# Solvent Printer HELP!!!



## GunnyJeeves (Nov 27, 2017)

All,

I have a DTG printer and it does excellent work.

That said, I also now have a 54" solvent printer, and after looking around a bit, it seems that it can print onto transfers then heat transfer those to a shirt, and this is a fairly good way of getting things done.

Ok... First off, I know I will need a good contour cutting solution to cut and weed those images for transfer... but I need much more basic help. Its the simple things I can't seem to figure out.

1. So I print onto lets say a white heat transfer vinyl. Then I cut it... Then I weed it... Now I need a transfer sheet to pull it off the backing, and survive the heat press going onto the shirt. What is that???? Normal Adhesive? Low Tack? What should I use?

2. Just suppose I can print things like white or silver undercoat, onto a clear heat transfer material... Is this a good idea? Will the solvent ink heat up and stick on the shirt?

3. Lastly, if I went this route, I could print some extras and have them ready. Is there a shelf life I need to worry about this way?


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## GunnyJeeves (Nov 27, 2017)

Oh yeah... One last thing... Can you link the roll media you'd recommend as well as the transfer paper?


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## Amw (Jul 2, 2012)

GunnyJeeves said:


> All,
> 
> I have a DTG printer and it does excellent work.
> 
> ...


The answers are above in Red.


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## Amw (Jul 2, 2012)

GunnyJeeves said:


> Oh yeah... One last thing... Can you link the roll media you'd recommend as well as the transfer paper?


Here are a couple.
https://www.stahls.com/printable-heat-transfer-material-express-print
and it is available in 20, 30, and 54 inch rolls.

This one has a matte and gloss clear as well as one that stops dye migration.
https://www.stahls.com/tek-heat-transfer-material


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## GunnyJeeves (Nov 27, 2017)

The question about the white ink is more common on DTG printers, but my solvent printer and rip can do it too...

So DTG printing on black shirt does two passes. Pass 1 lays down the white. Pass 2 lays down CMYK color over that white. Results are perfect.

On a solvent printer, it's happening in each pass. Pass 1 can lay down color or white, then pass 2 lays down the other one. (If you print on clear heat transfer, for light shirts, you print the image in reverse, then press it on.)

So imagine you print CMYK for a light T-Shirt... onto clear transfer material... then print white over every colored pixel. (You get a full color iron on transfer, you can put on a black shirt)

Hope that helps!

Those transfer options are expensive!


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## Amw (Jul 2, 2012)

GunnyJeeves said:


> The question about the white ink is more common on DTG printers, but my solvent printer and rip can do it too...
> 
> So DTG printing on black shirt does two passes. Pass 1 lays down the white. Pass 2 lays down CMYK color over that white. Results are perfect.
> 
> ...


You need printable heat transfer vinyl, not just the standard shirt material that is commonly ran thru a plotter. It is going to cost more, but a standard shirt print cost less then $2 including ink.

The clear gloss and matte are both going to be printed "right reading". All the eco solvent printable vinyls are going to be printed that way as well.

So when you want to print on dark color shirts you just print out what you want on opaque white printable heat transfer vinyl and then contour cut it leaving just your full color design and no white (unless its part of the design). We do this all the time, and we do have white ink in one of our eco solvent printers and have NEVER needed to use it for apparel.

White ink in eco solvent printers is there so you can print on clear adhesive backed vinyl (and clear static cling) a white layer and then print your color over the top and have a very vibrant print with the correct colors when placed on a substrate that is not white. There is no reason to print white ink FOR SHIRTS on a eco solvent printer...that is something only needed for DTG and screen printing. You get your white from the printable material that you run thru the printer, then contour cut it.

Hope that helps you understand.


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## GunnyJeeves (Nov 27, 2017)

It helps, but since the printer can do a white layer automatically, I was hoping to use option of sticking with the transparent transfer. (I literally print the white onto the transfer... either under or over the color layer.)

But the kicker is the price. My T-Shirt designs are about 11.5x15" usually.

From there, the area is about 1.5 square feet per shirt. The transfer material I saw Linked was like $1.50 per square foot.

I can do a T-shirt for under $1 in ink and pretreat on my DTG, but this option I was hoping would work for "hard to deal with" items like Thick Sweaters, sleeves, Hats, etc.

I think just CMYK and stocking some opaque white would work, but I think to do the other stuff (print white onto clear transfer) I just need to grab some samples and try it.

Thanks for all the help!


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