New to this and have a couple of questions....

[pamelasplayroom]

Hi all.

Ok...i have mugs, ink, printer, dyesub paper, unique designs, press, and im all ready to go and do some samples next week, and then start on the first orders for 150 or so mugs (reminds me i need to order another 144 mugs next week....think im going to give BMS a go...).

The question is (are) once you have printed your design onto dyesub paper, how long is it viable for.....i will be expanding the available designs from 20 to several hundred over the coming months, and printing to order at markets, clubs and such and want to print out a stock of the designs all trimmed and such so that all i need to do is print them on the day as they are required. The thing i dont want to do is print out a load and find that the slower selling designs need to be thrown out as the image wont transfer properly due to the age of the print.

Also....a silly question i know, but as printers dont print white.....how would you print white or very pale/light colours onto dark surfaces (mugs, T shirts, signs, plates, etc) without having to print onto paper & then transfer the image onto a substrate that you could heat apply (Like t shirt vinyl) to the dark surface.
The only other way i can think of doing it is to cut out a replica of the print image on a plotter cutter and use this as a stencil to apply a white dyesub coating to the item to be printed (only suitable for items that will stand the heat needed to cure the dyesub coating).
Im sure im missing something simple here.....but just cant see what it is.....

Any help, thoughts, advice, or pointers to reference material greatly appreciated.

[Paul]

Hi all.

Ok...i have mugs, ink, printer, dyesub paper, unique designs, press, and im all ready to go and do some samples next week, and then start on the first orders for 150 or so mugs (reminds me i need to order another 144 mugs next week....think im going to give BMS a go...).

The question is (are) once you have printed your design onto dyesub paper, how long is it viable for.....i will be expanding the available designs from 20 to several hundred over the coming months, and printing to order at markets, clubs and such and want to print out a stock of the designs all trimmed and such so that all i need to do is print them on the day as they are required. The thing i dont want to do is print out a load and find that the slower selling designs need to be thrown out as the image wont transfer properly due to the age of the print.

Also....a silly question i know, but as printers dont print white.....how would you print white or very pale/light colours onto dark surfaces (mugs, T shirts, signs, plates, etc) without having to print onto paper & then transfer the image onto a substrate that you could heat apply (Like t shirt vinyl) to the dark surface.
The only other way i can think of doing it is to cut out a replica of the print image on a plotter cutter and use this as a stencil to apply a white dyesub coating to the item to be printed (only suitable for items that will stand the heat needed to cure the dyesub coating).
Im sure im missing something simple here.....but just cant see what it is.....

Any help, thoughts, advice, or pointers to reference material greatly appreciated.

HI! Regards to your first question: You can store your prints for years! I had designe in my box for about two years and when I transfer it to the mug it was look as good as printed same day! It was on texprint paper.


regards to your second question you v=can not dye sub on dark garments. is not only about white. is all about other colors too. you just wont see them if you want to print full color photos on dark t-shirts then all you can do is use transfer paper, laser transfer,subli flock as a base or you can use one of those bloody expensive papers that magic touch sells.

[pamelasplayroom]

Thanks for the info.

WOW....years.....i thought that the dyesub ink would not perform after a certain time....thats great news.

with using subliflock base would you press both parts at the same time or do the sublim part and then press the substrate to the garment (i guess it would be the first option....and a lot of trial & error).
Expensive papers?? may be cheaper than the other options...or comparable....do you have a link so i dont look at the wrong stuff...

It wouldnt be photos, more line art, text, cg artwork, scanned artwork.....similar sort of idea to a lot of the spiral designs type garment artwork, but different subject matter.....not ready to go into screen printing yet till i get things firmly established. i suppose the same problems apply with DTG printing onto dark garments. i think the best option for me at the mo is to use a plotter cutter to trace the artwork onto subli flock or other sublimation receptive carrier medium and press both together onto the garment. registration may well be a bitch tho.

Anyone had any experience of doing this???

[bms]

with using subliflock base would you press both parts at the same time or do the sublim part and then press the substrate to the garment (i guess it would be the first option....and a lot of trial & error).

Not quite - you'd press the image to the subli-flock first and then peal away the backing and then press this onto your garment. They're not done at the same time.