DTF not DTG

[brandon]

Anyone else on here following this? Stuff popping up all over FB.

[1964GN]

DTF?

[brandon]

Yeah the new digital transfer to film tech. Works on everything from cotton to yes black polyester no pretreat and no specialty printer. You can modify an Epson for example. Eric on here might be getting one. Eric?

[brandon]

Oh yeah Zane you might want to check this out. It was what I was looking for with the Latex series by HP but those dont do it and are way more expensive than this.

[rusty]

this looks interesting. I came across one aEpson and the Uninet model. Are there others to look into? The price seems very reasonable if it can do what it says.

[BorisB]

Some Chinese suppliers claim using latex ink in it’s inkjet printer for DTF, but printheads are Epson 3200, no HP.

[brandon]

this looks interesting. I came across one aEpson and the Uninet model. Are there others to look into? The price seems very reasonable if it can do what it says.

There seem to be a lot of options. I am trying to make sense of all of it. Hoping Eric from Night Owls can chime in here.

[rusty]

Yeah, Im very inetrested in this. As we start getting involve in e-commerce and fulfillment, transfers look to be the perfect choice for low quantities and just to fulfilling small orders.

[ericheartsu]

right now the biggest issue is finding quality suppliers. Basically if you're not good at tinkering, it can be an issue.

[Rockers]

Is this not the same process as used by Supercolour for their transfers?

[Sbrem]

I've been seeing this too showing up in my feed. I'd like to see what one feels like, and how it washes. This would "seem" to be considerably less expensive to start up and operate than DTG. I like to tinker, but it may be over my head, not that that ever stopped me before.

Steve

[ericheartsu]

Is this not the same process as used by Supercolour for their transfers?

It's close, but not the same.

[zanegun08]

Looked into this over the weekend.

Here is a supplier in Florida that looks to be selling converted Epson printers https://kingdomtshirt.com/collections/dtf-printing

Looks like this was developed in China, and they are selling that system here.  I wonder what the workflow is to get it to print the under base and how much control you have over that as it uses the light magenta and light cyan inks. 

A lot of samples I see have white base sticking out, which I wonder if is user error or not enough control of the base.  But also got some samples from a DTG Maverick that had the white base sticking, so maybe some people just don't see those glaring issues?

Looks interesting, I like the print area and workflow of this unit here https://www.facebook.com/allen.lau.359126/videos/343915286982120 more industrial, but with no support maybe Kingdom would be a better option although not sure someone out of their garage may awesome support either.

Still looks cool.

 

[ericheartsu]

Looked into this over the weekend.

Here is a supplier in Florida that looks to be selling converted Epson printers https://kingdomtshirt.com/collections/dtf-printing

Looks like this was developed in China, and they are selling that system here.  I wonder what the workflow is to get it to print the under base and how much control you have over that as it uses the light magenta and light cyan inks. 

A lot of samples I see have white base sticking out, which I wonder if is user error or not enough control of the base.  But also got some samples from a DTG Maverick that had the white base sticking, so maybe some people just don't see those glaring issues?

Looks interesting, I like the print area and workflow of this unit here https://www.facebook.com/allen.lau.359126/videos/343915286982120 more industrial, but with no support maybe Kingdom would be a better option although not sure someone out of their garage may awesome support either.

Still looks cool.

Allen is really cool, and very knowledgeable, but i do worry about support from China. We bought a coater from a vendor in china, and it's amazing, but we had one minor issue, which resulted in me being at the shop at midnight, talking to our rep, through a video chat, while he was pointing his phone at another phone, and translating what his techs were saying.

[DonR]

I have one of the larger systems on a ship somewhere.  When it gets here the testing and learning will begin. I have already gotten samples and washed tested what they sent. I have spoken to the manufacturer about distributing and supporting their products in the US. I wanted to get one in and make sure I am very comfortable with the tech before I move forward with it. There are at least two different types of film available and a few different powder grades and inks. I think you will see lots more coming out.

There are problems with both the small desktop system and the larger "commercial systems".  Registration of the underbase will not be one of the problems if the files are prepared correctly. Here are some pros and cons...

No pretreat
Works on all types of fabric
Feels a little softer than vinyl
Bright high resolution prints
White ink is thinner and does not clog as much as DTG ink
Wash test is great (11 washes so far with no fading, cracking, or other problem)
Less Expensive than other print methods except screen printing.

Equipment and supplies not widely available outside of China.
Spare parts and tech support will be a problem.
Shipping is expensive and takes a few weeks by ship.
If you are in the US, the duty/tariff plus taxes can add 30% to the price.
Smaller systems are desktop printers that have been modified.
No small auto powder system is available at this time. You have to powder and cure the transfer manually, similar to a plastisol transfer.
Larger systems have auto powder spreaders that cure the transfer. However, you need to print several feet of film from the print head until the finished transfer comes out of the powder/cure equipment. Not good for one off prints unless you are doing a bunch of them together. You can cut the film as it comes out of the printer before it goes through the powder machine and powder/cure manually.

I don't want to go into rips and how to prepare the files until I have some experience.