Image area coverage

[macgregorphotography]

Hello all

I've yet to buy a mug press and was wondering what sort of image area coverage you get. Some of the designs I have in mind would benefit from being as close to the top and bottom of the mug as possible. I'm thinking the European mug or similar in style. Any info much appreciated.

Mac.

[Justin]

I use 200mm x 90mm to be on the safe side. You may get a little closer to the handle but risky. You should be able to do full bleed top and bottom but again I prefer to go about 85mm and have a slight white border top and bottom which I feel works well with the unprinted area each side of the handle.

Welcome to the forum btw!

[macgregorphotography]

Thanks for that Justin.

Do different presses have different effective coverage top to bottom or are they all much the same? When you say it's risky getting closer to the handle I'm guessing this is because of the gap left for the handle. Are there also variations on this with different presses?

Thanks
Mac.

[Andrew]

Different presses will make a difference for how close you can get to the handle. Much of the time this is down to trial and error though, buying expensive doesn't mean you are going to get closer for example. The closest we can get is 220mm which gets to about 8mm from the handle. I would advise against that though as it is a total pain. If getting maximum coverage is priority then you should look into ovens as an alternative. With the correct clamp/wrap this would probably make your life easier.

A very good quality mug will also help.

[macgregorphotography]

Thanks for that Andrew

The collective knowledge on hear is very reassuring for a beginner. Since posting I have checked through previous postings and the oven versus press route seems well discussed re. image coverage ( and I thought I'd read every post . I can see the arguments for both sides and in fact the people who say use both for different requirements seem to sum it up. This will be a small extension of what I do ( initially at least anyway ) so working within parameters at first is something I'll accept. Simplicity being my middle name, a single mug press (been looking at the DF12) seems to be my best starting option.
Thanks again.
Mac.