# Roland VP540 Heater/Dryer Settings for Solutions Opaque[Solvent]



## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

Can someone please tell me the proper heat and dry setting you enter on the Roland VP540 for Solutions opaque [Solvent] heat transfer I bought from Imprintables??? 

after you print. how long do you wait to until you transfer it on the garnment? can you heat transfer right after you print?  

when using spectra solution clear do you have to use the clear magic mask solution?? or do you just mirror image and use a kraft paper to transfer..   

we know on the solution opaque you need magic mask..


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## mike2468 (Mar 11, 2007)

Well, for starters, turn the heaters off. You don't want the heat running when printing on transfer material.

I have applied prints from my sp300 within 2 hours of printing but been told by some to wait 12 hours, some say 24 hours. Can't say I have had any problems with the 2 hour jobs.

I just use some clear masking tape here to pull the artwork up and press it on. Put teflon sheet over the transfer and press away.

Mike


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

Hi Mike,
makes sense not to use heat/and dry on the roland...
and wait until at least 2hrs before printing..
and this part...


> I just use some clear masking tape here to pull the artwork up and press it on. Put teflon sheet over the transfer and press away


your talking about the clear majic mask trasfer clear application tape right.. 

not the clear application that you use for regular vinyl.."like the vinyl orcale kind"
the special clear transfer tape you buy with imprintables right???


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## mike2468 (Mar 11, 2007)

queenVee said:


> your talking about the clear majic mask trasfer clear application tape right..
> 
> not the clear application that you use for regular vinyl.."like the vinyl orcale kind"
> the special clear transfer tape you buy with imprintables right???


That is correct, but I'm sure there are other materials out there that also work. As for the Roland material, myself I was not real pleased with. I mean it prints well, but it's thick, and don't seen to hold up thru washings. I use a material called 'Siser' Colorprint and have had real good results with it. Thinner material and holds up very well.

Mike


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## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

queenVee said:


> Can someone please tell me the proper heat and dry setting you enter on the Roland VP540 for Solutions opaque [Solvent] heat transfer I bought from Imprintables???
> 
> after you print. how long do you wait to until you transfer it on the garnment? can you heat transfer right after you print?
> 
> ...


You can download the print profiles for this material from the product support section of the imprintables site.

Just specify in Versaworks to use the default media setting for your heaters. Everything is programmed for you when you use the profiles.


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

JoshEllsworth said:


> You can download the print profiles for this material from the product support section of the imprintables site.
> 
> Just specify in Versaworks to use the default media setting for your heaters. Everything is programmed for you when you use the profiles.


great Illl try that 2mrw thx


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

mike2468 said:


> That is correct, but I'm sure there are other materials out there that also work. As for the Roland material, myself I was not real pleased with. I mean it prints well, but it's thick, and don't seen to hold up thru washings. I use a material called 'Siser' Colorprint and have had real good results with it. Thinner material and holds up very well.
> 
> Mike


what vendor did you buy it from please,
thanks,


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## mike2468 (Mar 11, 2007)

I purchased it from Signwarehouse. Other vendors probably sell the material also.

Mike


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## kpk703 (Mar 17, 2008)

Please, anyone chime in. I'm having fits with Solutions Opaque printed on a VP-540 curling when/after weeding. I'm not talking about the backing curling, I'm talking about the heat press vinyl curling on any sharp points upon weeding. Once curled, it's a nightmare to mask the material. I'm waiting a couple hours (which is a bit of an inconvenience,) but that doesn't seem to work. Waiting 24 hours will be a production killer. Steve Jackson has been of great help in recommending cutting first and then printing, but the curling is driving me up the wall. Thoughts/recommendations?


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

Ken, give me a call and I can help you.


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## joeshaul (Mar 1, 2008)

Major curling is probably due to too much pressure on your cut or your blade has become dull. I usually set my VersaWorks settings to allow for one hour dry time before cut, this setting is located under Printer Controls and then "Other Controls". With all solvent based material it's recommended to leave sit 12 hours before application to outgas, but don't think cutting is harmful to it in any way.


