# Can DTG Printing do gradient colors, fades, transparency, etc?



## brenrasmussen

Ok so here is my question, I know you can't exactly do opacities on DTG printing which is a bummer, But I was wondering if I use specific brushes in photoshop such as a smoke brush, will it still come out correctly when printed or will it look bad. The reason being is that some of my artwork I use brushes that have soft edges or a fading effect, which according to my knowledge and what people say is not possible with DTG printing. I would just like to know if it is or isn't and if these brush types are similar to opacity printing. Also another question is if I do photo texture filters over the top of a design will it come out that way. For example if I had a big pink blob on my design then I put a paper texture over the top and opated it so that it mixed with the pink would that still be printable with DTG since it is just mixing with the pink blob. Sorry that this is so long I would just like to know thanks.


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## Printzilla

:welcome:

The answer is .......it depends.....lol. Most dtg printers can print custom brushes and textures. The thing to remember is that the dots will spread a liitle more on the fabric than what you see on paper, especially coated art paper. Fades and glows are also slightly problematic. If you work closely with a printer, you can learn the strengths and weaknesses of the printer. Because they CMYK inks, you will never get bright lime green, super hot pink, metallics etc....however, a good printer can provide you with a color swatch printed on shirt fabric. This swatch will have the rgb numbers that correlate with the colors, and you can design from that. 

Hope that helps. 

Zilla

Ps- post up a jpeg of a design and we can tell you what will work and what will not print properly.


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## brenrasmussen

Yea I print through spreadshirt which have given me great!!!! Results with their DTG, the designs are all correct and the colors are right because when I do shirt designs I design in CMYK. I'm not worried about colors since I only work with the ones that are CMYK compatible. The only thing I am worried about is if I say do a smoke design, such as if I drew a cigarette and had a rainbow smoke puff coming off of it, if that smoke would still look "smokey" which has you know light gradients and fading a lot since it is smoke. I'm wondering if that faded look will still come out. I guess I should probably design something with a lot of that effect in it and purchase it myself to see if it turns out how I want. But I'm just wondering because I'd like to do gradients and use opate spatter brushes and layer effects like; overlay darkening ect.


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## FatKat Printz

not sure if Marc will agree with me..but images like this I would print on white shirts that lay down an underbase..

Marc- do you use Photo Shop??


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## Printzilla

I use all of the design programs, but Photoshop is my primary choice. I use it about 95% of the time.

I would be happy to print an image for you, just send me the image. My email is my forum name at gmail.com

Printzilla


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## brenrasmussen

I use photoshop for all my shirt design work, I used to do illustrator butttt found out photoshop gives much more ways to design and easily make shirt designs. Ummm I'll try and get something up jpeg wise for you guys to see right now I just don't want to put a ton of work into a really intricate design and have it not print well. Also when they print on white shirts the white ink base is not needed but on any other colored shirt "dark colored shirt" the white base is needed or the colors will not come out right. I know that for sure.


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## brenrasmussen

Ok this is kind of what I'm asking about, This is actually from full metal t-shirt which is a contest shirt place or whatever. Anyways they say on their site that they print using DTG printers. When I look at this design it has tons of gradients, fades, and opacities. What I'm wondering is if this is possible or if they did somethign special with this.


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## Printzilla

Totally possible with DTG. The size is really large, but the gradients and colors is no problem.


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## brenrasmussen

Ok so this type of design is possible, now sorry another question. I use some brushes called "smoke" which they look like legit smoke brushes, also I used brushes that have a soft edge. I'm wondering if these brushes will show up so let me get a picture for you to see.


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## brenrasmussen

Ok so here is two other pictures using the smoke type of brush. Both of these pictures to me seem like they could not be printed with DTG can anyone tell me if it is or isn't possible?


