It is a bit tacky, but for me, it really is – all over.

By Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager-MUTOH AMERICA INC

Dye sublimation is phenomenal.

There is almost no area that dye sublimation doesn’t have some application for, and one of my favorites is all over tee shirt printing.

Nothing makes all over printing easier than tacky paper.

I get my paper and tacky paper from Beaver Paper http://beaverpaper.com/,  Rob Rapasi and the gang over there keep me in the papers I needed and provide me with textile for direct print as well.

So tacky paper is just that, it has, typically a heat activated adhesive, that makes the paper ‘stick’ to the fabric during sublimation.

This works well for doing all over work on pre-sewn garments because if you use non sticky paper, when you do the second side pressing the first side will visually lighten up.

With tacky paper the paper remains on the first side so that that side does not lighten up when pressing the second side.

So I lay out both sides so that I can fold the paper into a ‘sandwich’ to put the shirt in.

So print out with your favorite dye sub printer – I chose the ValueJet 1638WX – https://mutoh.com/products/valuejet-1638wx/

Fold print in half

You can line up both images if your paper is translucent enough

I like to press my shirts for about 5 seconds to flatten them out.

Roll the top layer up, place the shirt, roll the top layer down over the shirt.

Press side one, flip, press side two.

Peel shirt from tacky paper, enjoy your new all-over shirt.

Tacky paper works well for all-over garments, but does fantastic with piece parts as well, that will be sewn into garments.

Backlit Junkie Gets His Fix Using Dye Sublimation

ISA ended Saturday at 4 pm. And I just wanted everyone to know that I got my ‘fix’ for backlit dye sublimation at the show.

The light box was a TREMENDOUS hit, and even if the pics from my phone don’t do it justice, I saw so many other people taking pictures of it, that I lost count.

These were both printed on Mutoh’s ValueJet 1948WX, our high-speed printer for all things dye sub.  https://www.mutoh.com/products/valuejet-1948wx/

The same printer we used on our mugs in my last blog. https://www.thinkmutoh.com/mugging-it-up

The same printer that ISA (https://www.signs.org/isasignexpo) attendees were wowed by its incredible performance and aggressively competitive show pricing.

We often give show attendees incredible pricing for making their printer choices at the show. So if you haven’t been to a show you should check out show schedule.  https://www.mutoh.com/company/events/ And check the other on this page as well, our Training, Wrap Classes and Dealer events.

It is such a thrill to see your own artwork pop so much with dye sublimation backlighting.But it is just as much a thrill to see others appreciate it while educating those who don’t know what dye sublimation is on the incredible opportunities it presents itself in the market. In fact, most of our booth was dye sub backlit.

The ValueJet 1938TX signage is backlit dye sub as were all of our other booth signage.

And the seascape image next to the signage is Chromalux (https://www.chromaluxe.com/), Tobe Hall and the people at Unisub provided that piece of art for our customer enjoyment and Ryan Holtzman from Chromaluxe provided a Point of Sale style announcement of their new product –  EXT metal  (EXT for both EXTended life for outdoor photography, and for EXTerior signage), that looked as bit as crisp and sharp as you would expect from these guys.

And of course we were handing out Mutoh glass cleaners on Vision Microsuade S/660, again supplied by my friend Mike Sanders, whose Pacific Coast Fabrics merged with Top Value Fabrics (https://www.topvaluefabrics.com/index.php)last year.

These are great giveaways that people keep and use.  Mike is one of those guys who I consider my extended family in the industry. So now let me introduce you to my other brother Mike, Mike Compton at Top Value Fabrics.

I recently sat in on one of Mike’s webinars on…………….yes…………backlit.

If you are a member of SGIA (https://www.sgia.org/), like we are, get online and check it out. 

Here is Mike and I standing in front of another both made with back litbacklitlimation.

Oh yeah, the backlit fix is in……….

Mugging it up!

RTFM

Yes, the first time I had to look that one up too. Something about ‘reading’ the freaking manual. Something I am want to do after everything else fails.

So here’s the story.

