# got my test file printed out from tjets!



## fasteddie (Feb 5, 2007)

attached are 2 closeups of areas of major concerns ! 
some areas not printing! color isnt so solid ! dont think they hv an underbase put on ! perhaps they hv just done one pass! this is without the first wash ! any reasons causing these phenomena ? 

btw,i hv asked brother and kornit to do the same exercise, wl receive their samples some time next week! shall keep u guys posted !


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## tomtv (Feb 6, 2007)

Freddie,

what you are seeing is not really a printer issue. it is a result of the real issue that plagues the current white ink printing part of the industry. The pretreatment. the first picture shows just what can happen when you don't get it almost perfectly even or a combination amount put down, eveness of coat and proper curing with the heat press before you even do the printing. the second picture is more of a mystery. It could be the rip not processing your original artwork properly, pretreatment not taking because of a flaw in the shirt or the fact that there was something spilled on the shirt, but really i have not seen anything like that happen and i have printed on just about every machine available in the industry. Either way, if you purchase that machine you will experience problems on a pretty regular basis. Now they have come out with a pretreatment machine ($7,000.00) more investment and you can have less failures because of pretreatment. But you need to do the numbers. I know first hand that if you print a full coverage 12" x 12" image on a dark shirt that requires the white underbase (most time multiple layers too) then a cmyk layer with highlight whites you are looking at about 5.00 just for ink plus the shirt cost. when you figure in the waste factor etc. it can get pretty expensive to print dark shirts, plus it will still take over 5 mins to just do the loading and printing plus the time for pretreat, wipe, heatpress etc. Let's say you print 14,000 shirts (very few have even come close to this number) you will need to add .50 per shirt just to pay back the purchase of the pretreat machine.

be aware of what you are getting in to and i alwasy suggest you get a demo with your art file and make them take you from the very beginning to the very end without skipping any steps. I am not saying there aren't people having success with the operations of this machine, I know of a few, but they are far and few between. I also know of quite a few people who were going along pretty well and then the machine operations problems started happening, just be careful. you might also want to wait as the T-Jet 2 is not going to be available for much longer. I have heard they have single digits of those left and then T-Jet 3 will be the only lower priced model they have.

No matter what direction you go, welcome to the wonderful world of direct to garment printing!

I hope the best for you.

Tom


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## vapor77 (Jan 27, 2007)

So is the T-Jet 3 a better machine? If so, why?


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## tomtv (Feb 6, 2007)

I would not say it is better. It is different. Basically, the 3 is based on the epson 1800 which is faster than the 2200 (tj2) but it cannot lay down as much ink because of the firmware limitations of the epson model. Print areas are really the same. the best improvement in my opinion is the platen system on the 3 is much better than the drop in box the previous models had.

to me the real issue is pretreatment, ink cost & just plain consistency of quality and operations.

do your homework and take everything you hear with a gallon of salt. 

Tom


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## fasteddie (Feb 5, 2007)

Thx Tom !

i got the shirt directly printed from US screen print! if the Tjets guys cant do it better ,if not "right", i hv great doubts that i can do it much better than them ! 2-3 bucks just for the inks, i think it is just way beyond my comprehension!!  

anyway see how the other two samples turned out next week and i shall do some numbers then!

Hv a great weekend guys !

ed


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## fasteddie (Feb 5, 2007)

finally received sample blacks from kornit ! a bit disappointed considering the price tag of the machine and all the rave on its quality ! could it be the operator not the machine?


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## tomtv (Feb 6, 2007)

freddie,

yes, the operator makes some difference. the biggest issue is how the original artwork is handled. we have spent quite a bit of time looking into this system and boy have we found a large difference in printing as we have purchased and requested samples from kornit owners and distributors.

you can check out some up close samples on this other forum i have been checking out and i think you will see a difference. The old saying garbage in, garbage out is really true!

you can check out Garment Printers :: Garment Printer Information & Reviews

might give you a different perspective.

where did you get these samples from, if you don't mind me asking.

tom

here is couple below:
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/cluelesssoldier/DSC00885.gif
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/cluelesssoldier/DSC00887.gif


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## vlcnmstr (Jan 5, 2007)

I think that one thing lots of us lose sight of is that a t-shirt, no matter HOW WELL you pre treat it or press it is not the same surface as glossy inkjet paper and will, therefore, never have the same resolution as paper. Even using 360dpi on both, the fabric just can't support the same detail. so if you are trying to print such detail and dissapointed when it's not there, well.....

That aside, there are the technical issues of making sure that the machine DOES provide the highest level of function of which it is capable. If THAT is the problem, then get the makers to fix it.


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## fasteddie (Feb 5, 2007)

tom,

got mine samples from the only dealer this part of the world, named Artrend !
costing me 120 bucks for 2 white 2 black sample prints ! the only guy who charges me for sample prints so far ! 

thx for the other forum link , quite informative ! 

ed


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

wow never heard of them charging for samples...


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