Troubleshooting For Digital Heat Transfer Papers
Troubleshooting For Digital Heat Transfer Papers! Inkjet, Laser and Color Copiers.
Inkjet, Laser Printers and Color Copiers
(This document is not for Dye Sublimation Papers)
BE AWARE… All transfer
papers DO NOT work the same!
The instructions are different for different brands
of paper.
ALWAYS follow the instructions that is specific to the heat transfer paper you are
using.
If you do not have a set of instructions, DO NOT use instructions from another brand of heat transfer paper!
Locate the heat transfer paper you are using on our website
and click the link that says “Printing/Application instructions” that
is located at the end of the heat transfer paper descriptions.
There are three basic elements when setting your heat press to get good results….
TIME, TEMPERATURE and PRESSURE. When these three elements are balanced properly
you will get professional quality results every time. This is not hard to
do.
Paper does not peel easily or remains stuck after pressing
This transfer process was not completed. One of the three elements has been
set too low.
Start by making sure the pressure is set properly (Machine should “Snap
shut firmly”). Pressure should be set: Medium/heavy.
If the pressure is OK, try increasing either the temperature or the time duration.
See instruction sheet for recommended times and temperatures for specific products/fabrics
being pressed.
(Most common time settings on our transfer papers for mouse pads, t-shirts,
caps, etc are 3-5 seconds)
Ink/Image is turning darker or has a yellow or brown tint to it after pressing:
This transfer is being burned. First make sure your temperature is set correctly and that you are not pressing it for longer than the recommended time frame. The TIME and/or TEMPERATURE needs to be reduced.
Make sure you are printing on the coated side of the paper.
The back of the transfer paper has printing on it!
When using a laser printer or color copier machine:
If you feed the Heat Transfer Paper into the Printer/CLC upside down it will melt in the machine! The heat transfer paper will typically wrap around fuser rollers inside the machine. Some printers will flip paper over inside the machine where you can’t see it. Run a piece of ordinary paper through the printer prior to loading in the Heat Transfer Paper. Before placing ordinary paper into tray, mark a large “X” on the paper with a pen. Print any image on the paper and when the paper exits the machine, you will know for sure what side it prints on.
If you are using an Epson C82,C84,C86, C88 or another printer with pigment inks:
While these inks are very durable and produce excellent results, some changes need to be made in order to correct the yellowing of the ink you that you might experience after heat press application.
- Lower temperature to approximately 360° F
- Increase time to approximately 8-15 seconds.
- Make sure your image resolution is no higher than 200 or 250
D.P.I. max. (This is for all textile items)
Don worry you will still get photo quality results! Anything over 200 DPI is overkill for textile printing. - “Color Balancing” your image in a quality software program
such as Adobe Photoshop®
would be a great help to provide professional quality imaging results.
Printing on dark garments
When using our 2 step Opaque Transfer papers (Model’s OP-8 or OP-11)
you do not print directly onto this item.
This product is to be used in conjunction with our other imaging papers such
as “TransferJet”, “Premium” or “PremiumPlus”.
For a first class finish on shirts
Once you have printed your transfer it is best if you trim out the unprinted areas (within a reasonable distance from the image, say .25”)
This will remove the bulk of the coating before it is applied to the shirt. The reaming edge of the transfer will not be noticeable and even that edge will disappear after the first wash. This also helps give the shirt a softer hand.
For mouse pads you do not trim the transfer paper
Mouse pads are printed
using the entire transfer sheet.
The heat transfer should cover the entire surface of the pad and when you
peel the heat transfer off it will leave a clean edge!