# Printing over collars and seams



## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

After I posted "My sample shirt" I got a message asking about how it was done. They asked for photos. So here it goes. 

Start with an empty platen, cover it with platen tape (masking tape), cover masking tape with whatever type of adhesive you have, place foam (see pic top left) on top of adhesive, cover foam with same type of tape used to cover platen. The reason you need to cover the platen with the first layer of tape is so that when you remove the foam it will come off easily. Print as you normally print. The foam will allow the seams to sink or give so that the screen will lay flat against the shirt and print with very little or no gaps. The pic on the bottom is a print designed to be on the collar and seams, the print on the upper left is what is on my press right now. I printed it on the collar so you could see how well this works.

You can buy this foam at Hobby Lobby or most craft stores.

I hope this helps, I'll post more pics if needed.


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## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

Nice trick, gonna give it a try tommorow.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Excellent, I am going to have to try that some time.


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## HMDClothing.com (Apr 24, 2009)

Thank you so much for sharing that! Gonna try it as well. Much appreciated. Images were a big help too! Nice work btw


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## A Perfect Pixel (Jul 4, 2008)

I just went to JoAnn Fabrics with the wifey (she went looking for knitting stuff or something) and picked up a sheet of this for like $1.25

to clear up what it says on the label "DARICE FOAMIES SHEETS"

They had 2 and 3 mm available, but I remembered the picture showed 2, so I got that


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## SelfMadeSD (Dec 28, 2008)

very cool. i use the same shirts! lol thanks for the tip


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## SpotMatrix (Nov 10, 2007)

That is definitely a nice trick I will have to try.


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## woodja (Feb 12, 2009)

i was always wondering about this, that is a very creative way to do that!


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## ambitious (Oct 29, 2007)

Thank's for sharing! I've always tried different ways of doing this and nothing.


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## out da box (May 1, 2007)

Foam huh? Genius.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

A Perfect Pixel said:


> I just went to JoAnn Fabrics with the wifey (she went looking for knitting stuff or something) and picked up a sheet of this for like $1.25
> 
> to clear up what it says on the label "DARICE FOAMIES SHEETS"
> 
> They had 2 and 3 mm available, but I remembered the picture showed 2, so I got that


Sorry I forget to mention that I use the 3mm foam. This is the same foam we use for embroidery. That pic is the only label I had to take a picture of. The 2mm should work though.


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## A Perfect Pixel (Jul 4, 2008)

no worries man... it was only a little over a buck

i'll try the two milli, and if it doesn't work, i'll just scrap it and go with the 3 next time i'm near / at the store

Thanks again for sharing


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## polarbear (Jan 31, 2008)

How big are the foam sheets?


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

I'm not sure what sizes are in the stores, I order mine from an embroidery supplier. It is the same stuff.


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## adivito (Aug 25, 2006)

Have you ever had a problem flashing with the foam on the platens?
Thanks


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## skellyrm (Jul 28, 2009)

NICE. I am gunna try that!!!
THANKS!!!
The new guy- Scott


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## A Perfect Pixel (Jul 4, 2008)

the sheet i got was 12 x 18 i believe, I already threw the tag away


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

adivito said:


> Have you ever had a problem flashing with the foam on the platens?
> Thanks


If you flash too long the foam will shrink under the tape. I have in the past pre shrunk the foam.


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## BOOSH! (Jul 31, 2009)

Couple questions about this (it's pretty killer, thanks for sharing)...

* Are you putting your adhesive (again) on the very top layer (on the tape that's over the foam)? I'm assuming so, but you didn't say anything about it.

* When you print off the collar like that, are you leaving ink on the tape? Or is there a way to avoid doing so?

* What type of ink are you using?


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## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

BOOSH! said:


> Couple questions about this (it's pretty killer, thanks for sharing)...
> 
> * Are you putting your adhesive (again) on the very top layer (on the tape that's over the foam)? I'm assuming so, but you didn't say anything about it.
> 
> ...


Cut pieces of paper and place it in the empty area of the collar so that the ink doesn't get on the tape.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

Once you have the foam and tape over that. treat it like a regular pallet. If you are flashing make sure you don't put the pallet to close to the flash unit. But yes you can add adhesive on top of the tape that is over the foam.


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## ASW21 (Aug 13, 2009)

We have had success using the same method only instead of foam we adhere a few layers of old sweatshirt fabric to the platens and tape the corners down. Flashing this set up works as well.


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## oldbox (Apr 25, 2010)

ok im trying this, THX guys, one can learn so much on forum! cheers!


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## pukingdeserthobo (Jun 3, 2008)

awesome stuff


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## bheejay (Nov 24, 2010)

do you have a more detailed process? lol


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## TYGERON (Apr 26, 2009)

bheejay said:


> do you have a more detailed process? lol


LOL...

Funny how the least complicated stuff can make life soooooo much more easy!

