Machine Expertise
Become proficient operating the machine. Allow plenty of practice time, as with any new equipment or technology. Far too often customers tell me they have a huge order to produce the day the new machine arrives. Unless you’ve operated a direct-to-garment printer before, this is an unreasonable expectation, and will likely cause much more frustration than well printed garments.
Artwork
A direct-to-garment printer is a sophisticated piece of equipment, capable of reproducing exactly what you send from your computer. That means either perfect reproduction of a high resolution well-built art file, or perfectly reproducing a low resolution, bad image. The printer gives you back exactly what you send it, whether good or bad.
Learn the basics of an art program like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, or a similar program. The higher your proficiency, the easier it will be to prepare your artwork for printing. There are plenty of professional graphic designers in this industry who would love to do contract work for you. In the end, what always separates one direct-to-garment company from the next is the quality of their graphics.
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