Instructions to print using the direct to garment printer.
A membership or day pass is required to access Digital Textiles. The following Shop Safety Class is required to access the direct to garment printer and dye sublimation printer:
You can make machine reservations in the following ways:
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
• Sturdy, close-toed shoes must be worn at all times in all shops.
For more information on shop safety visit Digital Textiles under "Safety."
It can take up to 5 minutes for the DTG to start up.
The machine may ask you to shake the white ink. You can access the white ink by opening the left compartment.
Pull out the white inks.
DO NOT TOUCH THE MICROCHIP ON THE BACK OF THE INK!
Slowly shift the container back and forth on each side for 10 seconds.
Repeat with other white ink.
DO NOT TOUCH THE MICROCHIP ON THE BACK OF THE INK!
After shaking both white inks press "OK."
It’ll take about 15-20 minutes for the machine to reset. You can use this time to pretreat or heat press your substrate.
(Recommended) Perform a Nozzle Check before printing to ensure print quality.
Press the maintenance button on the machine.
Select “Nozzle check”.
Make sure the platen is set to P and the platen is clean and clear.
You may print the nozzle check directly onto the platen, or you can tape a piece of paper onto the center of the platen. Press start.
Examine the barcode.
If the barcode that prints looks “off”, Check the platen height, you’ll may need to raise it. If there are breaks in the barcode printed still, you’ll need to do a head cleaning. Please see the following section to perform a head cleaning.
Select "Head Cleaning" and press the right arrow button to select it.
Select the up and down arrow keys to chose "Selected Nozzles" or "All Nozzles."
Chose "Selected Nozzles" when the faint lines or gaps are only present on specific print heads. Go to step 4.
Chose "All Nozzles" when the faint lines or gaps are present accross the entire barcode. Go to step 5.
Use the up and down arrow keys to select the print heads you would like to clean. Click "OK" to confirm your selections.
You can now chose the level of cleaning to perform: light, medium, or heavy. Typically a light or medium cleaning will suffice.
The printer will automatically clean the selected print heads to clear any clogs.
After a head cleaning you will want to repeat steps 8-13 from the "Turn On and Setup the Direct to Garment Printer SOP."
If several light or medium cleanings do not produce a clear barcode then you may perform a heavy cleaning.
You have successfully performed a head cleaning!
DO NOT open the printer and touch anything. If the print is still wrong after a head cleaning please see a Community Technician!