# trying to find the right DTG



## WRT (May 18, 2008)

Greetings to everyone. I'm trying to purchase a direct to garment printer. I was wondering if anyone out there can tell me which one of these digital garment printer would be my best buy: DTG printer by SWF, Ana Jet digital garment printer,or GT-541 by brothers.


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## HMD10 (Feb 17, 2008)

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t18930.html check out this thread might help you


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Its really hard to say which printer would be best for you without knowing what your business model is. Each machine owner has bought their machine based on what was important to them such as what they want to print, how often they want to print and how much of a learning curve will be involved with each particular printer.

Here is a link from machine owners with the reasons they bought the one they did, this might help you some in what area to research http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t41520.html

Here is another post which will give you more information about the printers themselves for Daguide that really gives alot of great details about them. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t41828.html its a very thurough article 

Hope this will help give you more of a direction on which way to research


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## mumzie (May 9, 2008)

There are some other questions you need to answer before you decide:
1. What software do you already have? I'm not sure about the other two, but the Brother prints directly from either Photoshop or Corel Draw. 

2. How much maintenance do you plan on doing on your machine? All the DTG printers require some, but our Brother has been remarkably easy to own. Amazingly dependable and easy to use.

3. How much do you want to spend?

4. Have you spoken to people who own each type of machine? Find out not only what they like, but what they hate. If you were to ask me what I hate about my brother, I'd have to say NOTHING - well, maybe the single source ink. But that would be it. It's been a fantastic machine. We've had absolutely NO problem with ours, and we've had it for almost 2 years.

5. How much time do you want to spend doing artwork? Learning what works with your process, and what doesn't?
We've learned a lot about preparing artwork for the printer, but that was our shortfall - not Brothers.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

The other printers,dtg and anajet both use rip programs because you need a rip program to be able to print white ink. The brother because it does not have a white ink feature is able to run directly from your graphics program. dtg and anajet both can print on light shirts or darks. Brother can only print on lights because it does not have the white ink. These are some of the things that are included in both of the links I have listed above and are covered by different owners of different machines. They also tell why they bought their machines, the pros and cons of their particular machines. It is a really great idea to really do thurough research on what ever machine fits your business plan and really learn everything before you purchase. 

No one person is going to be able to tell you which printer is best for you, that is why I listed the links above, so as to point you in a direction on what to research and figure out what is best for you.

I myself own the DTG HM1 and it is the perfect printer for my particular business plan, although yours will be different than everybody elses, the same as mine is different


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

mumzie said:


> I'm not sure about the other two, but the Brother prints directly from either Photoshop or Corel Draw.


What your talking about is something that can easily be done with a RIP program that prints white ink as well. It is called a Print-To RIP application. DTG, Flexi-Jet, Direct Advantage and T-Jet all have this capability with the stock RIP that is sold with the different printers. The other RIP application is called a Print-From application. This will require the user to save the graphic in certain file formats, then open the Print-From application and import the graphic in to print it. Both types of RIPs have their pros and cons.

I definitely do agree that you need to match which printer you purchase with the skill / knowledge of the users. Otherwise, you are going to have a hard time running the printer and getting the colors you want. That is why you should get a first-hand demo from start (how to adjust your artwork in the graphic software) to finish (what settings needed for the printer software).


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## retrô (May 7, 2008)

Desculpem, mas não falo inglês e ainda não domino o fórum.
WRT, estou no mesmo barco que você. Porém preciso de uma dessas máquinas USADA e lógico com fornecimento de tintas, peças e suporte de um modo geral.Estou no Brasil e tenho uma única certeza: A AJUDA DE TODOS AQUI.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Post above translated via iGoogle (no guarantee as to the accuracy).

Sorry, but do not speak English and still not know the forum. WRT, I am in the same boat as you. But need one of these machines and logical USED with supply of paint, parts and support in general.
I am in Brazil and I have one certainty: THE HELP OF ALL HERE.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

retro,

You probably need to find a company that sells/distributes/stocks a printer & supplies at least somewhere in Brasil. Having to pay for shipping and tariffs on all the inks, pretreatment and other supplies is going to kill the profits of dtg printing very quickly. I would contact the larger manufacturers (US Screen, DTG, Anajet,...) and see if there is anyone of them that has a good distributor inside of Brasil. You are also going to want someone that can provide you tech support in your native language. Support is definitely a big factor to consider when purchasing one of these printers.

Hope this is a good start for you. Best wishes.

Mark


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## retrô (May 7, 2008)

DAGuide, MUITO OBRIGADO PELO RETORNO.

