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ripAnswer: The settings in your Photoshop in the color management section should be "Let Printer Handle Colors", and the rendering intent setting should be set to PERCEPTUAL, not Relative Colormetric. Also when sending the image to the printer, first you must select the DTG Kiosk with White ink as the printer to print to, once you select this printer as your intended output device, you will need to go to PAGE SETUP and once in there you would then navigate to PROPERTIES and then ADVANCED. This will open up the Rip settings where we can select the correct interpreters of our image so the RIP software can match what we have on our screen. In the Printer Features section of these advanced settings, you will find the Source Profiles for RGB images as well as CMYK images, it is important that you select the correct interpreters here so the Rip can accurately decipher the correct language of our postscript code to closely match the colors and resolutions of our image. The correct source profile for RGB images should be set to NTSC 1953, and not the defaulted value of Rip-Default, and the correct interpreter for all CMYK images is NONE. Make sure these are set and the settings in Adobe Photoshop for color handling are set as well as the printer is selected to handle color and not the software. I hope this information is understandable and helps to get your blues to work more closely to what your intended color is. Also one other thing make sure that in the printer features of the advanced settings, that you have photo normal selected instead of Vivid Darker. Choosing Vivid Darker will saturate more color into your image instead of normal ink output. This setting "Vivid Darker" is only intended for printing on terry or thicker substrates where more ink saturation is required.    Buy the DTG RIP Pro Version 6 Upgrade here Read a review on the DTG RIP Pro here

The next move would be to write down the hex code (or take a picture), turn off the machine, then figure out why there is a wire hanging. The wire may not have anything to do with the problem, so keep an open mind. it sure sounds like the sort of thing which can cause that sort of problem. Wires generally are cut to fit, so there is probably only one option to where the wire is intended to go.

ANSWER: When that message is showing and the levers are down hit the pause button once quickly and just wait! If the resetter is not getting a green light you will need to reset the chip until it does. If it won't reset, one possiblity is to clean the chip with a pencil eraser. The chips can be damaged by static so make sure to ground yourself before resetting them.. Also if the cartridge is not sitting perfectly in the slot so that the chip aligns with the pins, gently move it until the square is solid on the printer display and slowly lower the levers while holding it in place.

ANSWER: When encountering the servo error there are a few things you can try ( though if the power supply failing is the problem this won't work.) Turn off printer and base. Carefully clean and lube the rails. Clean the screw drive from the very front all the way to the very back, and then lube generously especially where it connects at the front and at the back and printer. Turn base on and wait 1 minute, then turn printer on and wait one minute. Press the green button and see if it will move forward /back without servo error. It is possible you might need to manually turn the screw drive to move the printer home- then turn on in sequence, you can try it again. If this does not work you can also loosen the rail screws and try to run the printer forward and back with the rails loose. If this has success, then very gently tightening them back, run it forward and back and see if the servo error remains gone- if not loosen more again.

