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For a 10x10 color\white image this is what happened, exactly the same across all 3: Acro 9 1440x1440: rip- 1 minute 9 seconds prinr- 7 minutes 2 seconds total: 8.21 minutes color accuracy 7.5/10 overall quality- 8/10 cadlink: rip- 11 seconds print 6 minutes 25 seconds total: 6.36 minutes overall color accuracy- 9/10 Overall quality - 7/10 ekprint- 1440x1440: rip- 13 seconds print- 3 minutes 42 seconds. total: 3.55 minutes overall color accuracy- 6/10 overall quality- 8/10

DTF and DTG are the same in terms of maintenance. the first and foremost rule for new users for BOTH processes: white ink is nothing like anything else you’ve encountered. It settles, it clogs faster, and cannot sit, you can’t leave it “open” or it will dry out or coagulate. It will clog More often, period. 1. you literally have to shake the ink each day. Not every other day, not sometimes. Daily. 2. you must be very specific and thorough with your cleaning. Wiper, capping station top, wet cap etc. 3. You can’t ever let the printer sit when white ink is put into it. If it’s something like an Epson p400/ dx5, you could easily clean it with cleaning cartridges and let it sit however long you want. It doesn’t have an ink system. Any printer that doesn’t have cartridges directly on the head, has an ink system, like the p600/p800. The p800 can sit longer and flush ink out better, unlike the p600, but rule of thumb, don’t let them sit more than 48 hours without printing and 24 hours without shaking the ink and carts. with that out of the way, it really depends on what you are looking for in your business. DTF has 1-2 ink layers, and a plastic powder adhesive on the back. So when finalized ON the shirt it does have a hand feel, unlike sublimation. It can be minimized though with putting down the least ink possible and learning how to use your powder. DTG uses 1-2 ink layers, and a pretreatment that must be evenly applied ( in the right amount) on the shirt, dried, then printed and dried again. DTG kn white almost feels like sublimation. Black only feels like screenprinting until washed, then feels like sublimation. Anything with white under it, has a hand feel, which depends on how you cure it. I press mine, which makes for a smooth screen printed feel. for you, DTF and DTG will have similar costs in materials. if you buy an OEM printer that requires BRANDED ink, you’ll never make money, period. I will be talking about DIY DTG vs DIY DTF. DTF ink is much cheaper than DTG ink. Literally, less than half as cheap. DTF inks last nearly twice as long. So overall it ends up being 1/4 the cost of DTG ink overall. BUT you need to factor in film and powder costs. If you buy from a supplier, it’s roughly .50 a 12x13 design for film, powder and ink are very minuscule. I pay 0.23-0.33 cents a 12x13 design. Add in ink and powder, I would guesstimate around .10 cents, my printer shows roughly 0.05-0.10 cents in ink each print. So overall, $0.43-$0.70 a 12x13 print roughly for DTF. DTG is more expensive, using Kodak/dupont ink at the cheapest price of $117 a liter color, or $125/$145 a liter white. My overall average was over $1 per print in ink, if you go OEM, like an Epson F2100 or any other “branded” ink, it’s going to run you $3-$5 a print in ink. Don’t forget pretreatment. I put down roughly $0.60 cents per dark shirt, maybe $0.30 per light( no white ink). so overall cost for one 12x13 print roughly: DTF: $0.43-$0.70 DTG: $1.60-$2.60 for aftermarket, up to $5-$6 a print for OEM. I don’t really calculate ink waste, but DTG will be more due to the higher ink cost. The rest is the same. As for washability- both are very comparable. One will crack and fade and peel over time( DTG). And one can wrinkle, peel, and bubble (DTF). If not done properly anyway. Overall if done correctly, they are about the same. for terms of hand feel and quality, DTG will always be softer, but it depends. without white, it wins, always. With white, it wins, in terms of hand feel on large patches. Now, DTF can feel equally the same if you are printing a broken up design. If you print a large patch, like a giant green circle, it does feel like a layer of plastic on the shirt. overall, if done right, both are acceptable. I will break down my opinion on the best hand feel. 1. waterbased screenprinting 2Plastisol screenprinting 3 DTG 4 DTF 5, the worst is any laser/inkjet transfer product. now for the cheapest to expensive: 1. Plastisol screenprinting ( for larger runs) 2. Waterbased screenprinting 3. DTF 4. DTG 5 any other transfer as mentioned above. Overall, there isn’t a “best”. DTF is easier, cheaper, but does have a plastic like hand feel on large patches. Still acceptable and many places like Nike or under armor use it for their products. If done right though, you can almost completely remove that plastic feel for white only. White and color printed at the same time will always feel Like a sheet of plastic in large patches. DTG is more expensive but offers a softer hand feel and doesn’t feel like plastic, if done right. I prefer DTF for everyday normal stuff, and DTG for my premium stuff. DTG is harder to convert, much harder than DTF. They both have their place. dont forget, DTG is Limited to flat objects, any variation in thickness required You to lower your platen which sucks to do. DTF can transfer to just about anything or any shape you can press with heat. basic cost of getting into dtf: $500-$2000 for entry level. basic cost of getting into dtg: $1000-$3000 for entry level.

Based off of your description, I think I can confidently guess I know which software you’re referring to in each one. Looking forward to seeing your test results.

Thanks for the clarification, that’s exactly what EKprint does on it’s supported printers as well, well not exactly but close. It just doesn’t extend the paper any further and starts printing on the next file making it continuous, so it never ejects or extends between “ paper loads”. pretty cool to do that on the hardware side, nice job.

I have no idea how it's going to turn out, could be a total dud. But, this is one version of what I'll be trying for the film roller.