Who doesn’t want to be able to decorate full color? Everyone does, especially on dark garments. All you need is an optic eye cutter like the Roland GX-24 and an Inkjet or Laser Printer. So in this week’s video, we’re going to show you how.
So essentially all that you need is some opaque transfer paper, and a cutter with an optic eye.The two papers that we used in our examples is our Inkjet for Darks paper and our Jetflex Premium for Dark. Opaque transfer paper is just a paper that has a non-transparent layer that you print on to then heat apply to the shirt. Since it is not transparent, it blocks out the color of the shirt from coming through and show only what you print on to. The only trick here is that anything that is not printed in color is going to remain white, and therefore will need to either be part of the design or it will need cut out. That is why it is so important to have the optic eye cutter.
An optic eye cutter like the Roland GX-24 will allow you to import a bitmap file into the Cut Studio software and basically “vectorize” the graphic so you can cut what you want out, even if all you want to do is just cut the outline. In our examples, we show a couple graphics where we only cut the outline, and the other where we cut individual numbers and letters for a player combo.
Graphic #1 in our video is a classic example for this type of full color process, a family reunion photo. This could be a picture of any kind, shape, size etc. You can simple cut the boundaries of the photo and heat apply or even add a decorative border. Similiar examples for this type of application would be a barbeque, birthday, homecoming, in memory of, or event.
The second graphic is a typical logo. The Seawolves logo that we used show how you can print in full color and contour cut around the logo, then simply heat apply it onto the shirt. This could be a left chest logo, full front or back, tail etc.
The final graphic here shows a standard name and number combo. To jazz it up a little, we decided to powerclip the sea wolves logo into the number. This graphic demonstrates how important it is to have the optic eye cutter to cut detail, every letter and number were cut individually. The difference in this graphic is that we had to use a heat transfer mask to lift the graphic from the transfer paper and keep it all together on the shirt, which is necessary when making multiple cuts.
Using opaque transfer paper with your GX-24 is just one more profit center for your business. This may not suit every application or taste, but it is a viable option for several applications. The beauty is, most of us already have the equipment that we need, a heat press, cutter, and desktop printer. If you have any questions about this week’s shirts please let us know. Stay tuned for next week’s “Pimp A Shirt – Thanksgiving Edition” when we show you how to use a turkey to decorate a shirt !
Nate said,
November 24, 2009 @ 9:31 am
Are you printing on the inkjet with standard inks? If so, how do these type of transfers wash up?
leetringes said,
November 24, 2009 @ 9:37 am
Yes, just standard inks. The have a pretty good lifespan of 20+ washings before deterioration. A tip for you is choose pigment based ink instead of dye based ink if possible.
Dejacks said,
November 24, 2009 @ 11:04 am
Do you have a heat transfer mask for regular heat vinyl? I think it would make production of on my my designs much easier with less waste. I checked imprintable.com but only saw masks for print & cut media. Any info is appreciated. Keep up the good work guys!
Mike Koval said,
November 24, 2009 @ 12:53 pm
Heat transfer vinyl come mounted on there own carrier so there is no need for a transfer mask.
Carolyn Bell said,
November 24, 2009 @ 11:17 am
If you don’t have an optical eye cutter, this can be done using Flexi software. It puts contour cut marks that have to be manually marked by the cutter before cutting, which can be tedious, but at least you can do it.
Ricki said,
November 24, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Where do you buy the heat transfer mask. I looked on your web and did not see it. This is an awesome.
Mike Koval said,
November 24, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
Our TTD mask is what we used in the video…http://tinyurl.com/yar7t3f
Mike said,
November 24, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
awesome as always guys! keep it up and happy holidays!
mike.
Paul Mullings said,
November 24, 2009 @ 4:44 pm
Great demo. Out of interest what model and brand of printer are you using please?
leetringes said,
November 30, 2009 @ 10:00 am
We were using a Lexmark Z300
Beau's said,
November 24, 2009 @ 5:21 pm
That is a truly good way to market you self. I just have one question. How can you expand the crop marks so that you can use more of the paper? Too much waste
Sheila said,
November 24, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
I’ve had a problem in the past using regular inkjet inks; especially black. Specifically, during the first wash, using warm water, the ink ran. I’d love to be able to go back to offering this option but, not if I’m going to have unhappy customers. Any suggestions?
leetringes said,
November 30, 2009 @ 10:03 am
Transfer paper definately has its place in garment decoration, however it can not be expected to last more than 20-25 washings and look like it originally did. It will gradually fade. Some tips to keep it looking good longer are… use pigment based ink not dye based…epson durabrite works well….use a draft setting or around 300-360 dpi, wash in cold water, turn inside out when washing.