dvddvd

What's the best method?

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I have some multi coloured tshirt t shirt designs. That I want to use with HTV

I could cut them so each layer sits on top of each other.

Or would I be better trying to keep the layers to a minimum.

For example if the lettering has a drop shadow would it be better to cut the drop shadow as a solid black and then put the lettering on top?

Or would it be better to cut just the shadow part and piece it around the lettering?

The design has over 6 different layers that could be laid over each other for ease or each layer cut around each other...the cutter would have to be spot on so no gaps if slightly out..

 

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if you piece around instead of layering can almost guarantee you will end up with shirt showing thru at some point from shrinkage.   goose, what do you think?

 

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Something like this, the colours are not correct but it would take 6 layers ?

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Are you just looking for extra trouble? Stuff like this is PRINTED, not cut & layered. When doing designs in cut vinyl, keep it simple,

(And yes, the drop shadow is cut as solid black, and the letters put on top.)

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ok i did one as an artwork piece.

In normal vinyl, stuck to a board. I stuck LED neon on the POW letters and it looked really good.

So i thought id do same design in HTV vinyl

The pink outline would be black, also the green outline would be black. So black, red, blue and yellow vinyl

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I'd say three layers max. after that you no longer get the vinyl adhesive down into the garment.

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For that design you could get it down to 3 layers.

Cut the red so that the blue area would be cutout. Put the red and blue one then put the black on and it will hide the seams between the red and blue. Then lastly put the yellow on. Also keep in mind, this design is a lot of vinyl and may make the shirt stiff or uncomfortable to wear.

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Ok thanks i may scrap that idea!

Can you sublimation print on paper and tranfer onto a tshirt?

Then put the letters on over the top in vinyl? or would that be pointless? I just thought vinyl letters would stand out more over the ink?

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You could but I don't think it would look right. Unless you were using glitter HTV, that might look ok.

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ok will look into sublimation printing.

My supplier seems to do only one sublimation tshirt for printing? out of several hundred tshirts?

So sort of fabric is suitable?  i assume it has to be white?

Also what mixes or is polyester the best to print onto?

After a quick look seems sublimation or inkjet paper too? What are the pros and cons of both?

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if sublimation it needs to be 100 percent white poly and cost to get started is expensive - jpss and 3 g opaque is cheap with any pigment printer.  don't get me wrong I love sublimation colors but it is a small niche market 

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Hi thanks

I have a Epson ET 2550 eco printer which i could convert to sublimation printing?

Whats the difference in quality in sublimation and inkjet paper printing? better stronger colours?

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very vibrant colors  - just keep printing with it so it doesn't clog after you convert - you will need to run quite a bit of ink thru a used printer to clear the lines and heads of the old ink

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I always find printers a pain, ive got a pile of printers at home!

I sometimes dont use them for weeks and when i do the the heads need cleaning etc after a while i give up and buy a new one.

Does sublimation ink clog quicker than normal ink

So how do people print on darker coloured t shirts ?

Can you buy printable HTV vinyl?

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3 minutes ago, dvddvd said:

I always find printers a pain, ive got a pile of printers at home!

I sometimes dont use them for weeks and when i do the the heads need cleaning etc after a while i give up and buy a new one.

Does sublimation ink clog quicker than normal ink

So how do people print on darker coloured t shirts ?

pigment ink and 3 g opaque or I believe chromablast has a set up for that - even some color laser printers but never messed with that - I did some with my roland sp300i but that will make your eyes water a little :)

 

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On 5/6/2020 at 9:38 AM, dvddvd said:

I have some multi coloured tshirt t shirt designs. That I want to use with HTV

I could cut them so each layer sits on top of each other.

Or would I be better trying to keep the layers to a minimum.

For example if the lettering has a drop shadow would it be better to cut the drop shadow as a solid black and then put the lettering on top?

Or would it be better to cut just the shadow part and piece it around the lettering?

The design has over 6 different layers that could be laid over each other for ease or each layer cut around each other...the cutter would have to be spot on so no gaps if slightly out..

 

I know this is an older post but I just saw it. I do a lot of HTV and I would also recommend that you find a way to print this but should you ever decide to do multi-layered on a shirt it is best to layer the outlines and not stack the layers like sign vinyl. If you stack layers you with end up with a really thick and heavy feel. Most HTV can be layered but it just isn't a great way to go. The trick with layered outlines is designing with some overlap from each lower layer so you don't have the gaps that Dakota mentioned. HTV will do a lot of shrinking and distorting when you start to apply heat so the outlines method will help to keep your registration looking better. 

A good example of this method is a two color name or number. If you place the main (inside) color down first and then apply the outline layer afterword it will end up with crisp perfect width outlines where if you try to actually layer whole layers like you would a sign then the lower (outside) outlines will end up slightly off in at least one direction and the problem is compounded if there are a long string of text like a player name. Back to the outline method the thicker you can get away with on the outline the better to allow some misalignment between the press cycles because your lower (inside) layer will shrink a bit but it works really good. I do thousands of dollars worth of high school and club sports uniforms and its very lucrative. 

I design in Adobe Illustrator and it makes this method of design really easy. Any time you have an object with outlines adobe will extend the inside solid half the width of the outline when you convert from an object that has live outlines. Meaning that the outlines are added as a stroke and not as an offset line. I think for other programs you would have to experiment. I will attach a file with two versions of a number. One with just two stacked layers and one with the outline method so you can dissect them and see what I mean. 

2 nines.eps

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