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View Full Version : Which paper and how to position ?



chocitiger
30-07-2010, 08:02 PM
Hurray ! Yesterday, I finally gathered everything I need to start dye subbing mugs. Getting on pretty well with all the super advice on the great forum and no complete failures so far… Colours are coming very well, vivid, solid and pretty much as seen on screen. My main issue at the moment is positioning the transfer. I bought Trupix paper [ which is transferring beautifully ] but it has been trimmed very badly and is tapered @ 2mm on the longest edge [ A4 ] This makes any precise positioning pretty tricky as it also means my prints come out askew - if you can get my drift. I am currently now trimming the paper ' by eye ' before I print which is helping, but I would much rather buy properly squared paper to speed things up. Any recommendations ? I'm loathed to change from the Trupix as the prints are coming out so well, but positioning will drive me insane if I don't come up with a viable solution.

My 1st post so any help is very gratefully appreciated.

Lol Kaz.

bms
30-07-2010, 08:17 PM
You could always straighten up the edge with a home gullotine?

chocitiger
30-07-2010, 08:33 PM
Yes - That's exactly what i have been doing, but all sides of the paper are out of true, so I have no datum point as such, consequently it is at best only as good as my eyes perceive it to be. So when sheet is fed into the printer which relies on a parallel edge it is still slightly eschew - / + 0.5 - 0.75mm seems to be my average, not much but it is perceivable when print is close to a mugs rim.
Many thanks for taking the time to answer though.

Lol,
Kaz.

John G
30-07-2010, 09:03 PM
When you print your paper also print trim lines - hand trim to the lines and you'll have a perfectly true sheet. Cannot understand why the papers out to start with though? :shock:

Or get a friendly priner to cut the whole pack into individual mug sheets with a guillotine

Cheers John

chocitiger
31-07-2010, 11:55 AM
Thanks for that John. I did go the trim marks route initially as it was first thought, it does kind of help but I think as I'm going against the ' lay ' of the paper [ only slightly ] it makes wrapping tightly quite diff. - it kind of wants to ' bump ' in the middle… Think I have semi - solved the issue as I tried some really cheap matt photo paper this morning and prints look very good at least as good as the Trupix. I haven't dishwashed yet but I will update once I've run them through a couple of times to make sure colour is fast. It would be quite good if it does work as the paper was 4p a sheet ! As to the paper being so badly trimmed, its hard for me to judge what is acceptable for this brand as I've never used it before, but I certainly wouldn't accept if I had bought it as 'premium' photo paper. I will give the manufacturer an email, and maybe its just a rogue batch and I shouldn't be put off by it, as pretty much everywhere I read, everybody rates it very highly, so I will try ordering another batch.

Lol Kaz.

bms
31-07-2010, 12:56 PM
it kind of wants to ' bump ' in the middle
What is this "bump" Kaz? Is this because the mugs have a bump in the middle or are bevelled at the top and bottom causing a bump to appear in the middle? A straight sided mug shouldn't cause paper to bump regardless of which way around it is positioned.

If you're getting a good quality reproduction with the paper you've used then won't affect the dishwasher test - all the paper does is carry and release the ink. If the image fades through the dishwasher then this is down to the coating on the mug not the way in which the ink was released to the mug. We have several customers using the economy brand of sublimation paper rather than TruPix for ceramics as there isn't a huge release of ink to go into the coating. On textiles and other substrates though you may see a difference.

chocitiger
12-08-2010, 08:41 PM
Hi,
thanks for all the info & sorry for my slow reply, but been home to Norway to see my mum !
I have resolved this now by using exclusively photo paper for geometric patterns where alignment matters and I use my supply of Trupix for photos where I can 'Bleed' colours to the edge so no alignment issues. The bump I described I think is my error and not the mugs, the mugs seem to be of good quality and pretty straight, it is caused by my having very strong fingers. I come from a family of martial arts / Army self defence teachers my father, my brothers, my husband and I was made to train too. This has given me freaky strong fingers, especially on my right hand and I think I was over tensioning on that side. I now tension at mid point first and then tape down and all is well.
Once again thanks for any advice.
Lol,
Kaz.