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mouse mats, sub or not?
hi all, i am quite capable of printing mouse mats, but, one of my customers has asked for 500 or 1000, it’s a design with fades and transparencies in it, so i don’t think it could be screen printed(?).
is there a way to sub it out, for digi print, without giving it to another subli person (as i can obviously do that myself).
cheers.
Hugh -
11 Replies
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Why not do it yourself Hugh? No point having a dog and barking for it surely?
Peter
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quote Peter Mindham:Why not do it yourself Hugh? No point having a dog and barking for it surely?Peter
thats what i thought, to be honest. i’m not exactly competing against someone else, but i know they had a load done last year, so don’t want to be too expensive. got to be a says work!
my only worry… they’re white mouse mats, with a printed logo in the middle. unlike a full photo type print, which can slip a tad without noticing, these have to be dead centre. i have a feeling the joint on the press is a bit worn, and allowing the platen to move as it squishes, so will have to sort that.
i was considering printing a border outline (say 10mm oversize), laying the mouse central in this, taping with heat tape, and then pressing. would that be the best method to ensure consistency with this kind of volume?
cheers.
Hugh -
Is the press new? Shouldn’t have too much movement surely? What size do you need to do? Can you print on a mat a little bigger than needed and trim afterwards?
Peter -
quote Peter Mindham:Is the press new? Shouldn’t have too much movement surely? What size do you need to do? Can you print on a mat a little bigger than needed and trim afterwards?
Peterthe press isn’t new! it’s the only thing i didn’t buy new. it apparently hadn’t seen much work, but i need to check the clamp mechanism for wear, it was pointed out to me at tmt to keep it greased.
i don’t want to trim the mats to be honests, they’re the rubber ones, and even with a new stanley blade in, they don’t cut too well! i would imagine they’re die cut.
H
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Well Hugh.
Thats why heat tape was invented, pain to have to tape each design but when sublimating you really should, as when something does slip and it ghosts, you waste an expensive item, as the paper substrate and press pad is still hot all causing ink transfer after the platen has lifted.
I tape lots of my stuff, and never have shifting problems.
Look for heat tape on ebay, 33m rolls for about 4 quid for 2 -
quote Steve Underhill:Well Hugh.
Thats why heat tape was invented, pain to have to tape each design but when sublimating you really should, as when something does slip and it ghosts, you waste an expensive item, as the paper substrate and press pad is still hot all causing ink transfer after the platen has lifted.
I tape lots of my stuff, and never have shifting problems.
Look for heat tape on ebay, 33m rolls for about 4 quid for 2thanks Steve,
i have no trouble with slipping on t-shirts etc, only on mouse mats, which is a pain when you end up with a white border or unequal edges!
hugh
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quote :i have no trouble with slipping on t-shirts etc, only on mouse mats
Give it time, trust me it’ll happen.
Either use tape or make sure you whip the paper off quick, as you cant predict sudden draughts from a swinging platen, or the phone ringing as you lift the press up and leave it to move a quarter inch.
it will ghost and ruin the shirt.
Its rare to be honest but does happen if you’re not careful. -
why would it ghost? not quite with you on that. i understand what ‘ghost’ is, but not how it would transfer onto the platen when i use a teflon sheet ontop of the transfer paper, and if pressing again after removing the transfer backing, i’ll bung some greaseproof between the transfer and the teflon. when doing mouse mats i have a cople of waste sheets of A4 underneath to prevent transfer sticking to the bottom mat.
after all that, is it still possible then?
cheers.
Hugh -
It doesnt transfer onto the platen, it ghosts on the substrate,
when you lift the platen up, everything is still hot, paper, ink, substrate, both platens etc, if the paper shifts, it can ghost, as not all of the ink ever leaves the paper the ink is still transferring slightly as its still cooling down, and you can get an accidental transfer of ink onto a part of your substrate where you didnt want it.
Taping prevents any movement. -
Heres a tip for doing mouse mats.
If the image has colour thoughout, then basically print the image about 10mm larger (5mm each edge) and simply line up leaving 5mm all round. If the image has no apparant "border", do as suggested and print a guideline around that is larger than the mat and line up this way.
Flipping over the mat can cause the paper to move slightly, what I do is place a sheet of metal on the worktop with the printed paper on top, line up the mouse mat, flip over the metal sheet whilst keeping the paper steady with my other hand.
The shadowing is a pain, sometimes not noticeable, other times stands out a mile. Usually plain text or fine lines stand out more, one thing I find works (and easier than folding paper over the mat and taping) is to cut a mouse mat in half. Line up the mouse mat/paper as previously described. Butt the 2 halves of the cut mat against the mat to be printed – one either side (factory cut sides against the new mat of course). What this does is basically give an "extension" to the mouse mat that is the same height. You can then tape the paper onto each of the mouse mat halves and thus reducing the chances of the paper moving. ALWAYS cover with a teflon sheet, opening the press slowly also helps.
Hope this helps – it works for me. -
must admit we tape but did still manage to get a ghost shadow on a recent special order, fortunately for us it looked like a deliberate drop shadow effect. Client was most impressed with design and creativity I only hope he never comes back for a reprint.
If he does I guess the computer will have to suffer a hard disk failure or something.
Mike
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