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TIPS & TECHNIQUES

The screen is now aligned to the colour image that has just been printed

The white layer is printed onto the dark garment in the correct position

The white discharge ink is then cured

The garment is moved to the printer and the image minus registration marks printed

The result: a perfectly registered, vibrant, full-colour print

Finally, the print is dried either through a tunnel dryer or a heat press

Cost savings

Jules has been running tests on the system and the cost savings

are impressive: for a full DTG print of the design shown here, the

cost including the white ink would be around £1.70-£1.80. With

the hybrid system it costs around 40-50 pence. “We all know that

it is the white ink on DTG that makes it expensive, but the cost

savings on the hybrid system: wow!” says Jules.

In full-colour mode it is possible to get 20-25 prints an hour, he

confirms, with set-up time coming in at about four to five min-

utes compared to 45 minutes for a 14-colour set up with screen

print. “Where it’s going to fit are the full-colour images for 50

shirts upwards, where it would be quite expensive to screen print

with maybe 12 or 14 screens.”

It’s also ideal for printing SFX inks: you just put the shirt back

on the press and print the glitter inks, or whatever else the client

has asked for, over the DTG print. It neatly gets round one of

the main criticisms of DTG, namely that special effects inks

are not possible as glitter flakes etcetera are too big to pass

through the print head nozzles. It also allows decorators to

increase the perceived (and actual) value of garments and to

offer their customers a wider variety of techniques.

The hybrid system is also simple to use, Jules advises: “If

somebody’s already screen printing a 12-colour simulated

process, it’s going to be very easy because you separate your

underbase white as you would normally and you’ve only got

to burn one screen.”

Mooch has bought two systems for £20,000, and says that

one person can easily run two machines by themselves. The

hybrid machines have, says Jules, “fitted in a treat”.

HYBRID PRINTING STEP-BY-STEP (Continued)

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FEBRUARY 2017