Gotta watch that print stroke to not lose detail though...squeegee durometer, angle, pressure, speed...


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

Gotta say that the sample picture you posted is really great . . . very nice work!


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## bheejay (Nov 24, 2010)

ohh i got what you mean with the foam and stuff lol didnt see the pic. its not loading


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## JayJaySerious (Sep 19, 2007)

It sounds good. I used to know a screen printer who did the same thing with remnants of neoprene wet suit material that he got hold of. I've been wanting to try it.


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## catdog (Nov 26, 2010)

The foam will shrink after awhile. They can easily be cut to size and are so cheap to replace. I also, will use rubber placemats or foam to put under the space between the pocket and neckline of hoodies. This lowers the pocket and neckline.


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## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

Well, I did my own experiment after finding the "foamie" sheets at walm*rt but considering they're 12x18 I thought that I have to "tile" 2 sheets to cover my platen and that might create a problem while printing depending where the seam/union of the 2 sheets was placed.

I decided to try this product Walmart.com: Danskin Now Yoga Mat, Periwinkle: Exercise & Fitness and for $9 if it didn't work out I could find another use for it.

Now, the mat does have a texture to it, and that lead me to think against buying it, but I started playing with it at the store, and pushing and pressing it and finally bought it.

Came home, placed platen tape over the platen, the a good amount of adhesive, flash it, lay mat on top and cut to size, apply good pressure to it to ensure good contact. You can keep going like I did, or place something heavy on top and leave it for a while, but make sure you weight is bigger that the platen so it leaves no marks. Then I put packing tape around the mat as an extra safety measure just in case, and finally platen tape on top of the mat again.

I used some of the screens already in the press to print a few test shirts and I can say it works really good, I've never done this before so I have nothing to compare it to, but common sense tells me it works.

I'm gonna try to take a picture of the shirts so you can tell me if it really works as it should or if the results are sub par, I'll do it later. If you need pics of the mat itself let me know, but in walm*rt's site you can see it, but again, don't let the texture on the mat scare you, it doesn't affect the print at all.

I might use it from now on on all my platens since it doesn't bother at all, adjust your off contact and that's it. I don't own a flash so I cannot give information about how the heat affects the mat, but using my heat gun I noticed the platen tape making a big bubble and all I did was to pierce a few holes sticking an exacto knife and it fixed the problem.

Well, good luck and post your expierments too 

Take care


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## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

a few pics here, sorry about the quality because I had to edit to adjust the light so you can see the seam and the print over it.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

Looks great! it's surprising how some things can be so simple.


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## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks, but I think is way far from perfect. That was the only screen I had ready to go and the platen was my big one, so placement was kind of weird, artwork in the center of the screen, big platen and no much room to play around, but the next one should be better.


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## BCP (Oct 31, 2008)

About to try this with some sweatshirt material...Printing a 17x17 image over 100% Poly seams and collars...white ink/black garment. So far, not an easy task for me to SAY THE LEAST. Would it be recommended to thin out the ink as much as possible? I'm using TechSupport's Poly Tech White and Curable Reducer and I'm worried that using the reducer would cause the black dye to bleed into the ink. Any insight? This thread has been super helpful.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

I WOULD NOT THIN THE INK. It should work fine you just need a good bit of pressure on both your flood and print stroke.


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## BCP (Oct 31, 2008)

BCP said:


> About to try this with some sweatshirt material...Printing a 17x17 image over 100% Poly seams and collars...white ink/black garment. So far, not an easy task for me to SAY THE LEAST. Would it be recommended to thin out the ink as much as possible? I'm using TechSupport's Poly Tech White and Curable Reducer and I'm worried that using the reducer would cause the black dye to bleed into the ink. Any insight? This thread has been super helpful.


This worked super well for me. It was late and I couldn't get foam...so I used some old sweatshirts I had lying around that were never printed. Heavy spray adhesive on the platen, apply one layer of material, cut to edges with exacto or blade, tape all four sides of the platen (about 1/2-3/4" of tape on top, the rest wrap around), heavy spray adhesive on that layer of material, then apply second layer and cut again. Tape sides again along with the entire top of the platen and you should be good to go. Make sure to get a really good flood, and a really sharp pull. I did not flash this job, so I can't guarantee this will work well with a multi-color job. Hope this helps someone in a pinch!


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## teezecrost (May 9, 2007)

I tried a dozen shirts like this last night. It worked, but found it took a while to get the technique right (ink got globby in low parts of seams at first), and it took a lot of extra time to line the collar up for correct image placement and insert paper to catch the overflow every time. Eventually began using a test pellon cut to size, and then just curing it along with the shirt to avoid ink smudges on the next shirt.

ANYway, given all the extra care each shirt requires on one of these jobs, how much extra are you guys charging the customer? Seems like it should be a lot! Took me a while to figure things out at first, but was still a slow process once I got a groove going!


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