# Softball Team Shirts Dye Sub on Vapor Phenom



## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

New shirts for Team Carnage. These were dye-sublimated on the Vapor "Phenom" shirts. 100% polyester with moisture management and the red color blocks are a more "open" mesh. Not see-through but more open than the front and back panels. These are a great way to get an all-over custom look with very simple transfers.

My art was 13" wide and 16.5" tall and fit comfortably on the chest from 2XL - Small. Using dye sublimation i was also able to provide custom name/numbers for everyone on the team at no extra cost.

Their first game got rained-out, but I expect to have pictures of them in action soon!


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Tony where can I buy this type of raglan shirt in bulk?


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Dave... you can buy this at Heat Transfer Paper, Inkjet, Laser, Sublimation, Thermal, Wax Resin - Heat Transfer, Dye Sublimation and Engraving Equipment & Supplies Source They are not cheap but they should retail...after sublimation for $25-$30


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## uncletee (Feb 25, 2007)

great work, we love the shirts, more and more teams will use these, sublimation specialists uncletee. good luck uncletee


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## GAW (Jan 11, 2010)

More amazing work like always!


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

Those really turned out good. It's nice to see one printed. Johnson Plastics also carries these shirts.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Very nice shirts. Congrats.


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## diane143 (Nov 17, 2006)

Hi Tony - the shirts look great! What did you use for printing? Are those the "shiny" Vapor shirts? When i dealt with them they didn't offer the mesh shirts.


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Diane, we printed these using a dye sublimation transfer. The shirts were kind of shiny, the color blocks of red were more of a mesh than we expected but not see-through. The softball team was super-excited and only grumbled a little at the price. I've found it's really important to show the client a printed sample to show the difference between dye sub and screen print, both for printing and fabric selection. Thanks for your feedback!


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## GAW (Jan 11, 2010)

Tony you should add more of this stuff to your youtube channel. I love watching it.


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Chris, what's wrong with us. My girlfriend thinks i'm watching porn, but instead i'm watching dye sub videos?


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## GAW (Jan 11, 2010)

hahaha I know it's so simple looking but I love watching it and seeing the finished product!


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## EddieM (Jun 29, 2009)

More good stuff..


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## Cutting_Edge (Jun 30, 2006)

Tony,
These are great!!

Could you enlighten us on what system you are using for the transfers and how large of a heat press?

ALSO.....where might I find you on youtube?

TIA
Margaret


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Margaret, you'll laugh at what a huge presence we have on YouTube!

YouTube - SunshineSportswear's Channel

We get everything from Dave and Jason at SK MFG. www.pictureyourpassion.us We are using a 16x20 heat press here for the smaller stuff, and they handle the large projects. 

Thanks for your encouragement. Do you dye sub as well?


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

Tony,
Nice. Very nice looking shirts.
I am pressing 40 red phenoms this weekend myself for a Half Century softball team. 
Thanks
Mark


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Mark, I think you're going to love the shirts. And I think we'd all love to see some pictures of the finished product! Happy pressing!


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

For my team we used the navy blue ones. Funeral home sponsored us. Will dig that one out and take a pic.
I like the looks of them but as for wearing them I don't like the way they hang on me. And couple guys with the biceps have issues with the sleeves. They hod to cut them off. 
Probably start pressing sunday or monday. Got eveything in today.

Oh nice video on pressing the sleeves and shirt. I got to get use to using that foam.
How are you cutting it compared to the design your presssing ?


Thanks
Mark


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

I cut the foam bigger than the art but smaller than the cut out transfer (split the difference). I cut the edges at a 45 degree angle to avoid any hard edges. This seems to work pretty well.


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Finally the rain stopped in South Florida and we got the team photo. Now we'll see how the "phenom" handles red clay...


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

Tony_Sunshine said:


> I cut the foam bigger than the art but smaller than the cut out transfer (split the difference). I cut the edges at a 45 degree angle to avoid any hard edges. This seems to work pretty well.


How do you cut the 45 degree angle? I've tried but it gets real choppy.


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Mike, it's the same for me. I'm sure there's a better way, but I haven't found it yet. My foam is choppy along the edge as well. I draw a cut line with a sharpie, then holding the foam and the scissors almost flat to the table, I cut as straight and as smooth as I can. It comes out looking pretty rough, but seems to do the trick, They need to pre-cut the foam in standard sizes for us.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

One lady suggested holding the edge of the foam over the table end and cutting the siccors at 45 degree angle. Works ok. I have not perfected it yet.
I just can't get the hang of the foam. Hate it really. 
If you hold a foam class Tony let me know cuz I will attend. !

Nice by the way.
Mark


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## GAW (Jan 11, 2010)

Shirts look good Tony


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

Tony
When you pressed the shirts did the logo come out a orange or orangish in color ? In the pic a few look like it but could be the lighting.
I just pressed a bunch of shirts that were to be with a red logo and they were more of a orange color.
I did not print these as I outsourced them but when I printed on my GX-7000 the red was also pressing to a orange hue,.