When you talk about having ink flow issues with just one channel, it tends to be one of the following issues: - Problem with the ink cartridge / bottle or the height of the bottle to the print head if it is a gravity feed system. - A crack or a seal in the ink tube line - A blockage in the damper or the damper not seated properly. - A damage print head Since it is only 1 channel, I would not expect it to be a problem with the maintenance station. But you may want to make sure that this is very clean as well. Since it is a new print head, I will leave that option alone as well. Do you have the same problem if you put your cleaning cartidge into this channel? Just trying to eliminate that the cartridge or bottle is not the problem. Have you tried to use a syringe to gently pull the ink from the bottom of the damper to cartridge? The reason why I ask is the damper is basically a small resevior of ink that the print head will use to pull ink from. If there is a clog in the damper, then you will have resistance with getting ink from it. Just replace the damper. If replacing the damper does not work, then there might be a clog or airblock from the ink line to the cartridge. If you are able to get ink out through the damper, then you might not be putting the damper in properly (some people call this seating the damper). Make sure there is an o-ring at the bottom of the damper that makes a tight seal with the print head. You might need to clean the bottom of the damper and where is goes into the print head for it to create a tight seal. ------------------ I did trim a small amount of the line where it connects to the elbow, thinking that maybe it had a crack in it. That didn't change much as far as I can tell. I ordered some new cartridges today from Dan and I hope that will help with the flow. It does seem a little harder to manually plunge ink up from the cyan cartridge than the others, but it is hard to tell just by gauging the pressure I have to put on it. I forgot to mention that I got all new dampers with the new head, so I don't think the dampers would be an issue. Of course, a defective one cannot be ruled out I guess. ------------------- Sounds like you are covering the standard items. There is the slight chance that it might have something to do with the ink. I have not heard of anyone else complaining about any type of ink in a long time. I know a lot of users like to strain their ink before putting it into the cartridges. If the ink was bad, putting new dampers or a print head into the printer would not resolve the problem. But again, I have not heard any problems with the ink in a long time. --------- You said that there are some cyan nozzles firing when you do a nozzle check. Are they consistent between multiple nozzle checks? If they are than that tells me it most likely is in the head. If they vary between nozzle checks than it could a damper or ink starvation issue. I have had incidence where I replaced dampers and they failed from the start. You can try checking the damper and if it is hard to pull through or the ink doesnt pull through smoothly almost like it sputters than it is probably a the damper. If you are unsure try pulling with another damper. The in should flow smoothly into the syringe with very little effort when you pull back on the plunger. Also check the nib in the bay. Make sure that it is not caked with dried ink. If it is get a foam swab with a little bit of CPS or cleaning solution and clean it of. As for the difference in why the print head pulls ink when your cleaning but may not fire when you try to print is because when you do a clean the capping station is actually pulling the ink through the head. The print head works by a process called piezoelectriciy or micro-piezo. In a nutshell this is when electricity is sent to a piezo material usually made of crystal or ceramic. When this happens these materials can expand. In side of the head there are channels were the ink is feed. On the walls of these channels is the piezo material. So when the printer is told to fire it sends electricity to that material which expand pushing just the right amount of ink threw the nozzle. This process allows for greater control of the droplet size and produces very little heat among many other benefits. Now I may be off a little bit but if you would like to learn more you can check out this website which is very informative on the process and its many uses.  

The only reason for the model change was that Epson had to alter the magenta ink, doing so caused an issue with potential clogging so they coated the head to over come the issue. The performance between the 2 are identical. There have been some quirks with the ink protection software that could cause the end user grief on the 4480 platform. Using the 4800 print engine is still desirable for these applications at this time since it's been put into practice for a few years now. If there was an appreciable difference between the 2 print engines more energy would be directed toward it. If your not going to be using Epson vivid M,C then there really is no advantage only potential problems with the ink counters. So the 4800 will be the preferred print engine until the ink counter systems among other systems within become stable on the 4880.

DTG is committed to providing you with the most up to date information regarding the processes surrounding the evolution and development of the Direct To Garment printing process. The information provided below will give some additional and most current information for the best methods of application and process to give you the best prints and wash-ability.  

