# Roland Versacamm



## radikal (Sep 25, 2006)

I received a few samples of dark t-shirts printed with the Versacamm. The fading of the print is significant after five washes (at 30º inside out). Does anyone with a Roland Versacamm have information about washing resistance etc.?.thanks


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## Robin (Aug 28, 2006)

Hi Alfredo, we dont have a versacam, but a friend of ours does. He has the same problem.

BUT.....there is a product sold by imprintables, and it washes beautifully. We had gotten some samples (printed on their versacamm)at one of their trade shows. Give Josh or Bob a call and they will be able to help you with it. Im sorry, I dont remember the name of the stuff.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

We are considering the versacam sp300.
Is fading still an issue?


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## joeshaul (Mar 1, 2008)

I've had very bad results with Roland's HTM material, fading, cracking, and even peeling, the material was also very heavy feeling. For a long time I was even against using heat transfer vinyl for garments until I started reading these forums. 

Now I use Imprintables Eco-Film for single/two color designs and their Solutions Opaque for multicolor, both have good durability, soft hand, and haven't had any issues after washing.

I'm also using the SP300, but the results should be the same for SP540, VP300, VP540, or any eco-solvent based printer.


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

I have had great results with imprintables materials. Roland would do us all a great favor and stop selling thier HTM! It does not work well at all but the flip side is that there are great materials availible on the market.


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## mike2468 (Mar 11, 2007)

Rolands HTM does not hold up at all thru washings. Cracks, fades, peels off, etc. Has a very heavy feel to it. I've been using Imprintables opaque material, great stuff. I get a lot of compliments on it.

Mike


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Thank you, 
You all just saved me a lot of money and time.


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## praisegear (Nov 8, 2008)

Hello Robin, 
Do you know of anyone who can print some designs for me for Dark Shirts using the Versacamm. I do quite a bit of small order runs. If you can refer anyone to me it would be greatly appreciated. I am located in Hampton, VA.

Thanks alot! Bobby D


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## leadergrafx (Sep 29, 2008)

All Roland versa camms are prescision machines and must be used professionally for the results you are looking for. Printing on vinyl or other materials for darks all have characteristics which are unique to that particular product. Settings are most important. Media type, head heights, heat temps, onr pass, two pass, bi-directional, uni pass, color calibration, dwell times on what temp heat. We have the Roland vp540. After a year with the machine we are still finding little secrets. To make a long story short, don't disregard a material until you or your R& D dept has tested it thouroughly. We recently were approached to print trade show display flags by one of the world's largest textile manufacturers because we get perfect back-side prints on flags with our versacamms. A year ago we couldn't get 50% reverse side results.
Thank You
Rick


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## kpk703 (Mar 17, 2008)

leadergrafx said:


> All Roland versa camms are prescision machines and must be used professionally for the results you are looking for. Printing on vinyl or other materials for darks all have characteristics which are unique to that particular product. Settings are most important. Media type, head heights, heat temps, onr pass, two pass, bi-directional, uni pass, color calibration, dwell times on what temp heat. We have the Roland vp540. After a year with the machine we are still finding little secrets. To make a long story short, don't disregard a material until you or your R& D dept has tested it thouroughly. We recently were approached to print trade show display flags by one of the world's largest textile manufacturers because we get perfect back-side prints on flags with our versacamms. A year ago we couldn't get 50% reverse side results.
> Thank You
> Rick


This is a great place to share some of your secrets on the Versacamm. And you can be sure it'll be appreciated!


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## fadzuli (Jul 8, 2008)

haha nicely said ken!


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## Peely (Oct 24, 2008)

Is there any material for printing on with the Versacamm, that can be ironed over ?

Or does a thing not exist ?


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

I would not recommend ironing over any material heat pressed onto a garment. Not quite sure if there is anything out htere right now to fit that purpose. You can always turn the garment inside out and then iron it.


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## Peely (Oct 24, 2008)

Thanks for the quick reply !

We have already used a material from a company here in the UK, which we cut then apply to shirts.
This has been ironed over several times, and is still remains fine, but we are about to purchase a new machine, either a Versacamm or a DTG printer.
But are unsure as to which to go for ?

