# Full Front printed Shirts



## fatdogvw (Aug 20, 2008)

I heard of people fully dye subbing the front of shirts. Can this be done without the cut and sew process? How do yo get around the high areas of the shirt? Any Info on this process would be Helpful. Thanks


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Using transfers and a heat press, the high areas are less of an issue. They won't all come out looking identical and you may experience some seam or crease flaws.

You will need large enough transfers and press, or a design that will accommodate using multiple normal sized transfers.


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## bentontrophy (May 21, 2009)

If you are a customer of Conde Systems they can do what they call full bleed shirts using their print services division. I have not seen one in person done this way, but I can only imagine that it would look pretty cool. They have a large Geo-Knight Press that they use and print offo of I believe an Epson 9600 (9800, 9880 or whatever the heck the model # is this week). Give them a call and ask for Allen I believe.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

You can do full frontal on a tshirt but the outcome will depend on several factors including which brand shirt you use, how much solid color graphics there is in your design and where the solid colors reside on the shirt. Last but not least how flexible is your customer. 

A tubular made shirt (no side seams) will lay flatter in the press and give you a little bit better results. You will want to keep solid graphics away from the areas where the arms attach to the body of the shirt as it is very hard to completley flatten that area. If you have a flexible customer who understands every shirt may look a little different then you can be ok. If they are picky you would want to do a cut and sew. Cut and sew, full color shirts are not significantly more costly then two side full coverage pre-made shirts. When we get a request for a two sided shirt we explain for $3.00 more they can get a full blown custom colored shirt. The vast majority of time they upgrade. You can see examples of full color custom cut and sew and full coverage press on a pre-made at our site -


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## JaeAmera (Dec 25, 2006)

Great site Mark!

Could not have explained it better.

Sam, just consult with your clients. As Mark stated, if they have an issue with the seam and underarm voids, that is the premium opportunity to upgrade to a cut and sew process.

I have included a few pics as well.

Hope this helps

Jae'



On-line Jerseys said:


> You can do full frontal on a tshirt but the outcome will depend on several factors including which brand shirt you use, how much solid color graphics there is in your design and where the solid colors reside on the shirt. Last but not least how flexible is your customer.
> 
> A tubular made shirt (no side seams) will lay flatter in the press and give you a little bit better results. You will want to keep solid graphics away from the areas where the arms attach to the body of the shirt as it is very hard to completley flatten that area. If you have a flexible customer who understands every shirt may look a little different then you can be ok. If they are picky you would want to do a cut and sew. Cut and sew, full color shirts are not significantly more costly then two side full coverage pre-made shirts. When we get a request for a two sided shirt we explain for $3.00 more they can get a full blown custom colored shirt. The vast majority of time they upgrade. You can see examples of full color custom cut and sew and full coverage press on a pre-made at our site - Shirts


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## fatdogvw (Aug 20, 2008)

Thanks Everyone for all your input. Now I have a better understating of this process. I don't have a maxi press. I have a rotary drum press, so I won't be able to do this process anyway, but at lease I know how's it done. Thanks, Again


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Thanks Sam, Jae and Mark. The shirt looks great and I just wish I could approximate the quality and artistry shown on those shirts. I have a MaxiPress on freight already and it will be the partner of our Roland wide format sublimation printer. I hope to learn more about wide format sublimation from you guys.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Craig is correct. Conde does offer full bleed shirts. They do look great. A full bleed shirt usually requires a larger printer and heat press than a lot of our clients have.


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## funkmaster (Jan 27, 2007)

JaeAmera said:


> Great site Mark!
> 
> Could not have explained it better.
> 
> ...


Hi Jae, on your pics, were those shirts cut and sewn or just pressed? Thanks.


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## JaeAmera (Dec 25, 2006)

They were pre-assembled. 

Jae'



funkmaster said:


> Hi Jae, on your pics, were those shirts cut and sewn or just pressed? Thanks.


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## agensop (Dec 11, 2008)

meaning already together when pressed???



JaeAmera said:


> They were pre-assembled.
> 
> Jae'


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Did you get "perfect" prints even on the seams, Jae?


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## funkmaster (Jan 27, 2007)

agensop said:


> meaning already together when pressed???


yeah, he meant already made, sewn together...pre-assembled.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

The biggest issue is not so much the seams, although there is some white areas that will be visibile, but more in the arm pit area. That is why you will read that "every shirt is a unique piece of art". You can visit sites like www.nodbod.com and look at the pics and they look "perfect" yet when you receive them you will have areas, especially but not limited to, the arm pit area that does not get sublimated due to the shirt not laying completley flat. You can see this by taking a simple home iron and put it straight down on the arm pit area. This will be the same thing that happens on a MaxiPress. When a stock shirt is pressed it comes off the press looking "perfect" thus the pics are taken at this point. Once the shirt is put on the folds become apparent. Many people consider this part of the "design" much like distressed apparel. We get calls all the time if we can print like Nodbod but without the "flaws". Simply put no you can not press a pre-made shirt without the imperfections showing up. If you want a perfect full color, full coverage shirt you need to have it printed, cut and sewn. Surpisingly they are no more money to do then what Nodbod charges for a premade shirt.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Thanks Mark. SO those nodbod shirts have some "white areas" on the armpit parts?