We recently got a mug press for dye sublimating coffee mugs. Kevin Lumberg From Johnson Plastic (https://www.johnsonplastics.com/) was instrumental in helping us out. (Be sure to check out the dye-sub blanks and imagine the possibilities dye sub has to offer)

This was primarily to do our own coffee mugs for the office and to have mug capabilities. So I ‘read’ the manual, set the press up, did some test prints and sublimated a couple of mugs. Results looked pretty good, so as I am want to do, I had to see just how much I could push the limits of the press size-wise.

I wanted to cover as much of the mug as possible. What I found is that there was a reason there was a

template and that the press, like all presses, has some limitations on the perimeter. And if you get too close to the edge of limitation, it is just not going to sublimate cleanly.  There just isn’t enough heat generated to give a clean edge. So I backed off the size and went back to the template.

I made a few ‘personalized’ mugs using my own artwork, after all, personalization is what digital printing and dye sublimation are all about.

And of course, this is where I pushed the limit on the mug press.

RTFM SOME MORE!

The manual clearly states that the mug press needs to be cooled down after extended use. But it doesn’t really state why. So ‘reading’ the manual, can be different from understanding the process. The reason is similar to the edge effect above.

Heat and heat dissipation.

For the edge effect above, there is not enough heat to heat the part of the mug that is not covered by the heating element.

In the base effect below, the bottom of the mug acts as a heat sink drawing heat away from that area giving incomplete dye sublimation. As the whole mug press heats up over an extended time, the thermocouple thinks the ‘mug’ is actually hotter than it really is.

So after letting the heat press cool back down, per the manual, great results are easy to obtain.

As I said, the idea was for us to do mugs for our own use. Ryan Arakaki, our Advertising and Events Manager created some nice artwork for the mugs that included a round feature. However, when sublimated this round feature turned into an oval.

Yes, of course, I could have done the math to determine the amount of distortion expected on a cylindrical surface.  http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2012/bridges2012-513.pdf

And then claimed it was anamorphic art.  But instead, I just eyeballed it in Photoshop.

GET HELP FROM A PRO

So I turned these over to Andy Lewellen, our Mar-Com & Promotions Admin who actually did the real work to make our mugs. I think normally, this is where I would provide a link to the Mutoh store where you could buy these mugs, but right now the only way you can use one of these mugs is to stop by our Phoenix location and visit in person.

However, if you have any of our various dye sublimation printers from the VJ-628 Virtuoso (https://www.johnsonplastics.com/sublimation/sublimation-equipment/sublimation-printers/sawgrass-virtuoso-vj628-large-format-sublimation-printer) to the high speed 4 headed 1948WX that I used for my images, all you need is a heat press and some mugs to make your own.

Find out more about our Dye-Sublimation printers by using these links:

https://www.mutoh.com/products/valuejet-1624wx/

https://www.mutoh.com/products/rj-900x/

A PC Tech’s PC Tech – Why Consider A Fast Computer from SignBurst

Hi, my name is Earl

One of the funniest things about the show “My Name is Earl” is that he never took a photo where his eyes weren’t shut.

This seemed fitting in talking about another of my industry friends. Let me introduce you to a guy who opened my eyes to optimized PCs for the design and sign industry.

Casey Yonemura, the Graphic Design Computer Specialist at Signburst (http://signburst.com/).

Casey was working the SAI booth https://www.thinksai.com/) at ISA 2018.

The first time I met Casey was at a trade show, many years ago.

Mutoh was just focusing on car wraps and I had actually begun designing wraps for myself and Mutoh.

Mutoh is an industry leader in the car wrap field now and Mutoh sponsors Justin Pate’s Avery Wrap Classes around the country.  (https://www.mutoh.com/company/events/)

Justin’s an old friend of mine and I like to think I helped get these training classes off the ground in the early days.  (http://www.justinpate.net/)

What a Great Computer Can Do

So I was at a show and stopped by The Bad Wrap booth (https://thebadwrap.com/) where Casey was running a Photoshop demo using The Bad Wrap templates and full-size wrap designs.

