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From: hgm@ccvr1.ncsu.edu (Hal G. Meeks)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.multimedia
Subject: Re: Heat transfering
Message-ID: <1991Feb7.133326.18412@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Date: 7 Feb 91 13:33:26 GMT
References: <%98+Q9*@irie.ais.org> <703@tnc.UUCP> <1F!-6W*@irie.ais.org>
Reply-To: hgm@ccvr1.ncsu.edu (Hal G. Meeks)
Organization: NCSU Computing Center
Lines: 57

My admittedly limited experience with heat transfer ribbons is that they are
not really durable enough for commercial production. Also, I suspect that the
cost of using heat transfer ribbons does not compare favorably to plain old
silk screening. I recieved an announcement a year or so ago from Software
Sensations (makers of SView and Inky Dink Inks for inkjet printers) that
they were coming out with a thermal transfer ink for inkjets. Never heard
anything else, though. 

However, for small batches of custom t-shirts, there are a couple of
alternatives. 

There was a place locally that used a canon color copier to make a thermal
transfer. I could bring if a reversed printout from my Xerox 4020, and they
could make a copy of it on a coated paper. Since the "toner" in a color
copier is actually a thermally activated plastic, printing a copy on a
suitably slick paper means that you can reheat the toner, and hopefully lift
the design off the paper. 

Results were a very good copy of the original. Durability is surprisingly
good. I was told to wash the shirt in cold water, and not to dry it. While I
normally wash all my clothes in cold water, I also habitually throw everything
in the dryer. It's held up fine so far, with minimal cracking after 6
months. 

The place has recently gone out of business, so now I'm trying to find a
source for the transfer paper. Color copiers are relatively common; there is
a place down the street that will do 8x11 copies for $1.00; legal size is
about $1.50. 

The other alternative is to use your amiga to do color separations, via
PixMate or TAD, print out the separations, and find a place that will do 4
color process screen printing. Some places will do a run as small as 20
shirts at a time. While this is admittedly more expensive, it still is a
little cheaper than having to have someone do custom artwork for you. 

For simple one-off designs, I've been playing with this goop that resembles
elmer's glue. It's available at any craft store. The idea is that you take
your artwork (laserwriter or copier output preferred), smear this stuff on
it, and then press it down on your target shirt. After it dries (about 24
hours), you soak the shirt in water, and the paper backing falls apart,
leaving your design. 

It's a little tricky to use, but it's possible to get good results. And the
stuff is cheap; $1.30 for a bottle that is enough for three shirts. 

I'd still like to find a source for the thermal transfer paper for
copiers/laser printers though. If anyone has any leads, I'd be very
appreciative. 


--hal

--
hgm@ccvr1.cc.ncsu.edu	"..now that Mac way of doing things has taken hold, 
netoprhm@ncsuvm.bitnet   will we ever be able to get rid of it?" 
		         Alan McKay  "User Interface, A personal view"