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## funkmaster (Jan 27, 2007)

vctradingcubao said:


> Thanks Mark. SO those nodbod shirts have some "white areas" on the armpit parts?


yep, white areas, especially in the arm pit. i got a few shirts from them. take a look at their gallery and you'll notice shirts that are supposed to be red or black all have some "flaw" in the arm pit. it's exactly as on-linejerseys said. i just decided to distress my entire design and designed it to be printed on a white shirt to hide as much of the "uniqueness" of their printing process. its not a bad product, you just need to be happy with the limitations if you go that route. overall i was still happy with what i got, but if i didn't distress my design, i don't think i would have used that process.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

vctradingcubao said:


> Thanks Mark. SO those nodbod shirts have some "white areas" on the armpit parts?


You can not avoid it - if you want to see first hand a picture of a shirt coming off a press looking "perfect" and the exact same shirt in "real world" send me an email and I will send you back an example.

email: [email protected]


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

On-line Jerseys said:


> You can not avoid it - if you want to see first hand a picture of a shirt coming off a press looking "perfect" and the exact same shirt in "real world" send me an email and I will send you back an example.
> 
> email: [email protected]


Thanks Mark. E-mail sent!


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## agensop (Dec 11, 2008)

email sent. this is pretty interesting



On-line Jerseys said:


> You can not avoid it - if you want to see first hand a picture of a shirt coming off a press looking "perfect" and the exact same shirt in "real world" send me an email and I will send you back an example.
> 
> email: [email protected]


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Here are a couple we just did for a band.
You need to make the art so the white fold area does not upset you.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Thanks Dave. In your experience, the white area will be on the armpits also? No white area on the shoulder and side seams?


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

The art really needs to be compatable to this kind of printing around all seamed areas. You do not see all of the folds until it is to late . I am working on a way to solve this and will have it worked out soon. You can PM me for more info.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

skdave said:


> The art really needs to be compatable to this kind of printing around all seamed areas. You do not see all of the folds until it is to late . I am working on a way to solve this and will have it worked out soon. You can PM me for more info.


Thanks! PM sent Dave!


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## JaeAmera (Dec 25, 2006)

vctradingcubao said:


> Did you get "perfect" prints even on the seams, Jae?


Sorry for the late reply....Family Fun Weekend!

To answer the question....sometimes.

As some have replied, Your seams and armpit areas will will have voids depending on the shirt you use. Many times its about the cut of the shirt.

Softlink's will image with little to no voids....BUT they are boxy (cut like a T) and they run wide more than length). Softlink doesn't offer 4XL or 5XL.....if they did they would probably be wide more than long.

Vapor has larger shirts, the cut is made for a good fit, and their collar doesn't stretch like Softlink's. The down side is that they have voids in the armpit areas and their seams show voids in the arm shoulder area at times. I think the seams in the arm shoulder seam are dependent upon quality of construction, I have pressed several were the seam was 98 percent covered to the stitch; other times, a 3/4 centimeter void in this area.

Vapor is a much better shirt than Softlink

Long story short....I explain this to most of my clients and most are not bothered as the armpit isn't seen unless you raise your arms. On the other hand, most are happy for something totally unique, so the minor defects are minimal. If so, we go Cut and Sew.

I do wish there were a magic shirt to solve all needs but for full coverage imaging, I have yet to find one.

Jae'


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

From my understanding changing the manufacturing process from Vapors current side seam shirt to a tubular type design like the Haines is a significant investment thus do not see the Vapor shirt changing anytime soon. The simple fact is it only cost $3.00 more to take Vapors bulk fabric and create a full coverage, custom cut and sew shirt then it does to take a Vapor premade shirt and press it. That three dollars provides you endless opportunites. Retail prices for full coverage pre-made shirts, such as Nodbod, will easily absorb the small additional cost yet provide people a perfect shirt every time. As consumers learn they can have a custom made shirt with no errors for the exact same price as the premade shirt the market will force out the premade process completly - at least in the dye sub market.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

what kind of printer prints directly on the fabric?


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

freebird1963 said:


> what kind of printer prints directly on the fabric?


DTG? but off course you know that already, .
There are some sublimation systems that can print directly on "coated" fabrics, but I would say a lot of those who do all over printing like those shirts posted in this thread are still using transfer papers, printed on a wide format printer like a Roland, Mimaki, or Epson loaded with sublimation inks, and pressed on a large format press like the MaxiPress.
There's this machine being sold by Sericol Australia which is basically a converted Mutoh printer, loaded with sublimation inks, and with an integrated roll type heater for curing. The machine is an example of a direct to fabric printer. There are also some Japan made machines, more like an industrial type set-up, using Konica heads and pigment and dye inks that prints directly on fabrics. I'll look for the links and post again.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Link to the Sericol & Konica system are here:
Fujifilm Sericol - Textile Digital inks

Features - Nassenger VII | KONICA MINOLTA


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

I have seen a few different machines at recent trade shows that do direct-to-fabric dye-sublimation (as Byron mentioned - converted Mutoh, Roland, etc). Some of them will print on transfer paper as well - which means more flexibility. Unfortunately, the prices bite  I'll have to stick to my wide format Roland and Monti for now...


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

I misread Marks post about seeing a shirt come of the press perfect.
I had in my damaged brain that he meant off the printer. But after rereading and now comprehending what was actually typed I see.

Thats why I was wondering what printers did it.


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