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## Hwy101 (Sep 12, 2008)

I use Solution's Opaque on a Roland SP300V with heaters on (to facilitate faster drying) and press immediately after printing without any problems whatsoever.
If However, I'm cutting into a bleed, I'll wait a couple of hours before contour cutting otherwise it's print, cut, weed, mask and press.


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

You can cut prior to printing and have it return to the orgin and then print over the cut and it will not curl. A simple fix to keep you from waiting for the print to fully dry. If you set the heater control to the default media settings it will apply the correct heat to dry the print for you.


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## TheDecalWorld (Jan 18, 2009)

Ok, after reading this post I have a feeling of what I did wrong. I was having issues with a small white line when I print a design like the images attached. Well I had a great idea of expanding the stroke out a little and cutting inside the print area to fix the issue. Well as you can see from the images I attached my plan didnt work to well. I am guessing I need to cut first then print? What is the best way to do this? Just got my VP300i a few weeks ago and still not familiar with all the settings. Will I still have this issue if I were to cut first? Any other tips or tricks to help with this issue? I am willing to try anything. Thanks so much!

Matt

First Image:
[media]http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm280/thedecalworld/opa1.jpg[/media]

2nd Image:
[media]http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm280/thedecalworld/opa2.jpg[/media]


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## TheDecalWorld (Jan 18, 2009)

OK, I tried the cut then Print. It got rid of the bubbles that were forming. I thought great it's fixed! So I go to weed it and it is just impossible? Every single little corner starts to come up and I need to use the weeding tool to keep it in place as I peel? My only guess would be that I don'r have enough force on the blade? I have it set at 70 and it seems good on the test cut? Please help????


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

Try cutting first, then having it go back to orgin. Next print only. Once you have sheet cut, mask the entire thing without weeding. Now weed from the back and let the mask hold those trouble spots down for you. Opaques solutions is a great product but does have some frustrations with it. Make sure your designs minimize sharp corners and the your cutline is smoothed at the corners. 

Hope this helps!

Steven


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## IYFGraphics (Sep 28, 2009)

We had the exact same problem with our VP540 and the Solutions Opaque material and tried everything that has been mentioned in this thread....new blade, less pressure, cut first & print second, even masking then weeding, problem was as good as the Solutions material is a lot of our designs had too many intricate cuts that had to be made and while the Roland preformed flawlessly the material just couldn't handle the intricate cuts.

Not knocking the Solutions clear or opaque products in any way but they do seem to have some limitations which is a big reason why we moved on to a DTG printer.

Just my 2 cents.


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

Every process has limitations to it. The solutions opaque has some serious pluses to it, and some serious negatives. It has the most aggressive adhesive on the market and will stay on anything you heat press it to. Also its hand and thinness is second to none on the market. That all being said, it can be a royal pain in the @ss to work with! There are some designs that it just does not work well with, for those, I would recommend using Quickprint or stretch print material. They are a little thicker but will weed easier and apply very well. It is a matter of knowing the limitations and finding what is best. My biggest concern with DTG is that it is (IMO) not there with white inks and I have yet to see a true solution with the end of the market. Also, when it is not printing shirts, what is it doing for your business? I know we are all t-shirt printers, but especially in this economy, I cannot allow any equipment to sit idle if at all possible. Maximize the potential is the mantra in our shop!

Just my 2 cents.


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## IYFGraphics (Sep 28, 2009)

scuba_steve2699 said:


> Every process has limitations to it. The solutions opaque has some serious pluses to it, and some serious negatives. It has the most aggressive adhesive on the market and will stay on anything you heat press it to. Also its hand and thinness is second to none on the market. That all being said, it can be a royal pain in the @ss to work with! There are some designs that it just does not work well with, for those,



Steve, 

I'd agree with you 100% on process limitations and say also that there are machine limitations that go along with it.



scuba_steve2699 said:


> I would recommend using Quickprint or stretch print material. They are a little thicker but will weed easier and apply very well. It is a matter of knowing the limitations and finding what is best.


