Printing of Photo T-shirt
If you own one of the new generation of inkjet printers, you
can probably produce a Photo T-shirt, using an iron-on transfer.
Printers from companies like Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, Epson,
Canon and others, can print to a specially coated paper that
allows you to put any design or photograph on a variety of
fabrics.
Start with an image...
First you'll need an image. You can scan it, use a
digital camera or a video frame grabber or just use a downloaded
file or any other file stored in your computer. You can use one
of many consumer programs to alter, adjust or add to your file.
If you are working with photographic images you may want an image-editing
program to separate your subject from the background. If you are
purchasing image-editing software for this purpose choose one
that allows masking. This will make it easier for you to take
people or objects from one photo and place them into another. If
you are taking photographs for the purpose of putting a face, or
head, on a T-shirt make sure that the subject is photographed in
front of a solid, light-colored background such as a white wall.
Remember that you must mirror the image before
printing or the image will be reversed on the T-shirt.
Choose a T-shirt transfer paper...
There are many InkJet T-shirt transfer papers in the
market. Some are consumer type, some are commercial type. Some
are cheep, some more expensive. Whichever one you choose, follow
the manufacturer instructions provided with the paper.
Choose a t-shirt...
Most T-shirt transfer papers can be applied to any light-colored
material that is smooth and natural. Cotton, or Poly/Cotton blend
are the best. (Cotton blends can be used as long as the synthetic
component of the material is not too high.)
The material must be clean and wrinkle free.
Finally, apply it...
To apply the transfer, use a T-shirt press or simply use
your iron. (The iron must be on maximum setting with no steam or
moisture. To get an even and secure adhesion the surface should
be solid. This can be achieved by placing a towel or doubled
sheet on a table or the floor.)
The exact length of time for holding the press or the iron on top
of the transfer varies depending upon which paper you use.
If you do not heat the transfer sufficiently, specks of the color
will remain on the backing making your print look old and faded.
Best results acheived with the newer Cold Peel papers.
If you are using a hot peel paper, peel it immediately upon
removing the heat. If the backing is not removed quickly it will
stick to the transfer. In which case, re-applying the iron will
solve the difficulty but re-heating makes the image fuzzy because
the colors begin to bleed. The blending of different colored dots,
which causes the image to look out of focus, is also what happens
if you heat the transfer for too long.
Care...
Most recommended washing is inside-out in cold water,
lay flat to dry.
ENJOY...
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