Is it the Printer? Paper? Mug? Software? Help please!!

[Coops]

Hi,
I'm a newbie to this so please bear with me

I have been trying to heat press onto mugs on and off for a few weeks but I am having a few issues.

When I heat press onto a mug the design appears very blurry. This is the text, photos and graphics. Basically the whole design is blurry.

I have tried changing the temp and press time however the image is still blurry. I am using a Ricoh Printer SG3110DN with Trupix paper and Sawgrass ink. I started pressing at 180 degrees for 180 seconds. After searching the forum I changed to 170 degrees for 50 seconds (this didn't work) and used a test mug to continue increasing the time until the image transferred. I am now on 170 degrees for 150 seconds, the image has transferred but is still blurry.

Any idea what could be causing this? The paper is loaded the right way in the printer.

Could it be the software?

I am using Pageplus for my designs and then export the final design as JPEG. I then open Photoplus and print using my Ricoh printer and selecting printer properties and print from there. Is this correct? On my computer the image appears clear however when I print the images and text appear slightly blurry.

Sorry for the long message, I just don't know what I am doing wrong.
Thanks

Coops

[webtrekker]

You need to print using the Sawgrass Power Driver or a suitable ICC Profile.

[Coops]

Thanks for your reply.

I thought that was what I was doing? How do I do that then?

I currently save my work as JPEG then open in Photoplus. From here I select print and choose "PowerDriver-v4 SG3110DN (US)" from the printer list. I then select print setup, properties and then I am able to choose Mirror, colour adjustments etc. Finally print!

Is this incorrect? I cannot find any other way to print the picture? Would this cause the blurriness?

Thanks

[webtrekker]

What's the resolution of the image you are printing? All mine are designed and printed at 300dpi.

[Coops]

Good question, what's the best way to find out? Is it when I save the image?

[webtrekker]

I don't use the same software as you, but there should be something you can click on to get the dimensions and dpi of the image you're working on.

Note that, enlarging an image with small dimensions or poor dpi (as often found on the net) will result in a very poor printout.

So, my advice is to design all your originals at 300dpi (greater than that provides no noticeable improvement for mug sublimation, other than to increase your file sizes unnecessarily). Save them in a non-lossy format (eg. png) or, if you must use jpg, save at the highest quality rating. If you are using Google Images, make sure you search for Large pictures then reduce them if needed. Do not enlarge small images. Most Google Images are only about 72dpi.

[Coops]

Thanks I will look into that some more. I was concerned it was the software I'm using. I imported a photo and some parts looked grainy, when I enlarged the photo the image appeared perfect, is there anyway to reduce the size of the image without effecting quality?

[Justin]

Head over to the Sawgrass tech support website and follow the setup guides on there for your printer.

[Coops]

I followed that and now every time I go to print it states that I have to register within 5 days even though I did it.

I will try again.

[Coops]

Do I need a specific ICC for my paper/printer combo or does it come with Sawgrass as standard?