We also tried the competing brands of material and either had similar results weeding or the hand was unacceptable, for us the breaking point was a 60 shirt order last summer the customer wanted a light hand and the solutions opaque was the material of choice, we had artwork approved that had to be changed several times to be able to weed the material and I'm not even going to mention the curling of the material while trying to heat press requiring heat tape to keep it flat and in position. LOL!



scuba_steve2699 said:


> My biggest concern with DTG is that it is (IMO) not there with white inks and I have yet to see a true solution with the end of the market. Also, when it is not printing shirts, what is it doing for your business? I know we are all t-shirt printers, but especially in this economy, I cannot allow any equipment to sit idle if at all possible. Maximize the potential is the mantra in our shop!
> 
> Just my 2 cents.


Agreed....equipment utilization is key to making money which is why we came to the conclusion that it was poor utilization of the Roland (for our shop) to use it making tee shirts, while it will work, it's better suited doing vinyl graphics for signage, banners, car wraps, decals. etc which is why we bought it and it's main role in our shop. We never intended to get into Tee shirts when we started business but we had customers asking if we could do them, we had the Roland....so we got into the tee shirt biz as a side line, we were never happy with the results, the customer was but it was more our designs that they were happy with then the feel of the shirts, don't get me wrong the shirts looked great, but would I be happy wearing one in 90 degree/80% humidity typical summer day here?....nope.

Our DTG moved us from a product that we really were not happy with to a product we are very proud of, yeah the cost per shirt is higher to print, then again we charge more for what we feel is a much higher quality product that looks and feels professional not like a iron on transfer which is what our customers asked if the vinyl shirts were.

White ink in a DTG is as stated many times "it is what it is" you either get fantastic results or crap, but most of the time in our experiences with our printer it's the process that gives you bad results not the printer, learn the process (good artwork, pretreatment, print resolution, curing of the pretreatment and ink) and the results are fantastic, quick, and the ability to do one-offs is second to none. IMHO

Don't get me wrong vinyl tees have a marketplace especially in sportswear and the solutions products are great for what they do....but if you ask my wife who does all the weeding in our shop, well she loves our DTG and my life is much happier so are our customers. LOL!


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

Jon,
Great post and well said. I would only point out that I would not want a full coverage shirt in the temperature conditions you listed either. That is why we design the customers logo and layout with those ideas in mind. Every process has its place! Why was the solutions opaque curling on you under the heat press? I have used that product for 3 years now and while it is masked and on the shirt under the press with a teflon sheet on top, I have never had it curl! We even place the logo on the shirt with the masking material while it is next to the press, and then put it under to heat press it. Never a problem with curl at that point. Every shop is a little different and every process too. 

Again, well said and great post.

Steven


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## IYFGraphics (Sep 28, 2009)

scuba_steve2699 said:


> Jon,
> Great post and well said. I would only point out that I would not want a full coverage shirt in the temperature conditions you listed either. That is why we design the customers logo and layout with those ideas in mind. Every process has its place! Why was the solutions opaque curling on you under the heat press? I have used that product for 3 years now and while it is masked and on the shirt under the press with a teflon sheet on top, I have never had it curl! We even place the logo on the shirt with the masking material while it is next to the press, and then put it under to heat press it. Never a problem with curl at that point. Every shop is a little different and every process too.
> 
> Again, well said and great post.
> ...


Steven,

Thanks....just stating our experiences to try to help others. As far the curling it was probably something I was doing wrong, I have a bad habit of pressing the shirt to remove moisture and immediately laying the artwork on the shirt as soon as the heat press would open, it could also have been the solutions clear material that had the issue with curling up before I could get the teflon sheet over it....it was one of the two though.

On a side note.....is anyone else amazed at the amount of trash the vinyl business generates? I mean I just finished a 50 pc (both sides) yard sign job and the amount of paper backing, transfer mask, and weeded vinyl filled two 50 gal trash bags. LOL!

Didn't mean to hi-jack the thread from the OP...sorry!

Take care...