It looked like a typical canned video commercial with images dragging in and being edited and popping up in the template. assumed this was all edited to look fast, because I had a pretty good PC at home and I knew my images took much, MUCH longer just to load, more to edit. was just about to keep walking when I overheard the conversation between Casey and the guy he was giving a demo to about loading another image, and I watched Casey load a full-size image into the template with a click of the mouse.

This was REAL TIME.

I had never seen anything quite like this.

And this was BEFORE SSDs and the like.

Yes, I built dozens of PCs over the years and thought I had pretty good insight on PCs, but nothing like Casey has. Stayed and watched the rest of his demo and quizzed him on how he was able to get this kind of performance out of a PC.

It boiled down to the ‘right’ quality components and his insights from contacts at Adobe and RIP companies that allowed him to optimize these PCs not only for design but for RIP performance as well.

What a Great Computer Can Do in Your Shop

I was impressed enough to do a testimonial for Casey:

Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager – Mutoh America Inc. – “I have to admit, when I first saw one of Signburst’s computers running Photoshop for vehicle wrap design at a trade show, I thought there was some trickery going on. I had never seen such large files open and process so quickly. I watched for about 20 minutes in awe as this system was working virtually in real time with huge files and many layers. We invited SignBurst to our demo room, and their computer RIP’ed files in seconds that took our in-house system minutes, truly impressive. The time savings and increased productivity for these systems can greatly benefit any production environment.”

His PCs are blazing fast, and can increase your productivity and Casey is a PC Tech’s PC Tech. Pair his computers with our already fast MUTOH printers and you just entered the good side of the Twilight Zone!

In Case You Don’t Cotton to Dye Sublimation

By Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager-MUTOH AMERICA INC

Printing on Cotton Fabric…Something to Think About

In case you don’t cotton to dye sublimation, there is always…………well………cotton.

Or wool, or even silk and other fabrics. Printing on cotton fabric with a textile printer of course just one choice.

The textile market is in a growth mode for digital printing. There is probably less than 20 percent of all textile now being printed digitally. Last stats I saw were around 3%, but talking to a supplier of single pass printers at the show, that number is growing at an incredible rate, and may currently be hovering around the 20% mark. And speaking of Mark

This is Mark Sawchak.

Expand Systems Fabric

Mark is standing behind a chair supplied to us for the ISA 2018 show (https://www.signs.org/) by Mark’s wife Ann. Mark and Ann are the driving forces behind their company Expand Systems LLC

(http://www.expandsystems.com/). And the chair they provided was a HUGE hit at the show.

The chair was covered in cotton printed directly with the pigment process and shows a wide range of color and style that direct to textile pigment printing brings to the home décor and upholstery industry.  The fabric used is Expands’ PREMex brand

of media, (http://premexsolutions.com/fabrics.html) which is a top quality line of fabrics suitable for a wide range of applications and industry.  All of our show images were printed on Expands’ PREMex linen and twill.

The following  images were printed on Expands’ PREMex linen and twill with an 8 color Mutoh inkset on the ValueJet 1938TX

Yes, I know I ranted and raved about how much attention the backlit dye sub got, but in all fairness, the combination of the chair and the backlit was THE nice attention getter and conversation starter for textiles in the Mutoh booth.

Expand Systems provides Digital Textile Printing Solutions that cover pretty much the entire gamut of digital direct printing.  From MS LaRio (http://www.msitaly.com/) printing at some 75 linear meters per minute to the entry-level and sample capable ValueJet 1938TX (https://www.mutoh.com/products/valuejet-1938tx/) printing at 7 to 28 linear meters per hour.

It still takes a minimum of fabric to make a run with a single pass printer so the ValueJet 1938TX for perfect for small runs, samples, prototyping and high resolution/ high-quality prints.

Imagine as a designer sending your latest designs overseas for sample printing, with no real control over your designs, your intellectual property.  Now imagine keeping your designs in-house and having absolute control over your ideas and designs, until production starts or product is released. All that is doable and inexpensive, with the Mutoh ValueJet 1938TX.

