DirectAdvantage Printer from Sawgrass: Direct To Garment Printing

White Ink Direct to Garment Printing

Important Things to Know Before You Buy a White Ink System

White ink is a bit like the holy grail of digital garment printing. There is a high level of interest in this process, because it promises to replace screen printing on dark colored garments. White ink can be used as an under-base for colored prints or to create highlights. It can also be used a solid spot color. The thought of no screens or complicated setup is pretty enticing. When white ink systems were first introduced, many consumers rushed into this new technology without any idea of the issues associated with printing white ink on dark garments, This resulted in a great number of dissatisfied and in some cases, outraged users. With the upcoming release of the new Sawgrass White Ink system for the DirectAdvantage printer, Digital Art Solutions believes that it is critical that potential owners have an understanding of the issues associated with printing white ink on dark garments. In general, printing on light or white garments is a very straightforward and easy process. This is not the case with printing on dark garments with white ink. It is a complex multi-step process, with slow print times, precise art preparation and requires disciplined maintenance of the printer. This does not mean that it is not a viable solution for some users, but compared to the ease and profitability of printing on white and light garments, printing on darks may not be for everyone.

Technical Challenges of Printing White Ink

White ink has been a pretty difficult nut to crack for a number of reasons. First of all, in order to create enough opacity to cover a dark garment, the ink requires a dense pigment, typically Titanium Dioxide the same pigment used in white screen printing ink. This is also the same chemical used in sunscreens to protect your skin from harmful UV radiation. The Piezo print heads used in most garment printing systems were not designed to work with Titanium Dioxide pigments. In order to spray through a print head, the pigment must be ground up into microscopic granules and suspended in a solvent or water-based liquid. In order to suspend the pigment in a liquid it must be properly mixed, usually through a high speed centrifuge or similar process. Two major challenges with white ink are shelf life and opacity. In order to have enough opacity to create good coverage, the ink needs more pigment. The more pigment, the more difficult it is to spray through an inkjet print head. The other challenge is shelf life. Once the ink sits, the pigments settle out of suspension and no amount of shaking or stirring is going to get them back into their original shape. The net result can be ruined ink, ruined print heads or inconsistent quality. There are quite a few complicated chemistry lessons involved, but let’s suffice to say this is a very difficult challenge and every leading textile ink company is working on a better solution. This includes multi-national companies like Roman-Haas and Dupont that produce the white ink for most manufacturers. Sawgrass Technologies is the industry leading producer of inks for sublimation and direct to garment printing. When Sawgrass decided to develop a white ink printing system for the DirectAdvantage printer, they chose to not release their white ink system until it was proven that their proprietary ink chemistry would not result in the maintenance and reliability problems that have plagued other manufacturers.

Expectations are the Key

Expectations are everything. With the right expectations, you can be successful with any system. The technology is evolving, but it has not matured to the point where it is viable solution for production oriented printing. Printing on dark garments is good solution for small production runs. The process is not well-suited to one of designs because the complexity of the art preparation process may require several test prints in order to dial in a design. Based upon feedback from users of existing white ink systems, the long production times have a tendency to make large runs over a couple of dozen units impractical. Screen printing is still the best solution for large production runs on dark garments due to a significantly lower cost and higher production rate. It is critical that any potential owner of a white ink printing system compare the business opportunity for printing on whites and light garments with printing white ink on dark garments.
Here are some realistic numbers:

Cost and Profit of producing artwork on white garments
number of shirts that can be completed in one hour	25	25 x 10.00 = $250.00 profit 25 x 2.00 = $50.00 cost
wholesale price of shirts	$10.00 each
net cost per shirt with ink	$2.00 each
Total Net Profit	$200.00 per hour

Cost and Profit of producing artwork on dark garments
number of shirts that can be completed in one hour	6	6 x 15.00 = $90.00 profit 6 x 5.00 = $30.00 cost
wholesale price of shirts	$15.00 each
net cost per shirt with ink	$5.00 each
Total Net Profit not including spoilage	$60.00 per hour
Spoilage rate	-10%
Total Net including spoilage	$54.00 per hour

The numbers are crystal clear. Printing on whites and lights is as much as 4 times more profitable than printing on darks using white ink. The return on investment is going to be significantly quicker print on light and white garments. Each potential owner of a direct to garment printing system has to carefully consider how they are going to use the printer to maximize their return on investment. The most successful users will focus the majority of their business on large production runs and one-offs on white and light garments and use their dark garment capability as a tool to augment their business with small runs on dark garments.

Import Questions to Ask Before Purchasing a White Ink Printing System

1. Are you prepared to go through a lengthy seven step process to produce an imprint on a dark garment using white ink?

Step One: Prepare electronic artwork suitable to the process in a graphics program.
Step Two: Prepare the artwork for production by using a proprietary software program to create a white under base layer that is printed first and a white highlight layer which is printed last.
Step Three: Export or transfer the electronic artwork file to an external RIP (Raster Image Processing) software that will process the image and assign the colors in the image to the various print heads on the machine.
Step Four: Pre-treat the garment by spraying a pre-treatment chemical on the garment with a sprayer and then heat pressing the garment to dry the pre-treatment chemical. Pre-treatment allows the garment to be receptive to the white ink. Some systems require several pre-treatment steps.
Step Four: Using the RIP software, the white ink is sent to the printer to create a white under base. Some systems require multiple passes to create a proper underbase.
Step Five: Using the RIP software, the colored ink is sent to the printer to create the graphical image. Some systems require multiple color passes to create a suitable image.
Step Six: Using the RIP software, another layer of white ink is sent to the printer to create a white highlight which enhances the appearance of the image. Some printers are capable of printing the white highlight in the same pass as the colors.
Step Seven: Once the garment is printed, the ink is cured using a screen printing dryer or heat transfer press.