The Versacamm would be able to do other jobs for us inc, sign work. We also liked the print when we where given samples from it that where applied to shirts. Although felt that the print remained on top of the shirt, rather than into it.

But if we are competing against DTG produced items, and speaking to customers, felt that the ironing aspect would let it down when customers had to turn an item inside out when it comes the ironing ?


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

I personally dont know too many people that iron t-shirts and so far for our customers it has not been an issue but I can see where it could be. I hope all this helps!


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## gspotstudio (Nov 11, 2008)

I've been making heat transfers with a VersaCAMM VP-540 for over a year now and I've yet to have problems with fading or cracking. That being said I always turn my t-shirts inside out when I wash them and I don't dry them in a drying. I let my shirts air dry. As for ironing, depending on whether it's a printed heat transfer or other kind, somethings I've ironed inside out and some I didn't turn inside out. To be honest I really don't know what material I've been using. When I started I met a guy from Advanced Color Solutions named Matt who after discussing what I wanted to do led me down the right direction. If you need quality heat transfer material that will last I'd give him a call.


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## leadergrafx (Sep 29, 2008)

We use jet-pro for darks 100 ft rolls with our 54" Roland. We prefer the 17" rolls.because you only need two pinch rollers. the larger rolls tend to buckle slightly which can cause a small variation in cut contour. It is never recommended with opaque materials to print on high quality because over saturation can lead to bleeding. any other versacamm users finding that glossy calandered vinyl setting seems to work well with textile transfer paper?

rick


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

with any of the profiles that you use there is trial and error to find what works best. There was a great info sheet on rolands website located at: [media]http://www.rolanddga.com/rnet30/files/support/versaworks_profiling_procedure_v1.0.pdf[/media] - even though I don't have a spectrophotometer the article was pretty useful to me in understanding what the profiles are and how they work. The end result is that I am not going to go through all of that work when there is someone out there that has been paid alot of money to make a great profile for the material I am using. I have found that on some materials there are a couple of things I can do on my end to change the overall effect of the print without too much trouble. First is trying a couple of profiles and the settings with each to get a good print and the other is under color management trying max impact instead of pre press US. It deposits more ink and shifts the color profile a bit to make things a bit more vibrant. I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of profiles and would eventually like to understand all about them but at least this is a start. I hope this helps.


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## leadergrafx (Sep 29, 2008)

scuba_steve2699 said:


> with any of the profiles that you use there is trial and error to find what works best. There was a great info sheet on rolands website located at: [media]http://www.rolanddga.com/rnet30/files/support/versaworks_profiling_procedure_v1.0.pdf[/media] - even though I don't have a spectrophotometer the article was pretty useful to me in understanding what the profiles are and how they work. The end result is that I am not going to go through all of that work when there is someone out there that has been paid alot of money to make a great profile for the material I am using. I have found that on some materials there are a couple of things I can do on my end to change the overall effect of the print without too much trouble. First is trying a couple of profiles and the settings with each to get a good print and the other is under color management trying max impact instead of pre press US. It deposits more ink and shifts the color profile a bit to make things a bit more vibrant. I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of profiles and would eventually like to understand all about them but at least this is a start. I hope this helps.


We update all profiles and use factory tips constantly as well, however they are basic guidelines. We have found that even starting a new roll of material can change the exact colors and finish because from roll to roll there are slight changes in material color and texture even with the same manufactures. this is especially true if you change manufactuers. We just had to reprint on a 10'x10' homecoming backdrop because our 54" roll was alot brighter than our 38" rolls and the print came out two shade brighter with the 54". A simple change of profile to cast instead of calandered brightened the print for a proper match. 
These machines are a blast!

Rick


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## leadergrafx (Sep 29, 2008)

Just went through that site and it contains great information. It talks of getting white stripes and banding issues and to change settings to one or the other. the frustrating part is when you do all the textbook tips and get no better results just to eventually realize that the settings were fine i just needed to give the roll some slack in the back so it wasn't pulling as hard and ever so sightly throwing off the timing. Never have we found a machine which was so fun to work with. 

Thanks for the web info


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

Glad to help.


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## jmacjones (Jun 9, 2008)

We have a SP-300V and print on Solutions Opaque. The results are great and so is the washability. I've been really happy with it other than the Scan Motor error it continually has


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