Hey friends, Dave here with Transfer Express, and, today we are going to be diving into the top
10 questions that we get asked most often. So, whether you are a seasoned transfer express pro
or brand new to the heat printing industry, there's going to be something for you
in this video today we've got a ton of stuff to cover so let's get started!
If you are new to Transfer Express, we are the world's largest supplier of screen printed and
digital heat transfers, heat presses, designs, apparel and advice to help grow your t-shirt
business. if you haven't already, subscribe we are kicking out new videos like this one every single
week. now, heat transfers and the apparel decorating industry can be overwhelming
at times... especially if you are just getting started. there's a lot to learn and take into
consideration not only with the heat presses, but, all of the different transfer types
design placement and of course blank apparel. so, let's start answering those questions right now!
Question number one, can i use an iron as a heat press well for screen printed transfers the short
answer no we cannot recommend using a household iron it's just incredibly hard to match consistent
pressure press after press especially when most screen printed transfers require a medium to
firm pressure now medium to firm pressure is about 60 to 80 pounds of force per square inch
which is a lot now the transfer may press and peel just fine but that could be misleading
because we test our transfers to 50 plus wash dry cycles and you're not going to meet those
expectations if you don't have a firm pressure now this is a tough answer though because with
some heat transfer vinyl that only requires a medium to light pressure your iron at home as
long as it's providing a consistent dry heat may work fine but a high pressure locking heat press
like the one behind me is always going to give you those retail ready results that will last
now question number two what transfer should i use this one is a loaded question
that depends on a few variables but 95 percent of the time i'm going to say
goof proof plastisol screen printed transfers now goof proof is exactly what you think of when
you think of a screen printed shirt it's super durable looks great on light and dark garments
prints on cotton polyester and cotton poly blends even tri blends super easy to apply we're talking
they apply in about four seconds with a hot peel they're just fantastic transfers to use now let's
talk about some exceptions if you are printing on 100 polyester that's heat sensitive you're going
to want to use elastoprints they apply at a lower temperature than the goof proof and if your design
has more than three colors you're going to want to switch over to the ultra color line of transfers
but if you're printing on nylon or super stretchy apparel like spandex or those yoga pants then
you're going to want to use ultra color stretch transfers they also apply at a low 290 degrees
that'll help with scorching any of those heat sensitive garments every other one of our
transfer types is essentially a specialty or an effect ink goof proof is probably 99 of the time
what you're looking for question number three how much do transfers cost this is another
loaded question because it depends on just a few variables here the transfer type quantity and the
number of colors or inks that are printing in your design and where your artwork is
coming from now this is exactly why we built the quick pricing calculator at transferexpress.com
with just a few clicks you could have spot-on pricing for your project here at the very top of
transferexpress.com we have the instant quote next to this little calculator icon next we're going to
select our transfer type here for this example we'll price out a goof proof so it'll be under
screen print then under ink formula we'll pick goof proof and then enter the number of sheets
needed next we'll select the number of colors in the design and the art source easy prints vector
art or non-vector easy prints is our free art catalog that you could customize and choose from
vector is designed typically in adobe illustrator affinity or corel draw and non-vector is any
raster artwork file talking pngs jpegs tiffs psds etc and there you have it right there you're going
to get pricing on the right hand side of your screen that's going to be spot on for your project
question number four what is a gang sheet now this is a good one we sell our transfers by the sheet
and our standard sheet size is 11 and a half by 14 inch sheet just like this now this is a
gang sheet because a gang sheet is essentially the grouping of the same or different artwork
all onto one sheet which is going to drop the print cost of each one of these images down so
you could maximize your profit you always just pay for the sheet not the amount of
ink used so use as much space as you want let's say this entire sheet was two dollars
and with multiple images on here we're talking as low as 20 cents or so each one of these images
how cool is that question number five how fast do the transfers arrive well this is another loaded
question but since express is in our name i'm gonna say fast now our goof proof screen printed
transfers ship as quick as the next business day if ordered before our production cut off time
now that's always updated at transferexpress.com currently at the filming of this video it's 11 a.m
of course this depends now on what inks you have printing and where you upload your art you won't
