Thermotransfer paper by hand for inkjet printers

Have you seen a T-shirt with an exclusive design or with your own photo printed directly on the fabric? Do you want to do something unusual for yourself, but do not know how to make such a sticker? For this, special thermal transfer paper is used. With your hands at home, you can easily make an exclusive unique T-shirt, T-shirt, bag and another thing.

Materials and technology

If you have never worked in the design or manufacture of souvenirs, but have only seen T-shirts, T-shirts, pillows, mugs, plates and other items offered in an exclusive design, for example, with a photograph of the future owner, see the short description The essence of the technology of making such things.

For any transfer of the image to the object, an intermediate material is used. In this case, thermal transfer paper. With your hands at home, you can easily apply any image to the fabric (white, dark, colored, natural or synthetic).

To make the desired image appear on this intermediate material, it, of course, must first be created or found ready, and then printed. To execute the layout, the template (the picture itself) use various graphic editors - computer programs designed for creating and editing images. If you already know how to use Adobe Photoshop or a similar graphics package, you can assume that the image you created.

The next stage is printing. It is performed on a conventional inkjet or laser printer just on special sheets. Next, using an iron, the image is transferred to the prepared fabric. At home, you can only apply an image to flat objects lying on a flat surface. Of course, it will not work. For them special thermo-presses with a cylindrical surface are used. In fact, the work is not complicated.

With your own hands

Thermotransfer paper by one's own hands is not the manufacture of the sheets themselves, but rather the implementation of the label, the decoration of the product at home. The assortment of paper is very large. It differs both in the types of fabric for which it is intended, and at the manufacturer. There are even such options that allow you to create glowing images in the dark. So to think about how to get this paper yourself, there is no point. Technologies have long been developed and successfully introduced into production.

Thermal transfer at home

So, to decorate a T-shirt, T-shirt or other object yourself, you need to work in such a sequence:

1. Buy the appropriate object for decoration (T-shirt).
2. Get the right paper (for dark, light fabric and the type of printer available , etc.).
3. Read the instructions on the packaging, what should be the image: straight or mirror.
4. Create a layout in a familiar graphics editor (for simple layouts, even standard Paint). Given the previous paragraph, prepare the picture for printing (mirror if necessary).
5. Load paper in the printer according to the instructions (the right side).
6. Print the image. Let him lie down for a while if he worked on an inkjet printer. Cut out the contour, retreating about 5 mm from the edge of the picture.
7. Turn the iron on without stripping and place the product intended for decoration (T-shirt) on a flat surface. The thing, of course, should be clean and ironed.
8. Translate the image by ironing the paper on the cloth with a printout in accordance with the instructions. There are certain features for different types of paper.
9. Ironing in any case occurs through an additional sheet, so after the previous step, it is worth a while to wait, and not to separate immediately this layer.

As you can see, the technology is quite simple and understandable. To master it at home can even beginner.

Types of paper

As already mentioned, thermal transfer paper is used to obtain an image on the surface of the tissue. With your hands at home, you can create a collage of photos and text, for example, and print on an existing printer. It is better to use a laser, as the picture turns out to be stable and withstands more washings.

An inkjet option also works. If the image is photorealistic with small details, use a photo printer. It gives good quality and higher color rendition.

Thermotransfer paper for inkjet printers

If you decide to make souvenirs with exclusive images at home, it is necessary to understand the types of paper. Most people already have a printer. Most often for personal use, color inkjet printers or photoprinters for printing photos are purchased. If you already have this equipment at home, then for the production of T-shirts and other things you will need thermal transfer paper for inkjet printers.

If you are going to perform many products, purchase packages with the appropriate number of sheets. In this case, usually the unit price will cost you less. If you just decided to try yourself in the role of designer and make original gifts for yourself or your friends for a holiday, buy a pack with a maximum of 10 sheets. If you find a firm that offers a sale on the sheet, take the right amount, for example, a pair, by the way, is better with a margin (suddenly the first time you print it incorrectly). Be sure to ask for instructions to the paper and pre-specify for what fabric, light, dark, natural or synthetic, it is intended.

Working with light fabrics

If the thing you are going to decorate is white, any thermal transfer paper for inkjet printers is suitable. With your hands on this kind of fabric, you can easily make any image. That kind of sheet, which is designed directly for light fabrics, is cheaper, but the image in this case will have to be printed in a mirror.

Thermotransfer paper for dark fabrics

If your shirt is dark (blue, green) or, in general, black, then you need to buy the sheets of the appropriate kind. This is necessary for the best possible and good results. If you print an image on a sheet for white fabric, then after the transfer it will acquire a shade of your T-shirt and the photo will not look natural.

Suitable, for example, a thermal transfer paper for dark fabrics a4 sublimation, however, it requires special sublimation ink, which only adhere to synthetic fabric, and for natural, you will also need a special substrate.

It is cheaper to manage a more budget option - sheets for inkjet printers for dark fabrics. In this case, the image will have a kind of white substrate, the color will not change and additional costs will not be required. Around the picture it is desirable to leave a white edging. This will give things a finished and beautiful look.

Now you know what thermal transfer paper is. With your hands, you can easily make any image for a T-shirt or other object from the fabric right at home. Create exclusive things for yourself, friends and relatives.