 We're testing out direct-to-film printing on a bunch of materials today, and we'll show you what we learned and how we did it right now What is up a welcome back? Do you like to do a builder to make it so to week and we have a new video each week this week? We're learning a little bit more about our direct-to-film printer Yes, and what better way to learn than to do some testing so we have lots of materials today we're gonna print out an image for each one share our settings and then We're gonna press them live on this recorded video for you right now What did we learn so far so far? We learned that we cannot or it's not a great option to use our Cricut easy press We do need a heat press and like I said last week we have one on order But until then our friends next door at Townsend screen printing have loaned us an automatic heat press So we'll be using that today this one we can set the pressure and we can dial that in to make sure that we have that heavy Pressure that we're looking for it is a big pneumatic thing. It is it is heavy It comes with a little cart right here beside us. So we're gonna use that for pressing today We also learned that we went out of town over the weekend the printer sat and Those printheads will get clogged easily. Yeah, the white printhead clogs easily So you want to make sure that you print on a regular basis like we're gonna try printing daily To make sure that those printheads do not get clogged and it had we're gonna keep that white Stirring yeah, that white's got a stir. It will separate very quickly It has a separate motor on the printer So that will stay on and we will keep that white stirring and then we'll do a quick print every day of something Just to make sure we don't clog those printheads and we keep the thing printing as Efficiently as possible We've already printed all of our images But we changed one thing in our print settings each time just to see how they would turn out and for the first project metal We noticed that a JPEG That's this one didn't seem to work as well as a PNG It didn't pick up all the colors They're actually missing there's missing inks down here at the bottom. It's actually yeah, maybe that's better only in the banner though So we think it's a color that it didn't pick up maybe like pure white It didn't pick up pure white or something something along those lines But we printed it again from a PNG and it worked perfectly Yeah, I just re-exported it as a PNG and it works perfectly. All right, let's give it a go. So test number one Metal we're gonna put this candy shop on this piece of metal. It's like I don't know tin something you pick up at the craft store We found it in the clearance bin The printer settings that we used for the metal print was white at 1440 by 1440 color 1440 by 1440 that's the resolution we used the image type photograph our dot size was medium and large The color settings were a 65 percent color 100 percent white for the white ink We used 100 percent white under color pixels that will give it a whole white back Then on the print screen for every print we made sure the checkboxes were checked for print color first and color plus white The size of this print was 11 and a quarter inches by 11 and a quarter inches. It took 21 minutes and 30 seconds We're going to press all of these at 300 degrees for 10 seconds Peel and then press again for five more seconds that second press helps set this thing a little bit better So we're gonna do a second press just put this over it. I'm afraid to put that over it The second press We were nervous to do it the easy press Yes with the easy press when we did the second press the image slid and that's why we really feel like we need a heat press That's hot. It's like a sticker Look at the edges. Let's see peel off. Whoo. That's hot. Let's set that aside But it looks good. It does look good Test number two Canvas this is a canvas just on like a piece of cardboard again got it from the hobby shop our printer settings for this one We had white resolution at 1440 by 720 color resolution at 1440 by 720 Image type was photograph that size was medium and large Our color settings. We had color at 65 percent white at 100 percent We also use the 100 percent white underneath the colored pixels the size of this image was 9 inches by 12 inches it took 9 minutes and 7 seconds I don't think the image was that much smaller, but it took half the time And I think that's because we took the resolution down to 720 Do you think that was funny? I thought it was funny They can't see that. Oh, maybe it gets a little bit It's like a big sticker. Whoo. It's like a big hot sticker This one might be better to let it cool so that you can cut those edges nice and neat While it was hot. It was an easy Tear it ripped. Yeah, I thought maybe I could wrap the edges. Yeah, it looks a little bit wrapped Uh-huh. I see that