Pros and Cons of Printing Dark Shirts So, you’ve decided to add a direct to garment printer to your existing apparel decoration business or even to start a business based on direct to garment printing.  One of the first things to consider is the marketplace you will be selling to – simple example – are you selling to motorcycle clubs that require Harley Davidson style shirts?  If so, no doubt you will be printing a lot of black shirts – white ink is a necessity.  Unfortunately, not all situations are that cut and dried. When you are considering whether your garment printer should have the ability to print on dark garments you should know and weigh the pros and cons.  Why is this so important?  Some printers, like the Brother GT 541 Digital Garment Printer, the Mimaki garment printer and the Sawgrass Direct Advantage printer do not offer a white ink solution at this time.  Other printers, like the DTG line of t-shirt printing machines, the Fast T-Jet machines by US Screen Printing and the Flexi-Jet garment ink jet printer offer white ink either as standard or an option.  By determining whether white ink is necessary for your business up front, you can quickly narrow your choices and save time researching printers that do not fit your needs.  Surveys of t-shirt blank distributors confirm that a full 70% of the t-shirts they sell for decoration are NOT white. What exactly are the pros and cons of using digital t-shirt printers with white ink?  Let’s look at the cons first: printing with white ink costs more o       true – you will generally spend as little as 20-25 cents to print a white shirt and $2 or more to print the same image on a dark shirt o       just as in any other type t-shirt printing or decoration – the more it costs to produce, the more you need to charge o       false – for short run jobs, the added ink costs far outweigh the costs of  separations, films, screens, and setup associated with traditional screen printing printing with white ink is not as fast as printing a light shirt o       true – when compared to printing the same image on a light colored garment with no white ink, when you have to print 2 layers as opposed to one it stands to reason that it will take longer o       false – when compared with the time associated with traditional screen printing setup – short run orders done with a digital t-shirt printer can seem amazingly fast printing with white ink is more difficult than printing white shirts o       true – as above, when compared to printing on light garments without white ink, dark garments are more difficult, that being said, the perception of difficulty is more based on the ease of not using white in than on the difficulty of using white ink o       false – as in all methods of garment decoration, once you have learned how to properly do something, it becomes a matter of consistent repetition printing with white ink requires more maintenance o       true – as the white ink used in all digital garment printers has different properties than the color inks, you will need to do a bit more maintenance than you will on a machine without white ink. o       the difference in required/recommended maintenance between a machine with white ink and one without is literally only a few minutes a day – a small price to pay for potentially increasing your customer base by a factor of 3 to 4 Now, let’s look at the pro’s of printing with white ink with your digital textile press By offering white ink printing on your dtg printer – you are equipped to handle all colors of garments your customer will request o       true - literally 70% of the imprinted t-shirts sold every year are not white and may require at least some white ink o       you can always try to “sell” your customer on using a lighter color garment that does not require white ink – the problem with this is that you risk upsetting your client o       this is really THE reason for buying a machine with white ink – if you are not willing to give up potentially 70% of the business that is out there and don’t want to send your customers “somewhere else” to get their dark garments printed, you need white ink. When it comes down to it, if you feel that you can keep your digital garment printer busy full time just printing light colored garments – then the decision should be easy.  If, on the other hand, you are like the majority of direct to garment printer owners, you will find that there are times when the light shirt business is not booming – then printing with white ink can be a saving grace.  Even if you do not want to print with white ink immediately, it is a good idea to buy a direct to garment printer that will allow you to print with white when you are ready.  The DTG line of digital t-shirt printers can be configured to print with or without white ink and changed at any point to fit your needs.    

  Here’s the scoop!         Everyone in this industry finds themselves taking on more and more things than ever before.  Little league baseball, soccer, cheerleading, Relay for Life, Cancer walks, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the list goes on and on.  Every one of these demands some sort of customized garments – no matter how large or small.  With traditional screen printing, the customer has always had to make a decision between number of colors and pricing.  Screen printers generally charge so much per color for setup and again for printing as well as a sliding scale based on the number of shirts ordered.  The long and short of it is, the more colors and the less shirts needed, the more dearly one can expect to pay.  Enter digital t shirt printing with a direct to garment printer.      With a direct to garment printer, number of colors is no longer an issue.  The artist is free to design without constraints and not have to worry about limited colors.  It will also open up the range of shirt sizes that can be printed without additional charges for setup.  This means you can offer your customers shirts that have art proportioned to the size of the shirt for no extra fee.      Another benefit of a direct to garment printer is that there is no need for an experienced employee who knows how to color separate, burn and reclaim screens as well as register colors.  Anyone who can consistently operate a graphics program and regular desktop printer can be trained to operate a digital t shirt printer.

Keep your DTG Kiosk running smoothly by making daily nozzle checks a routine. Catching potential clogs early is key to preventing damage to the print head. Don't wait for issues to surface in your prints; regular checks ensure consistent performance for your direct-to-substrate printer. Stay proactive and maintain top-notch results