Perfect for Short Runs and Sampling

Want a sample,  a single image or a production facility? Mutoh has an answer. The ValueJet 1938TX is the culmination of over a decade of work around the Mutoh platform by companies like Yuhan Kimberly, Expand and Mutoh to produce an easy to use, effective, and inexpensive printer for the textile market.

You can sit on your designs (or just wear them) until YOU are ready to show the world.

If you are not ready for a printer of your own, there are many options to get your designs printed and fabric produced to make your own home décor items, craft items or just to stretch your creativity.

The Spoonflower Example

Spoonflower (https://www.spoonflower.com/) is one of Expands customers and have for years provided Spoonflower with Mutoh based textile printers for direct printing on a variety of textiles.

Spoonflower started with a single Mutoh based textile printer, and at one time had dozens of them running their production, and their orders typically fit inside a small envelope mailer – that’s how they built their business.

Some of their customers bought enough printed fabric that it made sense for them to purchase their own direct to textile and dye-sub printers and produce for themselves and other.

One of those customers is Dee Dee Davis of Décor Print, Custom Digital Textile Printing  (www.decor-print.com), who started with one Mutoh based textile printer from Expand Systems, and now has a shop that has multiple direct printers and dye sublimation to cover the full range of textile digital printing.

So with some 80% or more of textile NOT being digitally, and the rise of personalization hitting the home décor market and business branding market there is plenty of opportunities to produce and sell digitally printed textiles.

Be sure to visit our product website where we have numerous choices in textile printers available. www.mutoh.com

An arresting personality.

by Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager, MUTOH AMERICA ( FlexiSIGN)

Ok, I am not really being arrested.

Swear to you…..

Not this time, at least.

And the guy not arresting me?

Mark Rugen

Mark was working the Mutoh booth at one of the tradeshows ‘directing’passers-by into our booth and educating them about the value of our ValueJets and what Mutoh has to offer the industry.

Mark has run GiveMeHelp  (http://givemehelp.com/) for almost 3 decades providing training and education for graphic and sign making companies.

During that time he has provided Training and Education for industry leaders Seal (https://www.sealgraphics.com/us/us/home) covering their laminators and media, prior to that with Neschen Americas.

He has also provided Training and Education for the FlexiSIGN folks at SAI (https://www.thinksai.com/)

In my opinion, Mark knows more about how to operate Flexi than anyone else, even those at SAI.

Many years ago at a trade show, I had a question on vector editing in Flexi, Mark turned out to be the guy who could answer my questions when others had difficulty.

And all long before he was not arresting people at the trade shows.

If you don’t believe me check out Mark’s feed on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaYJOPWQ5mOSxvljrj-0MBqNWaXgm_Ufo&app=desktop

Mark joined Mutoh America this year to provide Training and Education to improve our already great customer support center and to provide an opportunity for new users to maximize their profitability from Mutoh Equipment.

Mark was the driving factor for the creation of these blogs, and you can expect to see much more from Mark and Mutoh in the future to give you more insight into Mutoh and the applications supported by Mutoh printing technologies.

If you are a Flexi user and want to know the ins and outs of Flexi, or want to be a Flexi user check out Marks Flexi Training from Mutoh (https://www.mutoh.com/company/events/)

On the same Events page check out the Trade Shows for an opportunity to see Mark in person.

Just don’t let him see you walking past the booth and not checking out what Mutoh has to offer….he still has that arresting personality.

Industry Leaders – Rick Hatton, Randy Anderson & Butch Anton at ISA 2018

Randy Anderson Meets with Industry Leaders at ISA 2018

I thought I’d share some things about the industry leaders I met at ISA 2018.

I wrote about Rick Hatton from Banner Ups on my blog – https://www.thinkmutoh.com/light-up-your-life-your-artwork-and-your-brand/?v=e748b7c8fd06

Rick introduced me to Keder Tape, an adhesive silicon strip for SEG frames.