sign made it look like it was wrapped cool test three eighth inch birch plywood Our proof settings for this one were white resolution was at 1440 by 1440 our color resolution was at 1440 by 1440 our image type was text and graphic That's what we changed here. Our dot size was medium and large our color settings were a 65 percent color 100 percent white our white ink settings were 100 percent white under colored pixels This was a six and a half inch by 11 and a half inch image size the print took 15 minutes and 21 seconds Looks good though. You can't even tell that's on wood really No, you can't I think now because this is birch plywood and it is only eighth inch It looks good right now, but I think it should cool with the slate on top. Don't you agree? I don't want it to warp See it's looking good We're just gonna lay a slate on it to make sure it doesn't warp will it cools Warp will it cools? Hopefully this slate will kind of pull out some of that heat even cold slate test for Acrylic our printer settings for acrylic were white resolution at 1440 by 1440 color resolution at 1440 by 1440 image type was photograph dot size medium and large our color settings were color at 85 percent white at 100 percent then we tried using gradient white under the color pixel that kind of just would leave darker white or more white behind the lighter colors and less white behind darker colors Here's an example each heart was three inches. It was six of them. It took 15 minutes and 16 seconds and can you see How it kind of regulated the white behind the colors. There's more White behind the pink than there is the black And you can't really tell from the print Doesn't look any different We're just gonna put that we're gonna trade places with the birch Yeah, that's much cooler now All right trading places just like that 80s sitcom All right, we're gonna let that cool and press flat Test five Canvas we have these canvas aprons. We're gonna put our logo on them. Yep. These this is a heavy canvas This is not like a t-shirt material. We did a t-shirt material last week This is canvas and it's still on a black fabric. So let's see how it looks our printer settings for this one We're white at 1440 by 1440 color resolution at 1440 by 1440 our image type We stuck with photograph and our dot size was mixed. That's what we changed this time our color settings We used color at 65 percent white at 100 percent for our white ink We use 100 percent white under colored pixels each of these were about three inches by nine inches It took three minutes and 12 seconds Well, yeah, that looks freaking awesome. That looks great Yeah, so let's show the camera All right, this looks great This this worked great looks great. You can see where it pressed in you can kind of see the Like big threads through it. Yes. So it has it has sunk into the fibers a little bit. Yeah, that's great looking Well, it feels cool All right Yeah, some of these others we have to wait a moment, but this one was like immediate satisfaction immediate gratification test six Stainless steel tumblers, but we're gonna try to use these little shrink wrap sleeves like for sublimation Using the direct to film transfers and we're gonna still try and put it in our toaster oven We're gonna use the same method we use for sublimation, but we're gonna use this off with the DTF transfer You could just use the heat gun Yeah, I thought about that too. You want to try that real quick. Yeah, let's just try to use the heat gun. Let's see Whoo, that's hot All right, maybe you don't even need you don't even need the toaster oven. Yeah, maybe you don't even need the toaster oven Let's see. All right. Should I cool it down first? Oh, yeah, if it's if it's that hot set it aside I'm gonna go run it under cold water. Okay. Here I think All right, I'm back. It's cool Moment of truth Stuck oh, I didn't stick it all. Interesting. Yeah, almost it tried to All right, maybe didn't get it. Let's try baking it. You got another sleeve. I know we did in a 300 degree oven for 20 seconds one minute Don't show them that oven. It's so dirty. That's the one in our shop kitchen and it is not pretty I'm back and I think it worked. I have a good feeling about this one. Well, I see it shrunk itself Yeah, it's a lot tighter. This sleeve is a lot tighter on it We did a pitiful job getting it tight. Yeah, it's a lot tighter on there moment of truth ready Let's see or didn't it? Oh Maybe not look at that No, the e come in the e didn't stick. No, the e didn't stick. Hold up I peeled the e off the first time. I think maybe that's why I didn't know that doesn't count. I pulled the e up but Now we're gonna send it through the dishwasher and see how well it holds up Right. I mean, I don't know. I definitely think it needs to is I gonna hold up hmm I think we're gonna need the pressure. I Just ripped the L. Oh, but now it's kind