Vou tentar expilcar.Aqui no Brasil já existem representantes Anajet, HM1, Brother,tex-jet,t-jet.O problema é o preço e o suporte é muito amador.Aprendo mais lendo este fórum , que qualquer outra informação de técnicos,etc.O preço é absurdo: ex:A gt541 aqui custa US$40.000(o cartucho US$400 , a cabeça de impressão US$2.200 cada). segue-se o exemplo para as demais máquinas.Então, a princípio , procuro uma usada , de uma das três acima, para poder ser coerente pelo custo final do processo.Senão inviabiliza.De uma maneira geral ,todos os produtos aí são mais baratos mesmos, ver moeda.O que eu preciso é de um fornecedor idôneo de peças e acessórios sub-sequentes.
Abração.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Translation Via Babelfish: Yahoo! Babel Fish - Text Translation and Web Page Translation

DAGuide, THANKS A LOT FOR the RETURN.
I go to try to expilcar. Here in representative Brazil already Anajet, HM1, Brother, tex-jet, t-jet exist. The problem is the price and the support is very amateur. I learn more reading this fórum, that any another information of technician, etc. The price is nonsense: former: Gt541 here cost US$40.000 (cartridge US$400, the head of impression US$2.200 each). the example for the too much machines is followed. Then, the principle, I look a used one, of one of the three above, to be able to be coherent for the final cost of the process. Senão makes impracticable. In a general way, all the products are cheaper same there, to see currency. What I need is of an idoneous supplier of parts and sub-sequentes accessories. Abração.

Retro, It seems as if the exchange rate and fact that all these machines are expensive put you in a bad position. Perhaps if you give it some time, the support issues that you refer to will improve. As far as price is concerned, only you can make the decision that such a large investment could be a smart business move. Best of luck to you.


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## retrô (May 7, 2008)

Thank you zoom monster.Por what I registered in this fórum.Vocês are other ... About zoom monster, you have a Anajet, right? How is going with it? The sales and support services here are still very much amador.Eles propaganda, to see if the market vai accept or não.Sómente with a great demand that they buy a single machine, to leave in and take stock of ready-delivery. It serves to all the different marcas.A anajet works round as the gt541 Brother? 
A big hug.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

retrô said:


> Thank you zoom monster.Por what I registered in this fórum.Vocês are other ... About zoom monster, you have a Anajet, right? How is going with it? The sales and support services here are still very much amador.Eles propaganda, to see if the market vai accept or não.Sómente with a great demand that they buy a single machine, to leave in and take stock of ready-delivery. It serves to all the different marcas.A anajet works round as the gt541 Brother?
> A big hug.


Retro, Yes I do have the Anajet. The machine is great and in my situation, the support and service is better than I have recieved from other vendors. As I've always said, the service that you will get in the first 6 months after you purchase is more important than the price and to a lessor extent the machine. I would recomend this machine to anyone. It's very simple to use, great ink flow and prints white ink. If you are new to this business, you will need responsive support and parts and tech - knowledge that will help you through the learning curve.


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## retrô (May 7, 2008)

I tried to post in the classified section, but not succeeded. I do not yet know the motivo.Por favor, you would post here as contacts so that I can buy one of these machines used semi-new? Even suppliers, who do not sell machines; of paint, ink cartridges, head of printing, pieces of a way general? Do I need this support to leverage my confecção.Como said earlier, even importing prices will leave more in conta.Obrigado.


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## retrô (May 7, 2008)

Consider this situation here in Brazil: NEW machine. 
Anajet: $ 21,500 
DTG HM1: $ 26,500 
Brother gt541: $ 40,000 
TEX-JET: $ 26,500 
Prices will vary with the price of U.S. dollars. 
PERGUNTO: 
The Anajet meet? 
The difference in price, with the GT541 is enormous. 
Is there much difference in quality between the machines? 
As for support is equal for all machines. They are still getting, not having a good assistência.A then my choice would be the GT541, but the price is very high here also, as we seek a visto.Por used.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Hi Mark, Ian and others: have you heard anything good or bad about the Mimaki GP-604D?


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I have only seen the Mimaki printer twice in person off of a trade show floor and it has been a while since I have seen one at a trade show. So I am not all that too familiar with running it or the pros / cons. It definitely is built like a tank (300-400 lbs) and it takes up twice the amount of space as most of the smaller (non-Kornit) printers. I don't remember the price per an ink cartridge, but I think it was close to what the Brother printer is. I was not all that impressed with the discharge that I saw done at the trade shows, but that was in a distributor's booth and they were probably not an expert on it. The edges of the discharge where not as clean as I would want it to be. But if your market is the vintage look, then it should work with no problems. I belive one of the distributors were stating that you had to laundry a shirt before selling it if you used discharge since it is made with formaldyhe and people can be allergic to it. Not sure if this is a must or not.

The one thing I would remember is to make sure you can get support close to you. Some of the companies that first started as distributors are no longer with them. So I am not sure how their distribution network is now days. I believe there was one post of a user that talked about the distributor being out of ink. That would not be good as your printer will be down and not making money. Also check out to see what the cost of replacement parts are and if they offer a loaner program (i.e. you get a refurb printer sent to you and you put your printer back in the box and ship it back to them). The secret to dtg printing is to keep your printer working properly. So do the maintenance, stock up on ink and the common replacement parts.

Good luck with your decision.

Mark


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