IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT OUR SYSTEMS AND MARKET CONDITIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
TYPES OF IMAGES TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY
GELJET / INKJET
Inkjet printers are dirt cheap and produce excellent-quality photorealistic images.
A GELJET printer is a hybrid between a laser printer and an inkjet with the advantage that it can print higher volumes without needing service as often as a similarly priced inkjet.
ADVANTAGES
Most affordable way of getting into this business. Printers are cheap and can be used for general printing as well as transfers.
DISADVANTAGES
Not as durable as Sublimation (but then again nothing is), and can only print fabrics, waterslide paper and temporary tattoos. Not possible to print hard surfaces such as mugs.
DIRECT-TO-FILM PRINTING (DTF) This is an advancing technology that has some of the lowest print costs in the industry yet coupled with the best washability. The total print cost for DTF is less than just what the transfer paper costs with most competing technologies. This technology uses a special film, special inks and a powder (which is what sticks the image to the substrate). The powder sticks to the print only which is why only the print transfers to the substrate.
The best printers for DTF are manufactured for DTF from scratch. Early DTF machines (and current low-end machines) use a modified Epson inkjet printer.
ADVANTAGES
Exceptional quality with vibrant colours if used with professional Raster Image Processing (RIP) software, the correct inks and films and printer-specific colour profiles. Only the print is transferred and nothing else. Print durability is superior to any other transfer technology (with the exception of sublimation which is only for light / white synthetic fabrics) and even traditional silk-screen printing. The transfer cost (media and ink) is one of the lowest of all the transfer technologies and the cost difference between printing on light and dark substrates is negligible. The print is flexible (so no cracking on the substrate) and with the right RIP, print costs can be further reduced while wash durability can be increased by using the halftone function which is only available on more advanced rips like Fiery Cadlink.
DISADVANTAGES
These systems are ONLY for porous substrates (items which absorb water) such as fabrics, paper, board, some faux leathers and so on. The market is currently full of cowboys selling technology they
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