Tips and tricks

This article provides tips and tricks you need to get started with Direct to Film (DTF).
Roland Eco-solvent printers/plotters have been known for years as a reliable partner for producing high-quality full-color prints. Whether it’s textile printing, stickers, or posters, these machines offer excellent quality and versatility.

Nest function

If you queue multiple jobs in a row in VersaWorks, they’ll be printed and plotted one below the other. Wouldn’t it be great if the software could automatically optimize media utilization by utilizing empty space wherever possible?
It can! It’s called nesting. Select all the jobs you want to print in the queue, right-click, and choose “Nest.” VersaWorks will now place the images next to each other wherever possible, not just one below the other.

Would you rather have the prints stacked on top of each other? Repeat the above steps to turn the Nesting function off again.

Prevent sleep mode

Prevent your PC from stopping printing due to sleep mode.
For larger jobs, your PC may enter sleep mode while printing. This can cause an error message because the VersaWorks is no longer transmitting data to the Roland printer/plotter. Prevent this by disabling sleep mode in Windows under Settings -> Power Options. You can also set your monitor to turn off to save power.

Spot colors

If a print file is formatted with Spot Colors (e.g., Pantone colors), the VersaWorks software will recognize these colors in the “File Format” tab. Here, you can select “Convert Spot Color.” The printer will then match the spot color as closely as possible. This can save you a lot of test prints and trial and error.

Print customer name

When printing multiple jobs from different customers in succession, it can be helpful to have information printed along with each design, such as the customer name or order number.
You can easily enter this information in the VersaWorks software Queue Properties:
In the Marks -> Print Job Properties -> Notes tab, there’s ample space to enter customer information. This information will then be printed as small text beneath the design and peeled away when the print is peeled off, preventing it from accidentally transferring to the fabric.
If a large number of copies of a Print & Cut job are required, and you print and cut them all at once, the plotter will become inaccurate due to the large distance it has to roll back after printing to begin cutting.

Laminating

To make stickers more UV-resistant for long-term outdoor use, we recommend laminating them. This can be done with transparent self-adhesive Eco solvent media such as Grafityp Monomeric Print Media M010P.
To do this, the printed sticker media must be removed from the plotter after printing and the transparent Grafityp M010P applied. The laminated media is then returned to the plotter, where the stickers can be cut.
To ensure the plotter can determine where to cut, crop marks are necessary.

Application tape

A design printed and cut from Eco Solvent Printable Flex Film must be transferred to the textile with application tape after peeling.
Please note that if you apply the application tape to the design immediately after printing and cutting, you should also process it immediately (within an hour) on the heat press.
The ink isn’t 100% dry immediately after printing and cutting, and if you seal it in with application tape for an extended period, the design may bleed.
To prevent this, wait at least 8 hours before applying the application tape. After 8 hours of drying time, the application tape will no longer bleed, and you can store the prints longer with application tape on.