Most equipment suppliers are quoting production rates of between 6 and 8 garments per hour. This does not include art preparation, misprints, machine maintenance or RIP times. Based on feedback from existing users of white ink systems, real-world production rates are often significantly lower than the rates quoted by machine distributors. White ink printing is not a high production process. It is also not a process suited to one off prints due to the potential for misprints resulting from improper art preparation. If you are considering a printer, ask the reseller to walk you through the process of setting up and printing one of your own images. This is the only way you are going to get a realistic expectation of the process.

2. Are you prepared to ruin multiple shirts due to the numerous test prints required to dial in an image with the proper white under base, highlight layer and color correction?

Many resellers do not disclose a spoilage rate. Printing on dark garments is a complex process. Everything must go right in order for you to produce a quality image. The spoilage rate will have a direct image on your cost per print and must be factored in to your pricing structure.

3. Do you have a realistic expectation of the true operating costs of the printer as well as the estimated cost per print?

Not only do you have to factor in ink costs and spoilage rates, but you also need to factor in the costs of labor maintaining the machine as well as replacing print heads. The cost per print on a dark garment with white ink is often three of four times as much as printing on a light garment.

4. Do you have a realistic expectation of the type of artwork that can be produced using a white ink system?

The best image you are ever going to see is the sample presented by the person selling you the printer. These are often carefully prepared sample prints that are designed to show off the capabilities of the printer. Not every type of image is suitable to the process. If you have specific types of artwork that you are planning to produce, ask the sales person to print some of your images.

5. Are you confident that the net result of the printed image will be acceptable to your clients and will produce good wash durability?

Direct to garment prints have a different appearance and hand than a traditional screen print. They do not have a heavy plastisol feel like a screen printed athletic print. The process is better suited to images that emulate simulated process screen prints. If you are considering a printer for athletic printing, you need to evaluate samples from your reseller. Also, direct to garment prints do not have true white appearance like a screen print. Images appear to be off-white or grey. You also need to stretch the printed sample to evaluate if the level of cracking will be acceptable to your clients. The most important test is to bring a shirt home and wash it at least five times.

6. Do you have the art production skills to create the type of artwork that is appropriate for producing images using a white ink system?

This is exactly the same type of art that is required for simulated process printing on dark garments. Not every graphic will work, this knowledge comes from experience. You have to have high-level art production skills to produce the types of graphics that you are seeing as samples form your reseller. If you do not have the skills to produce the graphics, then you will need to rely on an outside graphics service to produce them for you. You have to consider the art production costs required to produce the graphic into your production costs for each job. Any image, including most vector art, is ideally suited to light garment printing.

7. Are you prepared to go through the daily maintenance procedure required to reduce clogged heads and damage to the machine?

The Titanium Dioxide metal that is used to create white ink is abrasive and the ink particles are prone to clogging print heads. Without a rigorous daily maintenance schedule, the heads will clog and will need to be replaced. You have to be committed to daily maintenance even if you don’t print every day. The machine should be flushed and some suppliers require cleaning cartridges to be placed in the printer if it is not being used for extended periods. White inks systems have considerably more maintenance requirements that standard ink systems for light garments.

8. Are you prepared to have down time when the heads of the machine are clogged and you require warranty service or tech support?

If you are not printing, you are not making money. White inks systems are more prone to equipment failure than systems designed to print on light garments. You have to factor in potential down time when printing orders with tight deadlines. Warranty support is critical with any direct to garment printer, but especially so with white ink systems.

9. Are you prepared to incur the expense of replacing print heads?

Printer heads are a consumable on all direct to garment printers. Print heads are going to wear out much faster on a white ink system due to the chemistry of the inks. Replacing print heads can be a challenging process for less technical users. You need to be prepared to “get under the hood” more frequently with a white ink system.

10. Are you trying to replace screen printing on dark garments or are focusing on short production runs or one offs?

If the ultimate goal of white ink systems is to eliminate the traditional setup costs and expertise required to screen print on dark garments, then a white ink system may not be the best solution. This is not a process for the meek. The setup process, spoilage rate and long print times are not suited for short production run work or one-offs. If you can tolerate the long print times, print quality, spoilage rates and wash durability, the process is better suited to small production runs from 6-24 garments. You have to ask yourself if you are able to devote 4 hours of production time to printing 24 shirts using a white ink system. Most reputable suppliers will recommend screen printing for longer production runs due to the much lower cost per print and run times of the job. You can not expect to produce an imprint that will emulate a screen print. Direct to garment printing on dark garments is a different process and will produce a different result.

11. Who do you intend to market the garments that you print with white ink?

There is no question that there is a market demand for printing on dark garments. You have to weigh the limitations of the process against the potential market opportunities. Printing on light garments ideally suited to larger production runs, one-offs and onsite printing at events. This is not the case with dark garment printing. Before you make the jump, you have to ask yourself, “How am I going to be able to recoup my investment and turn this into a profitable venture?”

12. Have you talked to other owners of the system or researched the experience of customers on the Internet?

One of the best tools for researching a direct to garment printer is the Internet. You can simply search for postings on user forums regarding a printer you are looking at. Conduct a Google search for “problem with brand X” or “on a printer that you are considering. The information you turn up with help you to make an educated buying decision.

The following web sites have user forums with feedback from existing owners of white ink systems:

http://www.digitsmith.com/
http://boards.screenprinters.net/
http://www.screenprintinguniversity.com/forums/
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/

DirectAdvantage Direct to Garment Printing

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