RRSpike

Heat transfer vinyl on shirts

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I cut out the same design in two different colors to make a multi color shirt, but when I went to layer them the outline and nothing is lining up and their is gaps between the colors and some of the design didn't line up Andy suggestions

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I cut the same image out in the same size on different colors and the image doesn't line up no matter what I do. This is the third time I've done multiple colors with the same result. Around the black and white on the snail and the black and white on the loading bar. I had to stretch the fabric to get it that close.

IMG_4254.JPG

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You have several things going on.

#1. Depending on your cutter you can get some inaccuracy in the cut particularly with budget cutters. HTV is a little different to cut due to the carrier usually being softer than the carrier for regular sign vinyl. Not usually an issues but is possible.

#2. Any time you press a shirt or hoodie it shrinks and skews a little due to the fabric reacting to the heat and then the vinyl reacting to the cooling after the heat.

#3. I would bet a dollar that your design is not properly set up for HTV. There are several schools of thought and each one has a time and place. In the above pic I would probably lay down the black and then just stack the white on top. If this is something that the reveal has to be spot on then you would want to put the white down and design the black as a punched out set of outlines over the top of the white. Sometimes hard to decide which way to go. I usually let the thickness of the outlines determine if an overlay is a good idea. Much thinner than 5 or 6 points wide and it will be pushing it to get good adhesion. In your example you would likely have to separate the loading bar from the snail because there will be too much movement to get things lined up at one shot. Fortunately with HTV you can do that pretty easy. 

When I do two color numbers on sports jerseys I tend to do the outline method. There is enough shrink and stretch that things like numbers will shirk more one direction than the other making a double stack nearly impossible to get good clean reveal all the way around. With outlines I just create the inner (bottom layer) wide enough that the outlines will overlap all sides and then the reveal is perfect every time. Hope that makes sense to you. Sometimes hard to explain clearly in writing. 

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Here is an example of the two. Look the same on screen but totally different in the build process.

Example.eps

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On ‎9‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 9:31 AM, RRSpike said:

i cant open that file. i am using vinyl master pro and im not sure how to make them overlap in that program

Just got to my computer with VM Pro and was totally able to import the EPS file. It won't open it as a document but if you go to Import and just bring it in to a new document it comes in just fine. 

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On 9/15/2017 at 2:04 PM, Wildgoose said:

Just got to my computer with VM Pro and was totally able to import the EPS file. It won't open it as a document but if you go to Import and just bring it in to a new document it comes in just fine. 

I am still learning the software kinda still a newbie, I"ll give it a try I just tried opening it, their is lots of stuff that this grasshopper needs to learn, got it opened finally after your help, wish their was better tutorials on YouTube on how to use vinyl master pro, I've been in some of the webinars and they have answered a lot of my questions but I still need more education. Sorry for the newbie questions.

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There's nothing wrong with being a newbie. I was once too. You will have some investment in time in the early stages but it's worth it. Many of the new cutter owners give up on the graphics side of it and eventually lose interest altogether. If you hang tough and really work at it you will one day realize you are pretty much past the learning stage and into another phase of cutter life. I kid you not you will look back and wonder what seemed so hard. (assuming you actually work through the learning stages)

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Something else, The graphics programs are handy for a myriad of other things too.  I am actually more versed in Adobe Illustrator and use it the most but all the full level design programs can do all sorts of other tasks. I make awesome calendars and printed projects for my kids at school, I have imported PDF construction drawings and red-lined changes that needed made, drawn on screenshots of google earth to create wicked cool maps, build great looking t-shirt order forms, etc... the possibilities are limited only by your own creativity.

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