So at ISA I went over to finally meet Rick and others from Banner Ups (https://bannerups.com/), and who do you think I saw working the Banner Ups ISA booth?  (https://www.signs.org/isasignexpo) Butch “Superfrog” Anton (http://www.superfrog.com/).

Butch was the first sign artist that I had met and talked with, and I don’t remember which show it was, but I remembered Butch. It has been more than a decade, but his insight and advice changed the way I looked at signs. I had always been under the impression that signage was strictly informative.

My Transformation

Being a tech guy, for me signs told me what I needed to know, but being a wannabe artist, what Butch was talking about captured my interest. Butch was displaying at the show, but mostly he was talking about what he knew – signage. Patient and understanding, I bet we talked for half an hour, I was fascinated by what he was telling me. Butch was telling me about ‘Branding’ long before I remember hearing the term in the industry. Butch explained that signage’s effective role was about not only transferring information but by capturing and creating an ‘image’ that reflects the goals behind the sign and produces an emotion that reinforces that image.

I am sure that those weren’t his exact words and I hope I am accurate enough in conveying his message.

In any case, I recommend that you reach out to Butch and Rick and take advantage of their skill sets and sage advice to improve your business and signage.

MUTOH Can Help

Here at MUTOH, I bring with me those same ideas and I am happy to report that my professional colleagues also have the same thinking about being creative in messaging. Working with MUTOH printers is also great because they have features that fit that same philosophy about creativity. When you use a MTUOH printer, you don’t have to worry about the hardware and can focus on creativity and communication, the foundation of a good sign.

Want more info about MUTOH printers?

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3 Things You Should Know About Dye Sublimation

By Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager-MUTOH AMERICA INC

Key Takeaway

• Getting started in Dye Sublimation is not difficult.
• Dye sublimation is limited only by your imagination.
• Only coated substrates can be used in the dye sublimation process.
• You will need the right printer and heat press.
• MUTOH has a full range of printers for any size dye sublimation project or business.

Dye Sublimation Is Cool!

MUTOH 1638WX Dye Sublimation Printer

A dye–sublimation printer is a printer which prints dye sublimation inks either onto an ink receptive paper or direct to coated polyester fabrics.

Why is this cool?

It’s cool because you can do so much with this process. The applications are limitless, and we will show you that in our next section.

The other reason it is cool is that it’s not that hard to get started. Of course, you need the right printer and that choice can vary significantly. We’ll show you some guidelines to help you there. You’ll also need a way to transfer the dye from the sublimation media to your substrate. Typically, that is a heat press or calendar of some kind. You’ll also need to consider what applications you’ll try to create.

So, let’s start with some basics.

1.    Probably Your Biggest Limitation is Your Imagination.

Want to make clothing, sportswear, and swimsuits – dye sublimation to polyester fabric. Clothing accessories? Belts Buckles, pins, scarves, hats, caps, and neckties – there is a dye sublimation application and blanks for all of those.

Anything that can be coated with polyester or a suitable dye sub receptive coating & subjected to the heat of dye-sub can become a dye-sub creation.

Bags, purses, phone and pad cases and covers, custom tennis shoes (and of course socks) for your clothing or unique flip-flops to go with your swimsuit, dye sublimation can do that and more.

Want to create custom flooring or wall tiles with either a design or photo – dye sublimation on coated tiles. Want some custom curtains or maybe some custom upholstery to match or accent your custom floor or tiles, there is a dye sublimation application for that.

Want some custom plates or coffee mugs to fit in the kitchen with your custom tiles, you might even want some custom coasters for that mug, you can store those next to a cutting board with custom, towels, aprons and baby bibs.

Awards and personalized gifts, and so many, many more, with more coming out every year.

Want to read the other 2 critical concepts in dye-sublimation that you should know? Just fill out this form to get the full article for free!

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The MUTOH Advantage

Why not take advantage of the features of MUTOH printers? They are loaded with easy to use maintenance options as well as options to keep going even when issues do come up. MUTOH has the best reputation in service, repair, and training with experts on staff with years of industry experience. Visit our website to see all the advantages of a MUTOH. www.mutoh.com