THanks
Mark


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

Red is the color that is all over the board. You have several issues - first most people will use the standard RGB value of 255,0,0 for red. This, in most cases, will print a red with a strong influence of orange. Every different combination of ink brand, paper, printer, profile will force one to have a different RGB value for red. The other issue is that everyone has a different idea of what "red" should look like. Some like bright red, others blood red. Combine these two issues together and you will have more challenges with red then any other color. The only solution is to print fabric with colors samples so people can select the colors they prefer. As an example - we have 5 different reds in our "standard" color choices.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Red deals everyone a pain. Blue and purple are hard to hit as well.
We just had to redo a cut and sew job we screwed up because of red going to orange. ouch. $700. down the drain.


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

In my experience if everything is calibrated correctly, then there is only one red. 0.100.100.0 (cmyk) Should result in a nice coca-cola red. Has a client recently that wasn't happy until I added some black to 0.100.100.10 a little dark for my taste but they loved it. So subjective, no one even see's the same colors anyway. Try to let the clients guide you, and not your personal preference. 

I created a color chart for SK to produce so clients could pick a color that I would know exactly how to reproduce. No arguing about what's blue, "I want that one..." you got it.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

so you use cymk.? But everything I have read and been told is to use RGB for colors when subbing.
This is what drives me crazy.

I printed a color sure pallet from the Sawgrass powerdriver (which is cymk if I recall right tho). And it comes up with a nice dark red. Used it and when I pressed it came out orange. arghhh.

Drives me crazy.

THanks
Mark


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## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

It's such a pain. It depends on what you're using. RGB is great for monitors and tv's but terrible for printing. If printers used RGB, then it would make sense. I was told to use CMYK. The printer has CMYK in the cartridges, seems the easiest transition. So many RGB colors that can't be printed. I remember a million years ago we used to attach a color-calibration thingy to our monitor to get it to show the right colors, then of course the color couldn't actually be printed, and then when we did offset printing the press operator would change everything to his liking anyway! Gamut warnings in photoshop are a pain, but they provide some guidance.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

freebird1963 said:


> so you use cymk.? But everything I have read and been told is to use RGB for colors when subbing.
> This is what drives me crazy.
> 
> I printed a color sure pallet from the Sawgrass powerdriver (which is cymk if I recall right tho). And it comes up with a nice dark red. Used it and when I pressed it came out orange. arghhh.
> ...


I would guess most sublimation printers use RGB colors. You have to step back and get away from how the color looks on the screen and/or on paper before it presses. The only thing that matters is how it looks on the fabric. Your ink, paper, ICC profile, etc will determine what the value for a specific color will be. Change one of those things and the value will most likely change. We recently changed one of the key components and our red went from 190,0,0 to 170,0, 0. This red is incredible and explodes off the fabric - just an example of how changing one thing can change your color value.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

Rereading my post and it came out wrong.
I printed the Sawgrasss Colorsure Pallet on to some white polyester fabric.
Then when I was designing these shirts I used the surecolor pallet color off that piece of material. But when I pressed the logo on to the shirts instead of being the dark red I had on thecolorsure pallet shirt I got orange instead.

What about temp ? Does room temp effect the color ? 
And I am near the end of the ink for magenta and cyan so does getting low on ink also have some effect on the color ?

Mark


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

freebird1963 said:


> Rereading my post and it came out wrong.
> I printed the Sawgrasss Colorsure Pallet on to some white polyester fabric.
> Then when I was designing these shirts I used the surecolor pallet color off that piece of material. But when I pressed the logo on to the shirts instead of being the dark red I had on thecolorsure pallet shirt I got orange instead.
> 
> ...


mark,

Different inks, paper, etc my act differently but for us once you have it set it is pretty bullet proof. Whether we press for 48 secs or 55 secs I can see no difference. Whether the press is at its hottest 399F or cooled down to 389F I see no difference. Surely once you have significant variances colors will change. Your ink level will make no difference in colors. You will also read about humidty which is more for clogging issues then color. The time and effort spent getting colors correct is worth it. We have quadrupled in size in the past year due to two key factors 1. Superior colors and 2. Superior craftmanship on our apparel. I have been shocked in the cut and sew environment how poor the colors are and the low quality of the seamstress work. Do not give up on producing incredible colors - Go for the high end market as there are few who have the ability to produce professional apparel.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

Thinking back I think I pressed my colorsure pallet to some polyester we got a Joanns and not to the Vapor Apparel swatches I ordered.
So will have to do it again.

THanks
Mark


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## GLC (Jun 3, 2007)

GAW said:


> Tony you should add more of this stuff to your youtube channel. I love watching it.


I second this!!

You should start a youtube diary I can see it now it would be great.

--
Eze


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