Noob needs help

[dazziep]

Hi,

I've just recently got my equipment and started out and I'm having a few annoying problems and wondered if anyone could help..

Firstly Mugs.. I can't seem to get these right at all, they always seem to look faded... I have my press set at 310f and 120 seconds and quite firm even pressure. I put my mug in when it gets to 310, it drops down then rises back to 310 then I press the button and it counts down. when it gets to 0 I take it straight out and put it into some room temp water to cool then remove paper and it comes out rubbish everytime :( (that obviously doesn't work well then)

Slates.. (356f 200 seconds, firm pressure) well so far I've only done one, but the colour hasn't come out right, it printed out black on the paper, but it looks maroon on the slate and some parts are shiny some are dull.. I didn't use a silicon sheet as I've seen in many tutorials could that be the cause of this at all??

paper.. I ordered my paper from coralgraph and it's all in chinese, so I have no idea what print setting I should be using, also if I'm actually using the right side of the paper (but I guess I would soon find out if not :) ), one side is really white and smooth, the other is not so white and not so smooth.. I assume I should use the shiny white side??

apart from that everything is great :)

anyone able to give me any tips ?? pleeeaase :) I would be highly appreciative...

thanks in advance..

daz.

[Justin]

Personally I don't use the CG paper, TruPix ideally. Slates take a lot longer, pre-heat along with a sponge/silicone pad and then I press at medium pressure, 200c for 500secs. Mugs depends on your machine, for me it's 180c for 180secs. Blank mug always in the blanket when warming the press up/cooling down.

What printer are you using?

[dazziep]

it's an Epson XP 213 with CISS the ink I bought from City Ink (I explained what printer I had with the CISS and that I wanted sub Ink, and paid quite a bit so hopefully the ink is right??)

[dazziep]

sorry forgot to ask.. how long would you preheat??

[Justin]

Sit on top of a heat press/radiator etc. for a few minutes. I put the lower half in the press for 30 secs, just long enough to get heat into the base. Have a search, you'll find this discussed a few times recently :-)

[arthur.daley]

paper - touch each side with a damp lip - no really. One side will be slightly sticky - thats the side you print on.

I suspect your cook time is too short for printing on to mugs, try around 180 seconds at 180 degrees C (no idea what that is in degrees F). Make sure the press is nice and tight.

Make sure the press is good and tight on the mug - if you are using cheap mugs don't be surprised if you have to adjust the pressure for every mug

You shouldn't need to dunk your mugs (there is a big debate with the dunkers vs the non dunkers)

Just whip the paper off as soon as the mug comes out of the press - helps if you don't bite your fingernails ;o)

I stick my mugs down on top of my filing cabinet to cool, you can blow a fan over them to speed up the cooling process - don't place mugs close to each other especially when they are hot as it is possible to get a bit of dye migration from mug to mug

If you get fading at the top or bottom of the mug or near the handle - preheat your mugs as the base is a big thermal mass to heat up and lags behind the body of the mug when its in the press and so doesn't cook properly, also the open end and the handle can act like giant heat sinks drawing heat away from the surrounding ceramic.

Finally - don't buy cheap mugs - ie typically ebay mugs at 50p - 75p each. Buy from a reputable supplier - stump up the tenner to become a member here - the free help you get is worth a tenner and you get discounts from the suppliers listed in the 'official supporters private section'. Cheap mugs are usually cheap for a good reason - out of shape - not round, the body is tapered - bugger to print on as you can't maintain even pressure, all kinds of coating problems - pin holes, un even coating, muck in the coating, poor quality ceramic that breaks due to thermal shock - hot liquids going into a very cold mug, handles drop off, printed image quickly washes off in dishwasher - and so it goes on. They really aren't worth bothering with unless you know EXACTLY why they are cheap and can live with the fault.

Paper - 3 mugs per A4, if you use Trupix or Magic Touch Paper - both very good, it works out at about 5p per mug, do you really want to save maybe 2p per mug by using cheap paper? I am not saying that the cheap paper is no good - cheap papers are often great for printing logos or blocks of colour especially if you aren't too fussy about how accurate the colour is. Where cheap paper often falls down is trying to print colour photos. Contact Paul or Carl at The Magic Touch and i am sure they will happily send you a sample of their dye sub paper to try out.

that should pretty much sort you out!


Arthur

[dazziep]

brilliant awesome thanks guys for the prompt responses.. I'm well impressed with this forum already :) (and yep I admit I am going for the cheapest mugs I can find on ebay, so I guess I'm asking for trouble... ;) )

As I noobie I'm really short on contacts.. that tenner looks like a good idea, I will no doubt take you up on that (after xmas though I'm totally skint at the mo :) )

[Paul]

Ask your friends/family for some presents :)
or instead of the presents ask them for vouchers or money :)
I did that once and never had any hope that any one will do that in my family.
Turned out as a great idea :) i had a good cash in my pocket and they had no problems with what to get me :D

[dazziep]

I've got a few more orders in for slate so MUST get them right this time :) ... anyone got any advice on silicon mats.. what size, where to buy etc??

Cheers again..

dazziep

[dazziep]

Also have read somewhere that the fact that my black ink is coming out as Maroon could be to do with printer drivers. . Makes sense kind of.. I guess it's not seeing black as black and trying to make the colour up itself. . Does this sound familiar to anyone? ?