Helpful Hints and Tips from a printer's perspective.

Q: Where do I start with Image Clip for darks?

A: Image Clip for Darks is primarily designed for Vector or line art based artwork where you can change colours and saturation, contrast etc to obtain the desired result.

The worse test to make this product a success was to make it work with straight edges. Once we obtained the ability to get nice clean edges the rest of it was fairly easy.

To test we would suggest that you make 4 squares to fit onto an A5 sheet which is A4 cut in half eight in total. Colour them in accordingly and try to use a colour with good density, pantone yellow will not come out as good as a golden yellow so you will need to choose accordingly.

Then simply follow the instructions enclosed and the process should be fairly painless, in fact 90% of users testing have received a good result on the first test.

 

Q: I want to learn more about ImageClip technology, can you help me.

A: We have in fact increased the Image Clip range to 3 products one for lights, one for darks and one for numbering and names in white currently.

Image clip papers are very sensitive to settings used so the more precise the application the better the results will be. The system at the core is the migration of polymers from the image sheet onto a carrier sheet in such a way that it pulls away the polymers from the imaging sheet thus leaving behind only the image you wish to print. So that is the principle of the systems which will of course see an improvement over time.

One major limitation is really down to the printer as you can't print White and light tones are not great as the toner is not laid very well by the printer. We call this toner adhesion in that the toner on light items is barely scattered onto the sheet and of course when the 2 sheets meet the imaging sheet is giving some of the image up in the process as is the final pressing onto the garment...

This is unavoidable I am afraid and you have to combat it by increasing the saturation levels on the printer to increase the mid/light tones so when the adhesion takes place more is actually left behind.

 

Q: Can you tell me how the Image Clip system works please?

A: Our Image Clip products, 3 of them, are quite different than anything that has been produced thus far for the digital imaging market place.

Basically they are a 2 part paper system, we supply both parts for you and they work thus;

You have an imaging sheet that you print on in a conventional manner via a laser printer/copier reverse image on manual bypass tray on thick stock setting; you may adjust the colour saturation levels at this point to suit the image quality.

You then take the imaging sheet and the clip sheet face them up and fuse them together at the stated pressure and dwell time and then peel hot.

The clip paper when removed actually removes the unprinted polymers from the imaging sheet and leaves only the image behind. You will see the ghost image on the clip sheet at this point.

You then fuse the image, given the pressure, time and heat settings are correct and peel in accordance with the instruction sheet and you have the images you require placed on either light or dark garments.

The only limitation to the laser product for darks EZ204 is that a printer cannot print white so we have to use light tones that will enable the toner to adhere to the paper at the correct level to enable the process to work to your satisfaction.

The cost effectiveness is better and the process is much easier than the WOW system and we will continue to develop and make these products better in time.

 

Q: I am using the EZ205 and the image is very grey what am i doing wrong.

A: The Paper Doctor says;

The problem here lies in the fact that it is a picture and is actually CMYK image so it is not a true black image hence the image will not convert correctly as there are other colours within it that do not work.

What i have done tom your image is converted it to outline and made solid pantone black for you. The image is now 100% black and should work perfectly well.

 

Q: My paper is jamming in my inkjet printer

A: This is a highly unusual situation and could maybe have something to do with heat or humidty. It is possible to pick up too much moisture or get too dry for ink jet.  It makes sense to try and protect them and keep the zip lock bag zipped.

Try to inter-leave them with plain copy paper.  Then the two of them can equilibrate.  Given about 48 hours they will even out with fresh product by exchanging moisture back and forth.

For ink jet paper the signs of too much or too little moisture actually changes its appearance.  If paper has gained or lost much moisture, you should be able to see that the paper is not flat, usually one side will lift up or start to curl or the paper will have a hump or wave in the middle.

 

Q: I am having an issue i that when i use the opaque EZ102 or EZ202 i am getting colour bleed.

A: The issue is with your press in that it is not really setup correctly or one of the settings needs to be adjusted.

There are a few variables as to how these transfers are applied viz;

1)      HEAT - Heat may be too high, reduce increments of 5 - 10 degrees

2)      PRESSURE - Pressure may be too high, not very heavy, use medium and work backwards.

3)      TIME - Dwell time under the press head may be too long reduce by 3 seconds at a time

4)      PEEL - Do not peel hot if edges start to come up, leave for 3 to 4 seconds OR LONGER before removing release paper.

 

For instance we would suggest reducing the heat first and work along the points as above, noting your settings.

 

These are the variables that need to be adjusted accordingly with any fusion press and as a consequence of heat presses varying quite a lot you will have to determine which is best for you based upon the above variables.

 

THESE TRANSFER PAPERS ARE GUARANTEED TO WORK WITH NO EXPECPTIONS AND WILL WORK AS REQUIRED WITH SOME REASONABLE APPROACH TO THE PROCESS AS OUTLINED ABOVE.