of stuck Oh, I did rip the L. Oh Here you go. Oh You can peel it right back off. We can start again All right, well, what do you guys know anybody know anything about has anybody done a direct-to-film printing on Stainless steel tumblers or stainless steel Did we need to wash it with alcohol? Oh Yeah, maybe we should have done it with alcohol or something All right. Well, that one will come back to you project fail, but we've got some good wins Yep. All right. Do you want to revisit some of the others that we did? I think it's time to revisit them and then I have a bonus project All right So this late while I was sitting here the circle where the acrylic piece was got really hot So that acrylic really held some heat. Oh, there it is Yeah, it looks pretty good. No, I see that it's discolored the acrylic I think it's back side is shiny and looks nice, but I'm think I'm wiping it off Let's try paper towel. All right. Let's see because I can see get your camera and show it up close Where you can see that it's discolored I'm rubbing it pretty hard. It's not coming off Yes, so it looks like That was too much heat for the acrylic it did not like 300 for what 20 seconds you did it twice No, I think I only did it the once It's pretty good. It's nice and flat. So the slate worked. It's just it looks like it discolored the black It's not shiny on the outside of the image, but the image is stuck. So Did it stick to the acrylic? Yes. The image is on there. It's not going anywhere But it may have been too hot for that black acrylic too hot to handle So you may have to try that one again too cold. Oh, all right We'll revisit these you want to take a look at these. So this is the birch. Yep. It's nice and cool And this is the canvas and they look great. They look really great They look really great. I bet you we could have done a better job of wrapping that one Yeah, if you look at the edges, it's not that clean on the edge. I don't know if you can see that probably not But this edge I wrapped it that looks pretty good That's really cool. Now I'm excited. Let's check this metal out. I know I'm worried now now that I've seen the the steel tumbler. I'm a little bit worried about the metal sign So our image was much larger than the metal plate So part of it has stuck to the paper. So we're just peeling it off seems like that's working really well Pulling away from the metal. Yeah Staying on the paper There you go came out pretty nice Yeah, it feels like it's got like a rubber. Yeah, like a rubber coating on it And you can feel where the letters are they're like raised almost That's cool. All right, that's cool. So hold that the canvas and The birch look at these guys look awesome. Yeah. Oh and the acrylic Project fail. You think so? Yeah, it's all dull around it I mean it does it did stick to the acrylic but it discolored it around the I'm like like I'm not gonna use Well, we know it's possible. Now. We just have to dial it in. Yeah, I think it's a heat setting issue But I think I think my favorite are the aprons. Oh the apron. Yeah, it looks the best here. Hold this and I will grab that I mean, that's what this is really for. Yeah, that's what this is really for. I'm gonna make Fabrics and it does a fabulous job at the fabrics. Yeah, it does great on the fabrics bonus project We're gonna make a pizza Don't worry. It's just a fake pizza The printer settings for the pizza were white at 1440 by 1440 resolution color resolution was 1440 by 1440 image type was photograph that size was medium and large Our color settings were color at 65 percent white at 100 percent our white ink was 100 percent white under color pixels This was a seven and a quarter inch pizza. This is a personal pan pizza Oh look at that I'm a good cook. Ooh, it's so cheesy Will it DTF? It will. It will. You can totally DTF your own pizza Do not eat this pizza. Actually do not eat this pizza It's looking pretty good. It does look good. Pizza for dinner We're still excited to see what else we can do with this printer I have some more great ideas that I'm looking to try. I want to try some glitter I want to try doing DTF on glass. Oh, yeah, and of course we've already talked about our furniture flip I have a piece of furniture where I want to print a decal and put that on the top of the Table and then cover that. I think that's gonna look really cool, too Big thanks to all of our patrons. We love you guys. We love the interaction I love sharing with you guys, and I think we have another zoom call coming up here soon, too. We had a couple weeks We are about out of time So if you're not gonna join us for the patron after show we will see you next week We'll do it building and make it again. Oh, and we'll also see you on Tuesday for a test cut Tuesdays It's one of my favorites You guys want to know how we set this printer up? You can watch this video right here