ImagesMagUK_March_2022

TIPS & TECHNIQUES www.images-magazine.com 28 images MARCH 2022 Industry experts provide insight and guidance in all areas of digital garment and textile printing Digital helpdesk Emily Stout, who works in machinery and consumables sales at I-Sub, dives into the problems decorators can face when sublimation printing and reveals how to solve them Emily Stout Switching on the printer dryer can also help, as well as ensuring the room temperature is in line with the printer requirements. Another way to reduce cockling is to increase the paper tension by adjusting the feed or take-up to make the paper more taut. Alternatively, you can increase the print head height, however while this will reduce head strikes, it will also reduce the print quality. Faint colour sublimation Faint colour is when the print appears ‘non-vibrant’ with a washed-out appearance. This can be caused by an issue with the heat press: the dwell time, temperature or pressure may be incorrect, in which case, adjust them. It may be that the press’s elements are faulty, which can be identified by there being an area that is not fully sublimated, or the press has a dented or worn felt or base pad. It’s important to check regularly for dented or degraded S ublimation is a versatile, cost- effective printing process that has wide appeal. As with all printing techniques, however, there are certain issues that may present problems for less experienced printers. Happily, they are easy to resolve. What is ghosting? Ghosting is when it looks like there is a double print, halo or shadow around the printed image on your fabric. This is usually caused by the fabric shrinking or shifting during heat pressing. An easy way to reduce this is by preheating – ie pre-shrinking – the fabric. Another solution is to use a thermo- adhesive transfer paper, which reduces movement by sticking the fabric to the transfer paper during heat pressing. Cockling Cockling occurs when transfer paper becomes saturated with ink; this causes the paper to wrinkle. As the print head is only a few millimetres away from the paper, this can cause ‘head strikes’, ie when the print head hits or scratches the substrate being printed. This can damage the nozzles and ultimately may lead to the print heads having to be replaced. To address this problem, reduce the amount of ink used or, a more common approach, replace the existing transfer paper with a heavier and faster drying paper. Ghosting – when there appears to be a double print – is usually caused by fabric shrinking or shifting during heat pressing

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