slmann 1 Posted July 12, 2012 own a website and have thought about doing t-shirts for the members. I have purchased some from a local shop for my moderation staff but it seems a little pricey to pay someone else. I have been thinking of getting a heat press and doing them myself. If read a lot in this forum and seen some good info but wanted to ask anyway. I have a pcut and can cut vinyl but not sure if I want to go that route or find somewhere to get my logos done in sublimation. Point me in the right direction. and thanks in advance for your help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OWJones 1,981 Posted July 12, 2012 Personally, I went with dye-sub for one simple reason - heat press vinyl is expensive! If you want to buy the materials to do a 4-color vinyl shirt design, you're looking at dropping $150 (with shipping) on just the vinyl and if you screw up enough that you need to order another roll, then you're looking at another $45 (with S&H). For the cost of stocking up on less than a dozen colors of heat press vinyl you can buy a starter dye-sub printer and not have to worry about which colors you stock. However, the big trade off is that you're pretty much stuck with white or other very light colors for shirts, and you can only use polyester or poly blend fabrics. If you need to do dark colored shirts or 100% cotton, then you need to go with heat press vinyl - or one of the various ink-jet transfers. If I ever have to do a dark shirt or non-polyester, I can always order a roll or two of heat press vinyl cheaper than I can order a dye sub printer. At least that was the twisted logic path that got me to where I am now. Speaking of which, has anyone had good luck with a particular brand of inkjet transfers that you can recommend? I wear black pocket T's to my "real" job and I'd like to transfer my name over the pocket. Looked at the Avery brand ones at Wal-Mart, figured I might give those a try unless someone has other recommendations? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AbsoluteAirbrush 33 Posted July 12, 2012 JPSS transfer paper for white shirts and 3M opaque paper for colored shirts is what I sue and get it from either pro world or coastal. Heat press vinyl will give you a screen printed like appearance, although I use all depending on the project and the look I'm after. Good Luck, Alan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OWJones 1,981 Posted July 12, 2012 JPSS transfer paper for white shirts and 3M opaque paper for colored shirts is what I sue and get it from either pro world or coastal. Thanks, I'll give them a try! I didn't even know 3M made inkjet transfers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slmann 1 Posted July 12, 2012 the two logos I have to do are both two color, that's one reason I haven't jumped on the vinyl already. Would there be any places that I could pay to print my design and have the transfers shipped to me? Something that wouldn't break the bank. Are there any other options that would let me print on different types of fabric, such as cotton Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AbsoluteAirbrush 33 Posted July 13, 2012 yes, pro world and many others will make the transfers for you, just a do google search for "custom heat transfers". Most products are made to adhere to cotton and poly cotton blends and the vinyl, depending on the need, can adhere to those as well as lycra, nylon etc. Hope this helps! Alan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AbsoluteAirbrush 33 Posted July 13, 2012 Thanks, I'll give them a try! I didn't even know 3M made inkjet transfers... YW Those are the best that I've found.Alan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rdrgrafix2 30 Posted July 13, 2012 i gotta say i love the quality of the pro world transfers and the pricing seems real good and they are very easy to work with.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slmann 1 Posted July 14, 2012 was looking at some of the stuff on pro world transfers and now I have another question. They have a lot of stuff on there and some of it is branded stuff and logos. Can you actually make shirts and sell them with those transfers and not get in trouble? Noticed some Ford, GM, etc. transfers on there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AbsoluteAirbrush 33 Posted July 14, 2012 I'm not positive, but I would think that someone like PW would license those logos so they could use them. Otherwise, the wouldn't be in business long. I'm sure you either look on their website or contact them to get that answered. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slmann 1 Posted July 15, 2012 is it better to go with sublimation transfers or the plastisol, or both depending on type of shirt. Do the transfers just transfer the image area or is there a block/background left around the image? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AbsoluteAirbrush 33 Posted July 16, 2012 is it better to go with sublimation transfers or the plastisol, or both depending on type of shirt. Do the transfers just transfer the image area or is there a block/background left around the image? You can only use white or very light colored shirts with sublimation... the plastisol transfers will go on any color and there's film or background so to speak with either, unless they're applied incorrectly. :-) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slmann 1 Posted July 16, 2012 appreciate all the help, anyway you could post a pic and show a finished product of each. any way to do heat transfer and have just the image/logo be the only thing left behind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AbsoluteAirbrush 33 Posted July 17, 2012 appreciate all the help, anyway you could post a pic and show a finished product of each. any way to do heat transfer and have just the image/logo be the only thing left behind. I left out a word in my earlier post... " go on any color and there's NO film or background with either" If you search under the Show your work part of this forum, under sublimation and transfer, you'll find plenty of examples. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