 

Q: I have a Konica Minolta Bizhub C451 and i can’t seem to get a decent colour reproduction what can i do.

A: The Paper Doctors says.

We do not have that printer available for evaluation but a colleague of ours has the KM C253 Biz Hub similar to what you have pay per click as you, so we tested thus.

I printed out 2 images as follows; the settings we used were;

The image on the shirt was used as thick setting two and we increased the density under the expert adjustment panel to two.

The unused image you can see is set at thick four with density two.

What you will notice that the unused image and that on the T Shirt are fairly close in colour and it has slightly lightened up on the Tee itself.

If i could play around with it some more i would increase the original colours of the image with much brighter colours and then run the same settings again to see how the brightness increase which it would of course do so.

You can also see the residual image on the imaging sheet which is normal.

     

 

So as we guessed, it is a machine setting. Some people will have to tinker with this a little as we cannot of course reproduce all effects but at least we can say with authority that the result is good.

The secondary image is the same image used as i sent you with our KM 1690MF thick setting two increased saturation and contrast to max and you get a beautiful result all for a little over £200.00, sometimes price isn’t always best i guess.

Q:I am considering your systems EZ204 and EZ205. technical query. Can the two products be layered to create colour prints that include white? This system will be used in a mobile / exhibition environment and therefore I will be buying as small a laser as possible. Will your product work with a Samsung clp-310?

A: The Printer Doctor says

In short the answer is yes to your question, can we use the EZ205 as an under base for the EZ204 to sit on the answer is yes, but you have to a strongly consider the potential registration issues. We are currently working on a solution to this at this time.

I am not familiar with the Samsung clp-310 although i have looked at it on the internet but the information is limited. What you have to consider with this machine is;

Does it have a manual bypass tray and can it print heavy settings, if not, then it's not really suitable but you will get some results.

We ourselves use a Konica Minolta MF1690 which works fine for around the £200.00 mark.

 

Q: My EZ101 transfer looks a little dull what can I do

A: A quick tip from the scientists.

Difference between hot peel (softer hand, duller colours) Vs cold peel (more hand, better colour). Try a warm or cold peel then put piece of parchment over transfer and repress for a few seconds then stretch. It will now have the cold peel colour with the hand of a hot peel.

Q: One of my customers has just returned 3 items i did for them using EZ102 as the ink is bleeding, what’s happened.

A: The Top Boffin Says

In simple terms the ink lies on the papers surface and the heat when applied to the paper fuses the ink with the polymers onto the garment thus giving a secure and stable image that can be washed and worn under normal circumstances.

This is a most unusual occurrence for inks to bleed and I will explain as best I can as to how this may/has happened.

This condition is what we call dye migration which happens if;

a)      The garment has been hard washed over and above the recommended instructions which are normally 40 degree wash with normal air dry.

b)      The garment has been left in a damp environment for a length of time with the image being in contact with itself or that with the fibres folded over it, this has created the migration.

c)       The heat and pressure of the fusing is not sufficient to enable a stable application to the garment.

 

As understand it you produced 50 of these for your client to which only 3 have been returned in this manner with slight variations of this effect which tells me quite clearly that one of the above actions has taken place.

As I have mentioned above this is a most unusual occurrence and probably happens one in every ten thousand due to someone getting the wash process wrong in some manner. We have also had this with direct screen printing and even embroider and have learned that the one thing you can never prepare for is how the end user handles the items after decoration.

I can assure you that the product is consistent in every manner and will perform to our exacting standards to meet your requirements every time.

 

Q: Can you tell me what the life expectancy of the papers are please.

A: The Top Boffin says

Our papers are made to exacting standards in the USA and made from sustainable materials so when you take that much care in producing the best then you get the best from it. We are pleased to inform you that all our papers, excepting the EZ103 have an indefinite shelf lifespan provided you take a modicum of care in storing back in zip lock bag and in a suitable cool environment with little moisture. So you want to print and save the transfers for the next visit of Mrs Jones from Barnardo's shop comes back in a month, and then do it. Just do what you do with the un-printed sheets store away as normal and use them when you want, again, excepting the EZ103.

Q: My Laser copy seems quite poor and not very vibrant what can I do.

A: The Paper Doctor says

There are several factors to take into account for this. Firstly a lot of modern Laser Printers have what they call a calibration option which allows the printer to self diagnose and print a better definition, this would be a good choice to start with. If this persists the only real solution is to increase that saturation levels of the image via Photoshop or any other good rendering software, please note that the poorer the image quality image you are using will of course affect the final outcome. Also most modern printers give you the ability to make these changes from their own printing software.

 

Q: My EZ102/202 is difficult to peel from the backing paper what can I do

A: The Paper Doctor says

We take the opposite approach in that we remove the top transfer layer from the backing paper by utilizing a simple weeder or similar sharp tool. Simply take the tool of your choice and prod the sharp point into one of the corners and turn the top layer upwards. Try not to apply too much pressure otherwise you will pierce the top layer and go into the backing paper so be light at hand.

