# Can you print DTG around the neck collar?



## sofakinggood (Dec 5, 2005)

Hi guys

I have a design that i need to print around the neck of the tshirt...can this be done? see attached photo where i have highlighted the area i need the design printed. 

I called to a local digital printers and they said it could not be done within 5cm of the collar as the machine would detect the bump on the collar. I dont want to print on the collar just directly under it all around the neck area.

This design is not suitable for screenprinting and i dont want to use heat transfer as i will be printing in large quantity and i want good quality.

please advise and if you could give me the make of the printing machines that can be programed to do this that would be helpful. 

Also if there is any Australians reading this post i would be greatful if you could point me in the direction of DTG printers in oz that could print my design like this.

cheers

a


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## Naga (Mar 11, 2008)

You can mill a recess down in a material like MDF board and put the collar down in the recess.
This can bring you closer to the shoulder seam.
It does not work of course, if the printer has a heated platen.


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## Robin (Aug 28, 2006)

yes it can be done, but it will be a huge pain in the butt. 

The shirt has to placed lower so that the print heads wont hit the folds in the collar. Something will have to be put inside the neck hole so that ink wont print all over the platen. Then there is the registration issue, you want it to print in the same place, so a template will have to be printed on the platen to ensure you get it printed properly each time.

.......like I said, I big pain in the butt.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

What is the overall size of the design? If 16X20 inches or less (generally the largest size of heat presses), you could use plastisol transfers. No issues with quality with those.


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## sofakinggood (Dec 5, 2005)

ya it 16x20 but i need to be able to print large quantities a quick rate. if you can image the design to be more of an illustration with 3d depth.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

What you would have to do is make a custom platen that would allow you to load just one side of the shirt and would have a cut-out for the collar to drop below the rest of the printable area.

Your design might prevent you from doing screen printing based on the minimal info you provided. But if you are planning on doing these designs on dark garments, then you are really going to want to think about not using dtg printing based on the large quantities your mentioned above. 

The fastest way would probably be a cut-sew operation with a direct-to-fabric printer if you truly have a large quantity. There is a post going on now where Rodney is having the t-shirt contest design winner shirts done from the point of choosing the fabric, making the cut sizes,...to a finished product. You might want to talk to the company that is doing this work and see if they can do the job for you and at what price. At least it will give you a reference point as to what the cost can be. Good luck.

Mark


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

Mark is correct. What we do in cases such as this, is print on the blanks, and then the customer has them sewn. You could have all but the collar atached, have themm printed, then have collar sewn on.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Thats a really great idea Mark  It sounds like that would a pretty quick way of doing it too.


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## Mistewoods (Jul 7, 2007)

We have made very quick cardboard forms to use on top of our platens to drop the collar into for prints like these.

It may not be practical for huge quantities, but it can be done reasonably easily.


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## FJV11 (Oct 15, 2007)

I've been using pieces of tile cut to different sizes and placed on top of my platen to get prints like this one to work. The tiles keep the printing area flat, stable, and still leaves a lot of space for the garment. Wherever the neck seam would be I just dont put tile down and the seam drops enough for the printhead to pass over without leaving skidmarks. I can also hang the edges of the tile off a little bit and extend my platen beyond 15x20.


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