The advent of the modified ink jet printer changed the whole concept of colour printing onto T shirts. Prior to the introduction of this technology the cost of printing a single full colour print would have been so high that it would have effectively been economically impossible. Machines like the DTG Kiosk however reduced the cost per print to a point where this type of printing is now a common high street activity and one that is growing at a phenomenal rate. As with any technology though certain rules prevail that makes the process more or less difficult and more or less successful.

We will be looking at some of these rules to give you some guidance as to how to make good prints each and every time. At YES Ltd, our expertise lies with the DTG range of printers and so although our comments can be directly attributed to them it is also fair to say that the majority of points we will discuss will be general to most of the printers on the market today.

Before we get down to the nitty gritty though let's just recap on what this style of printing is and how it has changed the printing scene. Basically a direct to product printer is a standard ink jet printer that has been adapted to use special inks and to take a variety of substrate on which to print.

To accommodate this, certain changes had to be made to the printer not least of which was the transport system. Ink jet printers print on paper so to get them to print directly onto a finished T shirt took some serious redevelopment but through hard work and ingenuity companies such as DTG succeeded allowing today's garment decorators to achieve what was only a dream a few years ago.

Prior to this technology the only way to accommodate small orders of 100% cotton T shirts with full colour prints was by using transfer technology which, in those days, did not have the soft feel of screen-printing. In fairness this has changed in the past few years and it is now much better although still not the same as a direct print.

Apart from actually getting the shirt onto the printer there was another serious problem involving the inks. Logically if you put ink onto 100% cotton fabric it will look something like a piece of blotting paper just after you have emptied your pen onto it and this, obviously would not do. A new ink had to be developed that would not only solve this problem but would also pass through the tiny jets on the printers head. We know now of course that the developers were successful but what we don't realise is that a lot of money, time and hard work went into solving this problem.

So let's look at some of the pitfalls that can create problems even before you switch the printer on. One of the key areas for guaranteeing success is the T shirt itself. You may expect all 100% cotton T shirts to be the same but unfortunately they are not, even though there may be no cosmetic difference. When T shirts are manufactured, some of the processes involved can be carried out using differing methods and products and these can result in slight differences to the finish for example. While this may not affect the durability or the feel it can, and does, affect the print.

Some find this hard to understand but it is exactly the same with paper. If unsuitable stock is used for printing images then the resulting print will be adversely affected and will be plain to see but with T shirts the problem may not be quite so obvious. The print may look OK but may suffer from a durability issue and, of course you won't find this out until your customer comes back wearing a shirt with a faded print.

This is not so much of a problem as it was in the past simply because many of the T shirt suppliers are now aware that their product may be used for this purpose and so have made sure that they are fit for printing. There are still some out there though that will give you problems so if you have any doubts make sure that you ask and if it is a supplier or label that you have not used before ask for a sample and then print it and wash it at least four or five times.

Curing is another pitfall that can easily catch you out if you don't pay attention. After a shirt has been printed the ink will still be wet so all you have to do is dry it, right? Wrong, you must cure it. Inks such as those manufactured by DTG and supplied by Your Embroidery Services Ltd have been developed to withstand the same washing cycles that the shirt will go through and to achieve this they must be cured at a certain temperature and for a given period of time.

Getting either of these wrong will result in a print that doesn't stay where it is supposed to. To ensure that you achieve the desired temperature you will need a reliable press such as the DTG A3 (swing head) Heat Press which has been calibrated to give the correct heat evenly across the plate. Models such as this have been made with this printing process in mind and are not just being adapted to suit a purpose. If you use the right tools for the job then you have a greater chance of success.

The printer, the T shirt, the ink and the press are the main tools for the job and if you take care and make sure that they are all fit for purpose you will get a quality, durable print each and every time. In this first piece we have only covered the basic printing of a design onto a white T shirt. When it comes to printing onto other colours then there are many additional areas that you will need to pay attention to and in future issues we will be covering topics such as the importance of maintenance, managing the white ink, graphic manipulation, RGB versus CMYK, printing difficult garments such as hoodies, printing software and much more.

For further information contact Your Embroidery Services Ltd on 01623 863343, email sales@yesltd.co.uk or visit www.yesltd.co.uk

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