First ever Mug - Bad, Need help !

[pisquee]

If you're going to get Paul to make you an ICC profile, then this will be specific to the ink and printer that you are using (and to a lesser degree the sublimation paper) If you plan on changing your ink, or printer, then you will need Paul to make you a new ICC. And if this is your plan, then you are somewhat wasting your money (and time) getting an ICC made for ink which you won't be using long term.
Find a good supplier for god quality licensed ink, and stick with that ink - this, will give you the consistency in print quality that you are going to need. Even the most expensive/overpriced ink works out cheap in the cost per print/product. At the lower priced end of the market, you will more likely run into problems with colour consistency between batches, less UV resistance, less intense/achievable colours, and possibly a less pure/refined formulation leading to ink flow/clogging problems.

[socialgiraffe]

Pisquee has put it very well.

Nik, I know you appreciate that you are only dipping your toe in the market and want to save as much money as possible but it may put you off. If you ever want to see what good quality gear produces and you are over my way I will gladly show you how a good printer, good ink, good blanks and a good heat press can do.

This is not a dig, far from it, I just don't want you to get frustrated when it could simply be a case of problems with the supplies.

[Paul]

I dont agree we you guys. I do but i dont
nik know the source of his ink so there woudn't be any problem with new supply. And as far as i know his source is more official then ebay seller

[rossdv8]

I realise I am not using licensed ink at the moment but I am just getting started so will waste a lot -

I had similar thoughts. My dye sub and pigment printers are identical. The dye sub printer uses far less ink than the pigment, and it amazes me how many hundreds of items including mugs, A3 and A4 prints that I have printed without refilling my (admittedly oversize) cartridges. Proper quality dye sub ink doesn't cost much more in reality than buying OEM cartridges and printing photos.

And maybe read my suggestions for practicing so you don;t go wasting money testing on mugs and tee shirts.

[NikGrey]

I am also amazed at how little ink is used, to the extent that if I need to print a test image for sizing etc I dont bother changing wireless networks so I can print on my general printer downstairs.

I have the profile and made a test Mug, Im not too worried about that acutal image here as I found the image via facebook - this is a surprise for my Postman so serves as a good test subject. I am more worried here about the 'Black' stroke around the lettering which looks more dark blue.

Any idea's?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1965[/ATTACH]

Here's the original image:

http://nikgrey.com/mug-images/lee-new-mug.jpg

[NikGrey]

I am also amazed at how little ink is used, to the extent that if I need to print a test image for sizing etc I dont bother changing wireless networks so I can print on my general printer downstairs.

I have the profile and made a test Mug, Im not too worried about that acual image here as I found the image via facebook - this is a surprise for my Postman so serves as a good test subject. I am more worried here about the 'Black' stroke around the lettering which looks more dark blue.

Any idea's?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1966[/ATTACH]

Here's the original image:

http://nikgrey.com/mug-images/lee-new-mug.jpg

[socialgiraffe]

Is the outline actually specified as black in photoshop?

Open the file and check that it is 100K and not a mish mash of CMY to make it look like black.

[pisquee]

Either there is something wrong with the way you're using the profile, or the original photo has very yellow flesh tones/lighting? (or it could be this new monitor which I haven't calibrated yet!)

[rossdv8]

Might be an idea to post a copy of the original image (not on a mug) and the image as it appears on the mug so people like pisquee and paul can give their opinion based on how the image and mug appear side by side.
This is what I mean.
One pic is the output from my auto-script ready to print, one is the other output from my auto-script so I see what it 'might' look like on a mug, and the other is a photo of the mug after printing that output.

Comparing them side by side you can see that because I am not able to use ICC profiles and I use the wrong brand of printer, the colours on the mug don;t match the colours on the original and the example, particularly the blue in the sky..

But they are close enough for my purposes, because I only work with my own photos.[ATTACH=CONFIG]1969[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1970[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1972[/ATTACH]

[NikGrey]

ok, I am back on the Mug again. I have a profile from Paul and used the correct paper for this job.

I realise I need more pressure at the top of the mug but things like that dont bother me as I know I can easily overcome them, what worries me is the Black going more of a dark Green. I am using the 'Cold Press' method: Place Mug in press, turn on (press gets to 200) then hit Set to make it increase to 360 - then counts down 30 secs and remove Mug.

My mate insists on using this log although I have offered to create a proper one, and it is a .jpg - I made sure the Black was 000000 (Where is the hash on a Mac keyboard).

The paper below was not the paper I used as I printed test prints on the pre-cut stuff I bought for sizing etc but it looks identical (apart from small white flecks in the Black, those flecks didnt appear in the xPress paper I used to have the ICC profile set up with).

When I have better light I will post a better image here but for now what do you make of this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1999[/ATTACH]

Oh, And the mugs have an Orca coating.