# how to get images for a DTG printer



## Donna Indy (Mar 5, 2007)

*Re: Why buy a DTG printer?*

hello I am new to this forum,I have a couple of questions that my sales guy seems to know know nothing about , I am in the process of purchasing the DTG and I ask him about art work where do you get it from? I ask him about smart designs he knows nothing about that either......So I really need to know before I sign the papers how do I get (clip art ) type art work and How do you put a personal picture on a shirt? I have a retail shop where I sell (do in house) Embroidery and offer screen printing (out source) and thought the DTG would come in very handy for small orders and personal pictures.

Thank you in advance for your help and any info would be so greatly appreciated.

Donna Indy


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Hi Donna, welcome to the T-Shirt Forums!

Artwork would be something that's totally separate from the actual printer. That's something you would need to source separately.

Either the customer will send you artwork that they want to print, or you can find clipart online at places like smartdesigns, clipart.com, etc or included in graphic software packages like coreldraw (which can interface with smartdesigns).

If the customer gives you a photo, you would open it up in your graphics software and then send it to the DTG printer using the print function.

Which DTG printer were you considering? Maybe another member here with more experience with that particular printer can offer more detailed help.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Donna,

I believe that both SWF East and SWF Mesa both are considering offering the Clip Art package (500+ designs pre-colored vector designs and a full color catalog) from Great Dane Graphics - www.greatdanegraphics.com. If you talk to them, they should be able to point you in the right direction. Send me a PM if you have any problems or your sales rep is not aware of this package. Good Luck.

Mark


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## Donna Indy (Mar 5, 2007)

*Re: Why buy a DTG printer?*

The single one with white ink option, I am just concerned that once I buy I will have big art fees like I have now with screen printing ,That is one thing that causes customers to to delay there purchase.

Thanks for you input, I really appreciate it very much.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

You can print the same images you have for screen printing with a DTG. However, the vector clip art images that you can buy from a ton of places on the web (i.e. Digital Arts Solutions, Action Illustrated,...) don't do a DTG justice compared to when you print rastor images. You might want to also look at the rastor images at Great Dane Graphics as well. These are the images that you see being printed by most of the manufacturers at the trade shows.


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## Donna Indy (Mar 5, 2007)

*Re: Why buy a DTG printer?*

Rastor images ? that is a new one to me who makes these ? can they be made in Corel or adobe? So if i by clip art name drop items buy Rastor images?
Who sales name drop type Rastor images? 

Thanks Donna


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## Vtec44 (Apr 24, 2006)

Hey Donna,

Generally speaking, dtg printers are just like a regular inkjet printers, but designed to print on t-shirts instead of paper. So, the process is very similar to a regular printer: open up the image, make changes to the image, print to printer. Whatever art that you have, regardless of the source or type, as long as you can open it up you can print it on a shirt. However, you need some sort understanding of graphic software and images in general when it comes to these printers. For example, you may need to adjust the color saturation, brightness, create transparent background, etc. On top of that, printing white ink takes some time to fine tune the settings, underbase strength, passes, etc. If you're not familiar with these yet, I suggest you hold off on purchasing the printer until you have some practice. 

Just my humble opinion....


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> The single one with white ink option


There is more than one DTG printer with a white ink option. There are actually several.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> I am just concerned that once I buy I will have big art fees like I have now with screen printing. hat is one thing that causes customers to to delay there purchase


If the customer has artwork, then there's no reason why there would be an art fee. You would have the printer, so you control what fees you charge 

James also put it well in his post:



Vtec44 said:


> Generally speaking, dtg printers are just like a regular inkjet printer, but designed to print on t-shirts instead of paper. So, the process is very similar to a regular printer: open up the image, make changes to the image, print to printer. Whatever art that you have, regardless of the source or type, as long as you can open it up you can print it on a shirt. However, you need some sort understanding of graphic software and images in general when it comes to these printers. For example, you may need to adjust the color saturation, brightness, create transparent background, etc. On top of that, printing white ink takes some time to fine tune the settings, underbase strength, passes, etc. If you're not familiar with these yet, I suggest you hold off on purchasing the printer until you have some practice


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## Donna Indy (Mar 5, 2007)

I just want to thank all of you for your help and answers, Mark aka DAguide Thank you for the phone call and the question answer session we had today....I know time is money and important to keep track of in business, But I truly Thank you for yours today. You went above and beyond what you had to.So again Thank you everyone who answered my questions and helped in my decision to buy.....I have decide to wait until summer to see what happens with the new DTGH1 and the other new designs coming out.....So i guess I will stick to my heat press and embroidery machines....for the moment anyway....

Donna


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## LooseThreadz (Dec 4, 2008)

google images


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## MichaelM (Jan 14, 2009)

I use illustrator and photo shop to make my own designs and my clients send me their artwork.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

LooseThreadz said:


> google images


errr...copyright infringement????


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## Brian-R (Apr 21, 2008)

*Re: Why buy a DTG printer?*

If your going to wait for summer you might want to hit the Long Beach show, I think it is around the end of July. Most, if not all, of the printers should be represented there.
There are several printers that use white ink. Look at them all if possible. You are likely to come up with questions after you leave the show but don't worry, you will have salesmen calling you nonstop after the show so they can contiune to answer your questions. 
Good luck.

Brian


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