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## TheDecalWorld (Jan 18, 2009)

Thanks for all the great info everyone. I am still having the hardest time with the Sol Opaque. Like they say practice makes perfect. (Or maybe in this case and simple rounded design makes perfect) lol. The print then cut is a huge help. The issues now is just in the weeding and curling. I changed the order I was doing to Quickprint and WOW. What a huge difference. Quick print is a breeze to weed and mask. Sol Opaque just has that nice thin screen print feel if you can just get the dang design on the shirt. Ok, off to try some new ideas in the Sol Op.


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## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

For me the DTG vs Print/Cut decision for apparel specifically comes down to business model and design styling.

Those wanting to do full front tees specifically with fine detail graphics: GO DTG.

Those wanting an all purpose solution with the flexibility to do other fabric constructions in addition to t-shirts: GO PRINT/CUT

The Solutions Opaque issue does not do the labor component of the print/cut process justice. The product is highly technical and best suited for tough to do fabrics - mainly synthetics with performance features such as stretch. IF you are using it on tees, it feels great but you may be overpaying on both cost of material and labor. There are better solutions for the print/cut process for t-shirts as Matt mentioned with Quickprint. Less expensive, easier to use.

If I have a problem with DTG is the marketing and press. It's often positioned as the BEST choice or certainly the most publicized. Fact is DTG isn't the best choice for all business models especially start ups looking for 'one' technology. There are many options for customization and more often than not it takes a combination of processes to achieve all of the looks a customer demands. Consider your business model and make your first choice the one that generates a return on investment. 

If you sell a high volume of cotton based products than DTG may yield a quick return. If you want a versatile solution for sportswear, t-shirts and non-wearables than a print/cut solution may be the best choice.

Either way you look at it - Steven & Jon understand their customer and have found the profit center

Thanks for the informative posts.


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## Screenanator (Feb 14, 2007)

JoshEllsworth said:


> For me the DTG vs Print/Cut decision for apparel specifically comes down to business model and design styling.
> 
> Those wanting to do full front tees specifically with fine detail graphics: GO DTG.
> 
> ...


Josh nailed it right on the head. DTG does not work in my business model. I have a full screen printing shop. But the VP-540 has enhanced my model and expanded by customer base to the point that I'm THE GUY in our area. DTG and PRINT/CUT have their places and their niches. I just can't justify a machine that doesnt do something other than T-shirts. Even my screen printing set up does campaign signs,simple posters and other non-garment items. My favorite motto is DIVERSIFY OR DIE . Good luck and dont give up on the Roland...it's a learning curve for sure.


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## TheDecalWorld (Jan 18, 2009)

Great posts! I totally agree. The options are unlimited with the Versacamm! I have started making a list of all the things I want to add to the business with this machine and I just don't have the time to do it right now. Business is great. Car Advertising, Bags, Banners, Yard Signs, Shirts, Hoodies, Shorts, Wall Art, Fatheads, Wall Words, Seat cushions, Beer *******, Golf Cart Wraps (VP300i), and so much more... Who can name another machine that can give your business this much diversity. This is just a short list and this that we are now doing since the machine has arrived. Just got an order in today from one baseball team for 25 Badger Uniforms (Black), Hooded Fleece Sweatshirts (Black), 50 Car Decals, a Team Flag, and a Team Banner. The amazing thing is... The VP300i can do this entire job by itself. Now I will have the GX24's handling some of the work to speed up the process, but they are not needed. Anyone wanting to expand there business to the next level, I would recommend the Versacamm and Imprintables Warehouse. (Great guys to work with). 

Just my 2 cents


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## rcmtnet (Apr 4, 2012)

scuba_steve2699 said:


> You can cut prior to printing and have it return to the orgin and then print over the cut and it will not curl. A simple fix to keep you from waiting for the print to fully dry. If you set the heater control to the default media settings it will apply the correct heat to dry the print for you.


Steven I am getting ready to try solutions opaque, I was directed to your versacamm profiles but there was none listed for the Roland vs540 could you point me in the right direction please.

Matt


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