i-Image in the house!

[islandtees]

I get it.  Carrier sheets.  That was my missing link.  I have a hard time understanding why anyone would use them so I never think of them in these discussions.

What if you don't use a trilock? Carrier sheets is not a problem.

[Inkworks]

Yes, the need for carrier sheets is easily eliminated at a very low cost without adding any extra steps or time to the process.

http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,12251.0.html

I'm with the others, outputting off a 24" roll means print and forget, walk away and come back whenever you need to, it's hands-off time. Is the RIP system so slick on the good DTS's that it cuts time off the printing process? If not that step is just being pushed downstream. Now pushing something downstream isn't a bad thing, if it frees up a previous bottleneck without creating a new one, that's a net gain for that shop.

I guess I still feel that there are easy steps a shop can take to help keep up with the big benefits a DTS brings.

I'll be perfectly honest. My shop is nowhere near the throughput they state for DTS to start to pay off, so I'm not considering one, but I thoroughly enjoy digging into processes and streamlining production via process control and equipment, so that's the perspective I approach this from.

What I see as actual number savings in favor of DTS:
No pinholes.
No regi's to tape up/block out.
faster exposure (if this is a bottleneck).
no film cost.
no film printer.
no film filing/pulling or room allotted for same.
virtually perfect image to screen frame registration.

With a good carrier-less FPU, and good film filing system I think a good chunk of the above gains are neutralized, and the rest take quite a while to offset the cost of a good DTS.

ps: I'm cheap, so we re-use our tape for film to screen.

[TCT]

Figured I'd better explain myself before it gets misinterpreted. I think DTS is sweet, I actually left Chicago a month or so heavily considering the very unit this thread stared about. After double, triple and quadruple thinking it, there are things I need to look at first(mainly a massive insurance "possible" insurance bill). But a LED exposure unit would be higher on the list. A DTS would image screens faster than we could expose them. The STE2 is bad ass but so is the price tag. Also not having a option to have the machine come from the factory and work with our reg system was a huge negative. Yes, a simple few mods could make it work, but the absolute last thing I need is to add to my to do list. Paying for a new piece of equipment that I would have to figure and then make a mod for just didn't seem right.

One plus for people buying a new S.Roque or MHM, you wouldn't need to buy a FPU/PRU so in essence it would "reduce" the cost of a DTS by a couple grand...

[dirkdiggler]

I get it.  Carrier sheets.  That was my missing link.  I have a hard time understanding why anyone would use them so I never think of them in these discussions.

What if you don't use a trilock? Carrier sheets is not a problem.

Good points, I can only speak for M&R equipment because its all I have ever used for 17 years.  If you have a blue press that was made after the trilock and you are not using it, you are wasting time.  The I-image is made for the tri-lock.  It probably does work for other machines, but better with M&R equipment.  I went my first 17 years in this business and worked for a super successful large shop and only used film.  You can be successful without CTS, I just choose to have it, makes my life easier.

[TCT]

ps: I'm cheap, so we re-use our tape for film to screen.

Thanks for admitting to that, now I feel better that I'm not the only one!

[GraphicDisorder]

It's interesting as we learn more and more about each other's shops we can see where some shops do something really smart or well but are terrible at other things.  Some shops boast time savings on X but give it up on Y.  My shop included. We are terrible at giving up some tasks to employees and that creates a bottle necks. Some shops screw themselves in other ways like space, time management, sales, marketing, books and so on.  Not one of us have the perfect solution or shop.

Our shops are all very different. It would be fun to visit many shops and create a hybrid of several shops.  I'd love to have the time to analyze our processes like Alan....  I'd want to print and sep as well as Danny's shop.  I'd love to have Dave's and Tonys experience. I'd want to have volume like Castle or Greg and I'd like to do all of that via my shops internet style business with no walk ins or phones and all prepaid in a building the size of M&R so there is room for go cart racing.

