Impressions - Digital Decorator - Summer 2015 - 17

to allow a similar amount of space for the
pretreatment machine and room for one
or more heat presses, depending on the
volume you'll be producing. Th is likely
will total an area of at least 10' x 10'.
You also will have to factor in whether
your printer will be on a table or on its own
stand. Your layout, workflow and planned
volume/throughput should be an important part of your pre-visit conversations
with the installer.
Most DTG machines run on 110 volts
so a standard outlet will suffice. However,
you should map out where your outlets are
and make sure you won't be overloading a
line. A DTG printer, pretreatment machine
and two heat presses are a lot to run on the
same circuit, especially at the same time.
Some machines also may have issues if
the heat press and printer are on the same
circuit. It is always recommended to have
a dedicated line for each to prevent lowvoltage issues.
I recommend putting the heat press on
a separate line, especially if you're using
multiple presses. That way you won't pop
a circuit and lose power in the middle of a
print and have to run it again.
The value of on-site training is that it's
on your site. It encompasses and addresses
the exact variables you'll be dealing with
on a day-to-day basis. To take full advantage of this, you need to be prepared to
discuss the specifics of your situation with
the trainer.
The installer will bring some fi les that
run through the set-up process and possibly samples of properly pretreated shirts,
but you should have some fi les that are
specific to your job types or styles ready to
test. It's not a bad idea to send the fi les to
the installer before his site visit so he can
prepare recommendations.
The main value of printing prepared
artwork on supplied, already pretreated
garments, is to show you what the machine
can do and provide a standard to measure
your output against. No matter how amazing these samples are, they won't do you
much good if they're not the type of thing
you'll be printing or that your customers
are asking for. It's preferable to use one of
your typical jobs to show what you want to
get out of the machine and figure out how
to do it.
It's important that the trainer see not
only the artwork you plan to print, but also
A SUPPLEMENT TO IMPRESSIONS

On-site training is ideal because it will address the exact variables you
will be dealing with in your shop. The more information the trainer has
about the speciﬁ cs of the type of jobs you will be doing and type of shirts
you want to use, the better. Photo courtesy of Stahls', St. Clair Shores, Mich.

Training is often available along with professional installation and may be
included in the price of the package or charged for separately, depending on the manufacturer. Photo courtesy of Stahls', St. Clair Shores, Mich.

SUMMER 2015 § 17

Impressions - Digital Decorator - Summer 2015

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