Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison
It's not true that there is no setup time in dtg because One of the biggest barriers for dtg is the inconsistency of reproduction across t-shirt brands / weights. So if you print the exact same color / brand / style all the time setup is minimal but not if you're printing multiple substrates which all of us are required to do.
I was doing hard proofs this morning and had an image on white tee that was bleeding. Dialed it in on a.scrap startee shirt. Ran it on a Bella 3001, and its back bleeding again. Dialed it in on the Bella after 2 more prints, the whole process took 30 min to run tests.
I also ran a different proof on gildan 64000 tee. Guessed correctly at how much more pretreat we would need, missed on the extra white and then dialed it in on the second try. since I like to make sure all variables are correct before handing over to production - pretreat, ink density, image - takes about 1/2 hr.
A lot of the things you mention are nothing more than polishing up already existing processes.
I agree with this and usually the discussion I have with people. You may be able to get away with four color process on a white shirt, but not black and of course 8-9 sim process will always produce a much better print.With DTG, even though it's four color process, the inks aren't pure 100% cyan, 100% magenta, 100% yellow or 100% black. They are tweaked to produce a better color gamut then couple that with using RGB as your image color file structure and the RIP can push the limits of typical CMYK printers.
Quote from: merchmonster on June 30, 2017, 02:19:42 AMIt's not true that there is no setup time in dtg because One of the biggest barriers for dtg is the inconsistency of reproduction across t-shirt brands / weights. So if you print the exact same color / brand / style all the time setup is minimal but not if you're printing multiple substrates which all of us are required to do.It depends on your business. If you open up the possibilities to print on any type of garment because your customer dictates it, sure there's going to be quite a bit of testing and so forth. We don't advocate letting the customer pick. If your business model is structured that way, it may not be the best if you don't have time to test, etc.
Quote from: merchmonster on June 30, 2017, 02:19:42 AMQuoteI was doing hard proofs this morning and had an image on white tee that was bleeding. Dialed it in on a.scrap startee shirt. Ran it on a Bella 3001, and its back bleeding again. Dialed it in on the Bella after 2 more prints, the whole process took 30 min to run tests.Obviously one style of shirt may print differently than another. When you have something dialed in for a particular shirt, some software will allow you to save presets so you don't have to try to figure it out every time. That being said, there really are only a few categories of shirt styles that all print about the same within that category. It's definitely a trial and error process. For the most part, if I have a shirt in hand I've never tested, I can tell what settings should work best. But this shouldn't be on an every job basis.IMO the lack of predictability is a barrier the technology will need to get over in order to really make it big time. Screen printing press is superior to DTG in terms of predicability.
QuoteI was doing hard proofs this morning and had an image on white tee that was bleeding. Dialed it in on a.scrap startee shirt. Ran it on a Bella 3001, and its back bleeding again. Dialed it in on the Bella after 2 more prints, the whole process took 30 min to run tests.Obviously one style of shirt may print differently than another. When you have something dialed in for a particular shirt, some software will allow you to save presets so you don't have to try to figure it out every time. That being said, there really are only a few categories of shirt styles that all print about the same within that category. It's definitely a trial and error process. For the most part, if I have a shirt in hand I've never tested, I can tell what settings should work best. But this shouldn't be on an every job basis.
And speaking of extending gamut, what kinds of colors on white can you hit on a DTG that I can't with 4CP?
Not sure what world you live in but OK. Ultimately the customer wants what they want - if you won't sell it to them someone else will. Customers these days want choice man.
We do contract print work and custom print work. For the contract stuff the job is already decided and sold before I get my hands on it. For the custom stuff we try to steer the customer into a product that will print well.
IMO the lack of predictability is a barrier the technology will need to get over in order to really make it big time. Screen printing press is superior to DTG in terms of predicability.
I can't argue with this, I agree. I screen printed for 13 years but I will say that I had to learn the predictability as well. Different meshes, pressures, angles of squeegees, coating techniques, types of inks for different substrates, etc, etc. Once you understand these things it is predictable. DTG isn't there yet and a lot of it has to do with the shirt manufacturers themselves. For example, I can print on a Gildan shirt made in Honduras and one made in Nicaragua and they will look different, so as a general rule, I stay away from Gildan. But I've personally talked to 3 major brands and they are all working on trying to make better shirts for the DTG industry.
I still think it makes no sense for anyone to compare screen printing and DTG in a way where one replaces the other. They are inherently different methods which have little crossover. On demand, small runs, etc, DTG is already the much better tool, but for almost everything else it isnt going to replace screenprinting for a very long time. It would basically require a printhead printing with screenprinting inks (like actual mixed pantones etc) at 1000 shirts an hour and minimal maintenance.
Quote from: mimosatexas on July 07, 2017, 12:33:54 PMI still think it makes no sense for anyone to compare screen printing and DTG in a way where one replaces the other. They are inherently different methods which have little crossover. On demand, small runs, etc, DTG is already the much better tool, but for almost everything else it isnt going to replace screenprinting for a very long time. It would basically require a printhead printing with screenprinting inks (like actual mixed pantones etc) at 1000 shirts an hour and minimal maintenance.If I came across that way, it wasn't my intention. I agree with this as well. I don't think it's any time soon, but in 20 years time, I could see it happen. Not a complete replacement but screen printing could become more specialized.