[dirkdiggler]

It's interesting as we learn more and more about each other's shops we can see where some shops do something really smart or well but are terrible at other things.  Some shops boast time savings on X but give it up on Y.  My shop included. We are terrible at giving up some tasks to employees and that creates a bottle necks. Some shops screw themselves in other ways like space, time management, sales, marketing, books and so on.  Not one of us have the perfect solution or shop.

Our shops are all very different. It would be fun to visit many shops and create a hybrid of several shops.  I'd love to have the time to analyze our processes like Alan....  I'd want to print and sep as well as Danny's shop.  I'd love to have Dave's and Tonys experience. I'd want to have volume like Castle or Greg and I'd like to do all of that via my shops internet style business with no walk ins or phones and all prepaid in a building the size of M&R so there is room for go cart racing.

Now that would be awesome!

[islandtees]

I get it.  Carrier sheets.  That was my missing link.  I have a hard time understanding why anyone would use them so I never think of them in these discussions.

What if you don't use a trilock? Carrier sheets is not a problem.

Good points, I can only speak for M&R equipment because its all I have ever used for 17 years.  If you have a blue press that was made after the trilock and you are not using it, you are wasting time.  The I-image is made for the tri-lock.  It probably does work for other machines, but better with M&R equipment.  I went my first 17 years in this business and worked for a super successful large shop and only used film.  You can be successful without CTS, I just choose to have it, makes my life easier.

M&R here to. We tried the tri lock and didn't like. The sheets were one of the biggest things we didn't like. Made our own alignment system that works well without using sheets. Since you can use the I image with trilock and no sheets would make me try the trilock again.
What I still don't get is how you input info to the I image. Does this have a rip. Do you do the seps first and input all the seps and then start loading screens?

[bulldog]

Can you gang images on the i-Image? What is the max print size?

[Alex M]

Max image area is based on screen size. It really is a question of how big your press can go with that frame size.

[Alex M]

Yes, you can gang images on the unit, if you want both images to tri loc you gave to remove and flip the screen in between them.

[bulldog]

Max image area is based on screen size. It really is a question of how big your press can go with that frame size.

Ah, I was just under the impression it was setup for 23x31. I saw the unit at ISS yesterday and the "tray" looked to be set up for that size. I'm guessing that "tray" can be changed for bigger screens?

What would the max print size be for 23x31?

[bulldog]

Yes, you can gang images on the unit, if you want both images to tri loc you gave to remove and flip the screen in between them.

That's definitely good to know, thanks.

[Gilligan]

And a trilock can be used without carrier sheets... Alan and others have been doing it (very successfully) for a while.  Super simple mod that probably takes about as might time as you spend initially setting up the trilock jog on the exposure unit and the carrier sheet template stuff.

[dirkdiggler]

I get it.  Carrier sheets.  That was my missing link.  I have a hard time understanding why anyone would use them so I never think of them in these discussions.

What if you don't use a trilock? Carrier sheets is not a problem.

Good points, I can only speak for M&R equipment because its all I have ever used for 17 years.  If you have a blue press that was made after the trilock and you are not using it, you are wasting time.  The I-image is made for the tri-lock.  It probably does work for other machines, but better with M&R equipment.  I went my first 17 years in this business and worked for a super successful large shop and only used film.  You can be successful without CTS, I just choose to have it, makes my life easier.

M&R here to. We tried the tri lock and didn't like. The sheets were one of the biggest things we didn't like. Made our own alignment system that works well without using sheets. Since you can use the I image with trilock and no sheets would make me try the trilock again.
What I still don't get is how you input info to the I image. Does this have a rip. Do you do the seps first and input all the seps and then start loading screens?

Yes there is a rip and my machine is connected to my network and the artist drops the file to the rip after he does seps.  The rip is better than the Wasatch rip we were using.  You just set the parameters on one color and then hit "same for all screens" and that's it.  You have the ability to make changes to the files even after the artist does the seps.   You can change the dot size, the resolution, type of dot., etc.  without having to go back to the artist if there is a problem.  The rip will also add registration marks if you want them, you probably wont need them, but its an option.  It does other things that I haven't even figured out yet, only had mine for about a month.