# Heat transfer paper problem?



## notloc (Apr 13, 2007)

Hey guys, Im extremely new to this and I am trying to sort it all out myself but am having trouble. I can photoshop my images and get my logos and my wording and everything else onto transfer paper. I can iron it on and make it come out pretty nice. My problem is that when I transfer words onto my shirts or if I dont cut around it all the way, I am left with white all around my designs. Is this going to be the case with all iron on transfers? Its pretty annoying and I have tried a couple transfer types (from like Best Buy and Walmart- so maybe those just suck really bad). Anyway, is there a transfer sheet type that will just leave the ink behind and not the entire cutout? Thanks!


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## hughey974 (Apr 2, 2007)

No you have to cut around them, Im also curious do you have a heat press or a iron?

Oh and what color shirt are you using?


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## notloc (Apr 13, 2007)

I have an iron and I used a grey shirt as well as a white shirt. Its almost impossible to cut out words and such, they are too small so I am not sure how anyone could do this. Is there anything else I can use that just places the design on the fabric? Im not familiar with the other ways of approaching this.


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## hughey974 (Apr 2, 2007)

Try some of these

YouTube - Iron All Heat transfers

YouTube - Working with the new "Iron All Transfer Paper"

For your words
YouTube - Heat transfers 3

YouTube - heat transfers on tee shirts

YouTube - Transfers on tee shirts

Oh and you might want to buy a heat press...... All this is what ive been learning from. Not that i know everything, I by no means do ive just been doing alot of reading and watching. My new Mighty Digital Heat Press should be in around monday. I hope you dont mind the video links Lou


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## notloc (Apr 13, 2007)

Those videos look to be exactly what im doing minus the heat press. Im confused because the guy didnt cut out each letter, my cut outs look the same. Yet his didnt have the white box where the paper was around it... hmm. I dont get it.


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## hughey974 (Apr 2, 2007)

Well thats as far as i can help, Mayby someone else will chime in here.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Not all papers are created equal, and not everything that's obvious to the naked eye is obvious in a photo.

But basically... yes, this is a problem you'll have with any paper to a greater or lesser extent.


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## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

Ironall leaves less of a box around than others. But it is still visible. It may be a better option. Plus it has a better feel to it.


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## notloc (Apr 13, 2007)

Oh actually I can see the white surrounding on his shirt. Hm, what type of material would I have to use to eliminate this? Is there another process or something that will allow me to just put the wording on the shirt without the surrounding cutout?


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

notloc said:


> Is there another process or something that will allow me to just put the wording on the shirt without the surrounding cutout?


Vinyl or plastisol transfers. The former would require buying a plotter, the latter would require outsourcing the printing of the transfers to a plastisol printer (screenprinter). Both are a good way to get text onto a shirt with a heat press.


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## Peanutz (Feb 14, 2007)

For text, it's impossible to cut out a lot of small letters and then line them up. I've found that the font and design of the text can at least help you here.

Try using fatter texts in your designs (like Arial Black, Impact, Franklin Gothic Heavy, etc). Add a shadow to eliminate space inbetween the letters and then you can cut around each word instead of each letter. You can also space the letters closer together. These are a few tricks we use for doing text with transfers.

Hope that helps
Ryan


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## notloc (Apr 13, 2007)

I think I may be using some sort of different paper. Im using Dynex from Best Buy. I dont have to reverse the print, I just cut out the sheet and iron it on. The entire cut out is stuck on the shirt, all the white included. So I need to print on vinyl or something to be able to make a design like this.... http://www.t-shirtforums.com/tshirtgallery/image-505.html? Or can I just buy like Iron-ALL and it wont have the entire cut out on my shirts?


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## funkygator2 (Apr 15, 2007)

Hello. I too used to have this problem. I am using a regular iron (in the meantime),but I to avoid the extra white stuff I created a frame for the message and I colored it differently from the letters itself. It looks rather nice and people seem to like it. Try it , it may work for you. If you want just the letter/words you may want to consider silk screen printing. I took a free class this weekend at an art store and I was impress w/ the results. Good luck. Hope this helps.


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## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

notloc said:


> I think I may be using some sort of different paper. Im using Dynex from Best Buy. I dont have to reverse the print, I just cut out the sheet and iron it on. The entire cut out is stuck on the shirt, all the white included. So I need to print on vinyl or something to be able to make a design like this.... http://www.t-shirtforums.com/tshirtgallery/image-505.html? Or can I just buy like Iron-ALL and it wont have the entire cut out on my shirts?


Sounds like you are using an opaque transfer for darks. I would recommend you get some transfer paper for light colored shirts. Ironall, transjet, etc. Ironall leaves a softer feel. Trim within and 1/8 inch of the design, mirror or reverse image when printing, and iron on.

Opaque transfers need to be trimmed exactly to illimunate the white outline.

Hope this helps.


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## Liefde-Chance (Sep 19, 2007)

I know this thread is a year old but I found good information on it.

Consider getting a vinyl cutter to tear away the excess white backing. I found this tool to come in handy because I can't guarantee cutting an image the same way for several shirts. Also, stretch paper is the way to go to avoid cracking issues that will come up later.


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## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

notloc said:


> Those videos look to be exactly what im doing minus the heat press. Im confused because the guy didnt cut out each letter, my cut outs look the same. Yet his didnt have the white box where the paper was around it... hmm. I dont get it.


well I am the guy.. Those are my videos. If you are working with white shirts and text then you need to cut as clost to the letters as you can get. At least 1/8 th inch. Update... those videos are with the old 'IRON ALL TRANSFER PAPER" I now use Jet Pro Sof Stretch. Do yourself a favor and do not use retail paper. Buy from Coastal or New Milford. let me know if I can help. If you can get a real press it would work a lot better as well. Lou


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## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

hughey974 said:


> Try some of these
> 
> YouTube - Iron All Heat transfers
> 
> ...


Not at all. Glad to have them available to use. I just bought a new camera and plan to make more..


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## Liefde-Chance (Sep 19, 2007)

Hey badalou I've seen your videos and have learned a lot from them. Do you ever use the vinyl cutter for any of your works? 

I ask because I just don't see how it would be possible to cut a design over and over with precision for 10 or more shirts.


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## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

Liefde-Chance said:


> Hey badalou I've seen your videos and have learned a lot from them. Do you ever use the vinyl cutter for any of your works?
> 
> I ask because I just don't see how it would be possible to cut a design over and over with precision for 10 or more shirts.


My Roland will but I have not done so as of yet. But I need to learn myself. I am just too busy with other things.


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## ruch1v (Jun 9, 2008)

funkygator2 said:


> Hello. I too used to have this problem. I am using a regular iron (in the meantime),but I to avoid the extra white stuff I created a frame for the message and I colored it differently from the letters itself. It looks rather nice and people seem to like it. Try it , it may work for you. If you want just the letter/words you may want to consider silk screen printing. I took a free class this weekend at an art store and I was impress w/ the results. Good luck. Hope this helps.


 

hey would you say a regular press works as well as a heat press?

thanks


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## Sante (Jun 9, 2015)

I did a test on an old with tshirt and the transfer worked just fine, the colors were acceptable and I was very please with the results, I used 160C and 15segs time. However when I try to transfer the new tshirt it did not transfer.

the only thing I did different was that I pressed it first with heat to try to have the smoothest surface to transfer on and then I try to apply the transfer.

This was my very first experience with it.

appreciate comments and advise


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