
garment is the more attractive option.
Also, more often than not, DTGappropriate garments can be printed using
an RIP/print driver software's standard
settings.Trying to make a non-DTG friendly garment fit the criteria often requires
special printer settings, which adds time as
you experiment to achieve the best results.
The Heat Press & Dryer
Most DTG shops use a heat press to dry
shirts after pretreatnent and to cure ink.
Upgrading to an auto-release model will
allow for better workflow.
With a standard heat press, the process
will be interrupted whenever the buzzer sounds, indicating the press should be
opened. Interrupted workflow results in
lost production minutes throughout the day.
An auto-release unit - a feature available
on most popular clam-shell heat presses - opens when time expires, allowing
the decorator to continue tasks until the
finished garment waiting on the platen
can be addressed.
A conveyor dryer will eliminate the need
for a heat press when curing DTG-printed
garments.A drying unit with good air flow
is required for curing the water-based DTG
ink. However, a heat press still is needed
to help lay down a garment's fibers before
decorating.
Since DTG printers need to be in a
controlled environment with office-like
temperature and at least 40% humidity,
it's not practical to place a printer on a
screen-printing production floor near the
conveyor dryer.The DTG conveyor dryer
must be well insulated and vented to keep
the room from heating and drying the
air.An inexpensive hygrometer will help
monitor humidity levels.

Creating horizontal images
can cut printing time in half.

Use Horizontal GrapHics
If you - not the customer - are creating or supplying the images being printed, creating them in
a horizontal format will help speed the printing process. Nearly all DTG machines print from top
to bottom. The farther down the shirt the print head goes, the longer it takes to print.
A horizontal image, when compared to a full-front one, can be printed in half the time. During an

Printing Caps

entire production day, many more horizontal graphics can be printed than full-front images.

Many DTG printers have an optional cap
attachment available for quickly and inexpensively decorating across the seam of
a six-panel style. Rather than purchasing
a cap heat press for curing, or raising the
infeed and exit of your conveyor dryer,
try using a heat gun.
Arrange the printed hats on a tabletop and use a heat gun - which can be
found in any hardware store - to dry the
ink to the touch. Getting the perfect cure
on a shirt is important so that the design
P.44

Printing DTG-friendly garments
will save prep time while allowing
an RIP/print driver's standard
settings to be used.

will withstand repeated laundering, but
hats rarely are washed.Therefore, the cure
doesn't have to be perfect, so a heat gun is
more than sufficient.
DTG printing is inherently slower than
many other decoration methods, such as
screen printing. But the necessity for shortrun production is real, and these steps can
help speed the production process. 

i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m MARCH 2018

Terry Combs is a 35-plus-year veteran of the
garment printing industry, and has managed production shops large and small across the United
States. He currently does sales and training with
Equipment Zone, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. His
recent books, "Screen Printing: A Practical Guide"
and "Direct-to-Garment: A Practical Guide," are
available on Amazon. For more information, visit
terrycombs.com.

http://www.terrycombs.com http://www.impressionsmag.com

Impressions - March 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - March 2018