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## WholesalePrint

We have a gallery of full color detailed prints. Maybe these can convince you Shirt Printing Samples


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## brenrasmussen

Thanks for the pics and videos on your site. They do look pretty damn good, glad they turn out that way. I'm not afraid about color and stuff the only thing is that I'm afraid someone will order and be like woah wtf happened this shirt sucks. But I saw your pictures and a couple of them had some shine gradients that looked pretty good. Anyone else have any good pictures or samples close to what I'm asking about?


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## Belquette

> Anyone else have any good pictures or samples close to what I'm asking about?


We are in the process of printing a wall of images for the up coming SGIA show in Vegas.

Here are a few that will help give you an idea of what can be done. The files are quite large so you can zoom in and take a closer look.
mod1 firefox image
mod1 fratal image
mod1 blonde hair
mod1 Avatar on black tee , the black tee showing through the image was done for effect..


It's very cool what can be done, I still get pumped up when I get to print and see the results first hand.
Advancements in the technology is getting better and better.
These samples look even better in real life and will be on display at SGIA.


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## brenrasmussen

All I can say is wow. those prints look amazing, welp I think I got my answer guys thank you so much for all your help. Also I hope you check out my shirt designs on the link in my sig just to see how things go =D


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## equipmentzone

Some other examples of direct to garment printed shirts. This was from our display at the ISS Atlantic City show.

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTUa9_ipr5I[/MEDIA]



Harry
Equipment Zone


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## brenrasmussen

Thank you guys so much for the help! =D I'll be posting some pics of my designs just to get more feedback if it would be possible!


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## brenrasmussen

Thank you! =D


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## Belquette

D, if you would like to email us one of your designs we would be happy to print one up for you to evaluate.
Here is another close up design that shows very smooth gradients that are important to produce fractal type images that I see you design.
Catwoman Face showing smooth tonal ranges
(This image was taken with a 1:1 SLR lens that actually shows dot placement accuracy.)

The best thing is to get samples of _your image_ from various manufactures, as there are differences.


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## brenrasmussen

Sounds good =D thank you so much for the help! I'll send a pic if you want to print it when I get a good one that is complex!


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## Printzilla

I just printed this fractal. It is similar to your smoke brushes.


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## brenrasmussen

Seriously you guys are great!!! Thank you for thaking the time to print that stuff for me! I will def show you guys some of my artwork! =D


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## Printzilla

The image I printed did lose some of the micro detail. To see the original, google fractal and choose images. It was the first one for me.


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## Belquette

Mark,

Nice...which machine did you print that on?


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## Printzilla

Brother 782


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## Belquette

> Brother 782


It would be nice for you to compare that vs the Epson on top of white ink....now that you had owned_ almost_ every machine?

Congrats on your latest toy!


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## brenrasmussen

Alright guys here are a couple designs I would like to print for some sweet shirt designs. Are they possible???


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## Printzilla

They can certainly be done.


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## brenrasmussen

Cool Cool! I just wanted to make sure because they are for another persons business and I want them to come out perfect!


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## jiffyh64

What machine are you printing with? Your pictures are awesome.


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## jiffyh64

We have a gallery of full color detailed prints. Maybe these can convince you Shirt Printing Samples
__________________
*The Best Prices in Contract DTG Printing and more! * Now Offering Fulfillment Services*
FOLLOW US! www.Twitter.com/WholesaleDTG

What machine are you printing with?


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## jiffyh64

I am trying to print a design with transparent elements and I am getting the white outline around it as the color is so light. How do I fix this. navy shirt with orange transparent parts. Any help would be appreciated.

April


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## Stitch-Up

jiffyh64 said:


> We have a gallery of full color detailed prints. Maybe these can convince you Shirt Printing Samples


Some of those will give Justin a run in next year's T-Shirt competition.


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## WholesalePrint

We use a a 782


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## JohnL

Stitch-Up said:


> Some of those will give Justin a run in next year's T-Shirt competition.


Remember I am denouncing my employment with AA to join next years competition so i can have a chance to claim the belt as my own!


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