 

Q: We have an Epson 1400 and have been told by Xpres that it will not work with their print and cut/plot paper (opaque for dark garments etc.).This is because the ink in the printer is not pigment based!!!

A: The Top Boffin says

Our ink jet heat transfer papers are engineered to print PIGMENT INKS, DYE BASED INKS, ECO SOLVENT INKS AND SUBLI INKS. The coating attracts the ink, keeps it from bleeding or wicking and gives the product its excellent wash durability. We tend to prefer the dye based inks because of the colour. The only exception is the black which sometimes is more saturated with the pigment based inks. We have both types and use them in all of our printers including the Epson printers. Overall we like the Epson printers and they give very good results and are affordable. Although we don't recognize the model number, we have good experience with all of the printers we've tested with this product.

 

Q: I am trying to set the EZ203 up to fuse the papers but I am getting spots on it, what should I do.

A: The Paper Doctor says

This could be down to two things,

     1) One being the heat head and platten not being smooth so what is occurring is an unevenness of heat being applied. We use foam/rubber on our premises which makes sure the heat is consistent and is flat at all times.

     2) The heat may be slightly too hot so try a slow reduction in temperature and see if this improves it. Remember the paper is consistent, only the heat, pressure and timings are a variable so you may have to jiggle things slightly, just because your machine thinks it’s set at 160c doesn’t always translate into reality.

     3) You have to use a light pressure on this image clip paper so also try to reduce the pressure.

 

Q: I have tried some Laser papers in the past and they seem to leave residual polymers on the drum, how does your paper perform.

A: The Top Boffin says

Our laser papers are designed not to leave any residue on the fuser roll/drum. We have not had any problems with this occurring unless the wrong sheet is inserted, IE: carrier sheet from an image clip pack.

Sometimes if there is not enough heat the toner will not be completely adhered to the coating and toner may come off on the fuser roll. We suggest the user test the fusing especially on Laser 1 Opaque®. Make a copy on the transfer then wipe the print with a tissue; if it doesn't rub off it is adhered. If it does wipe off or smear; change to a heavier paper setting. And try again until it is just fused. If you have some sheets with rub off you should run 10-20 sheets of plain copier paper through your copier to clean toner off the fuser roll. If you see toner scatter on a transfer or plain paper; cleaning the fuser roll by running a few sheets of clean paper before you begin will help that.

Remember that all our laser papers should be used on heavy setting via the manual bypass tray

 

Q: I have an inkjet printer and I would like to know what inks your papers work with please.

A: The Paper Doctor says

In short our papers work with all inks types and bulk systems whether they are of a generic or clone manufacture process ink dye based or pigment dyed base. They do not work with sublimation inks.

 

Q: I am trying to put a transfer onto a green T Shirt and I know the soft stretch is not opaque enough but I don't want the white polymer window of the transfer to show, what you suggest.

A: The Paper Doctor says

If the design is blocky in nature and looks as if it can be cut then why not extend the Keyline around the design to a point of say 12 and then use your cutting machine to trace round it for you. You can do this with a cutting machine that does not have an optical eye. If you don’t have a cutter and the design is too tricky you can print of a block of colours that resemble your T Shirt colour and try to match it up that way. If you are going down this road we would suggest that you sympathetically cut the transfer and round the edges so it looks a little nicer to the eye. Remember that the transfers usually lighten and brighten up with the heat.

 

Q: I am trying to use your EZ105 Inkjet Image Clip and am getting spots on the finished product, what am I doing wrong.

A: The Paper Doctor says

If you are following the instructions then simply you are doing quite right. The 2 main issues here are heat, in that the press may be too hot so lean back on the heat a little and try again. The other culprit is the bed and head smoothness. If the bed especially is not nice and smooth then you are likely to produce this effect. We use smooth rubber heat proof pads to ensure our bed is smooth enough for any process and makes the jobs work better. Remember this is a colds peel process and the bed pressure is also important.

 

 

Q: Claria dye based or pigment type inks, what works best please

A: The Top Boffin says

As we design our heat transfer papers we include Epson printers and dye based inks in the testing. Most of the inks we see are dye based. Our results have been very good with our heat transfer papers, Epson and the Claria inks. When we created the EZ101 JET-PRO® SS we noted that if we left a garment wet for a very long period of time like several hours not several minutes; the dye based inks might run. We recommend immediate drying at least on the first washing. This bleeding (dye migration) is most noticeable if the fabric has a synthetic component such as poly or nylon. It is more noticeable if the product is 100% synthetic fibre. EZ106 JET-PRO® Active Wear is better for the garments with synthetic fibres to prevent dye bleed if the garment is left wet. We have a suggestion for