ever have to guess though that pricing calculator that i mentioned just a little bit earlier
quotes your turnaround time as well as your price too now that's super convenient right number six
how do i order now there are two ways that you could easily order online number one is using the
online designer here you could customize one of our thousands of free layouts or use our clipart
and text to create your own designs and then you can even upload and modify your own artwork just
select your transfer type and quantity and boom you could check out option number two for ordering
you could use the upload artwork section at transferexpress.com to upload your own art
without any modifications here you'll select your transfer type and quantity and then check out just
the same number seven how long do the transfers last we send our transfers out to be independently
tested to 50 wash dry cycles in most cases when applied properly they last much longer than that
now unapplied if stored correctly away from moisture and those hard temperature changes
like in a garage they could last 10 years or more we have a video on it linked right here question
number eight what size should i make my design another great question now this really depends
on your design the location you're printing the article of clothing that you are printing be it a
t-shirt a hoodie or a sweatshirt and the aesthetic you are going for some general guidelines to keep
in mind 11 inches or so for a full front on the center chest 4.5 inches for a left chest print
11 inches for a full back print 9.5 inches for youth or 4.75 inches wide by 2 inches
for a hat print we have a full sizing guide linked right here and we also have this nice
help center article at transferexpress.com that'll be linked in the description below
number nine what is easy prints or easy view now easy prints is our artwork that you can use for
absolutely free from thousands of pre-made layouts that are completely customizable to a huge catalog
of clipart and hundreds of fonts for you to choose from easy view online designer is our free
super powerful browser-based design software that's available for free at transferexpress.com
all you need to do is create a free account to use it no credit card needed question number 10
why does my heat press leave a mark on my t-shirt i absolutely love this question mainly because
it's solved most of the time by itself hear me out if you're printing on a cotton or polycotton
blended garment it's usually just the moisture releasing and changing the color of the garment
now this is pronounced on colors like maroon or red and typically will completely disappear
within a couple minutes on its own as that garment re-saturates with the moisture in the
air now if you wait and it doesn't go away on its own we need to take a look at some other elements
now here we'll look at the temperature and the fabric content of the apparel you are pressing
some 100 polyester or synthetic blended garments are very heat sensitive leading to a discolored
area or a sheen on the face of the garment that's not good now typically you could
eliminate this by lowering your temperature we've got a full video on how to stop scorching apparel
right here and also linked in the description below a few other culprits may be that your
pressure is too high your upper platen of your press is dirty right up here or your heat press
needs to be recalibrated and the temperature it is heating up to is just so much hotter
than what the display tells you it's at now we couldn't limit the list to just 10 so here is
one more bonus question number eleven how do you know that your design is centered
we're going to toss in one more here just because of how helpful this tip is there's a few ways here
so number one to ensure you're aligned properly on the heat press let's load our garment correctly
what we need to do is just look down the sides to ensure that the side seam if your garment has one
lines up with the edge of the platen number two we could fold the shirt exactly in half and then give
it a gentle pre-press on the heat press that's going to create a crease down the middle that
will press out flat so you don't have to worry about it but you'll be able to use that seam
to align your transfer to now what you could do is fold your transfer in half holding it up
to the light and look and make sure that one edge of the ink meets the other edge of the
ink then crease the transfer paper at the top and bottom of the sheet not on the inks itself
and then just align those crease marks with the crease on your shirt and bam perfectly centered
every time now you could also use a little handy placement guide if you're getting started just
like this one that aligns with the collar and shows you exactly where the center of the shirt is
now if you think we missed anything here today let us know in the comments section below and
we will answer those questions too this is a ask me anything forum so any questions that you have
leave them in the comments below now we are pushing out new videos like this one every
single week on the transfer express youtube channel so if you're not already subscribed
click that subscribe button what are you waiting for and as always we are happy to help
in any way we can for the apparel decorating community if you need to reach us you can
always call or email info transferexpress.com but until next time i'm dave happy pressing
you