DTG: Improved Printing On T-shirts

[Jeff German] improved upon his DIY direct to garment printer an ended up with a machine he thinks is equivalent to anything you can buy commercially. We last looked in on this project in June but much has been done since then. Most notably, there are build instructions available (requires login). [Jeff’s] printer is based around an Epson R1900 plus the base that holds and feed a garment. Take a look after the break to see it printing full color designs in high resolution. From the YouTube description it sounds like he wants to go into production with this. Kudos to him for also sharing the build techniques.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLlzSXmS7Mk&w=470]

21 thoughts on “DTG: Improved Printing On T-shirts

  1. That is pretty sweet I must say. Kudos man! When i saw the pull out rails. I thought they were server rails. Im wondering if some used server rails would be a bit better since they’re made to be hold a lot more weight than drawers. HP rails have always been pretty smooth and easy to rackmount, as apposed to stupid SUN rails.

  2. “there are build instructions available (requires login)”

    login for instructions?! that’s almost as bad as instructibles. while the project is pretty cool, any site that locks people out of information is LAAAAME. R.I.P. internet.

  3. This kind of process can be used for pcb printing. It can print very accurate at any thickness. Rollers can always get stuck or jammed. If it’s good for textile it will work for pcb.
    Maybe I will make something like this.

  4. While this is clearly awesome, It would be nice to know other similar printers for which this setup(with some adjustments) would work. The Epson R1900 It’s a really expensive printer and puts this kind of project out of reach for a lot of people.

    I think that a “base” generic project and community updated “how to use X printer” could be very useful.

    Anyway, I’ll provably try to adapt Jeff German to use a cheaper printer this christmas if I’m not too busy with college.

  5. Bad title tho.. While it may be an improvement on Digital t-shirt printing, the title suggest it is an improvement to t-shirt printing in general.
    until DTG can print foil, puff, glow in the dark, color changing photochromatic,swede, high density, neon, crystalline, metallic and other inks.. or match the durability of screen printing..
    it’s not improved t-shirt printing.

  6. hey guys thanks for the nice words regarding my printer project.. the printer is a r1900 base same as most current commercial model bases!! i worked with the manufacturer to create a custom rip for the off the shelf r1900 printer (no additional firmware) eukondigital (ekrip) it uses four cmyk channels and four white channels or it can be run with dual cmyk!!! you can also run different inks thru this particular head ie eco solvents/solvents..you will need to change out the capping station hoses to accept the different ink.. google direct color systems and you will see they have a 1900 base solvent printer for signs banners etc its called the direct color systems1324.. the printer is about 500 and the rip software is about 800 and the parts to build about 200!!! this is not cheap but is a profesional commercial quailty grade!! In comparison current commercial printers of its equal start at 16,000 and go up from there!!! hope its off some use to many!!!

    regards

  7. check out r1900 build without even disconnecting any wires how to fix paperfeed how to get rid of two yellow lights look for plans and complete units soon gauranteed the easiest build around!!!!!

  8. If any is still alive and can send me a copy of the PDF then please help. I am in hong Kong and really do not want to order a Chinese built machine when I could try to build one myself. :-)

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