Notes from the pre-press floor
Technique, pricing math, and workflow notes for DTF, UV-DTF, sublimation, and eco-solvent shops. Written for the people who actually run the presses.
Reading your RIP's white channel preview — grey map
Every DTF RIP shows a preview of the white under-base as a greyscale thumbnail before you send the job. Most operators glance at it and click Print. Here is how to read that preview like a pre-press engineer — and what a bad white preview looks like before it becomes a bad print.
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TIFF vs PNG for DTF gang sheets — when to use what
Every DTF shop eventually argues about whether to send TIFF or PNG to the RIP. Both can print. Only one carries the metadata that stops a print from going wrong. Here is when each wins, and the single setting that matters more than the format.
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DTF white under-base: what the choke actually does
Every DTF operator has seen the symptom — a thin white halo peeking out from under colour edges on a dark shirt. The fix is called the choke. Here is what it means, what a sensible default looks like, and when to change it.
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Multi-sheet orders that split — avoid wasted film
Big custom orders sooner or later hit a hard sheet-size limit — the printer's roll width, the customer's A-frame press, the shipping box. Splitting the order across multiple sheets is easy. Splitting it without wasting 15 % of your film is not. Here is the decision tree.
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ICC profiles for DTF — RIP default vs yours
DTF shops fall into two camps on ICC profiles. One camp uses the profile that came with the RIP and moves on. The other camp calibrates its own. Both are right for different shops. Here is the short version of when to be in which camp.
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How tight is your gang sheet? A quick self-audit
Most shops lose 10 to 20 percent of their sheet area to packing waste without knowing it. Five minutes and a ruler tell you where your current tool leaves money on the table — and what a well-packed sheet actually looks like.
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UV-DTF gift market — gang sheet sizing that fits
Mugs, tumblers, phone cases, acrylic keychains, glass lanterns, slate coasters. The UV-DTF gift market is dominated by about ten substrate shapes and none of them fit a 60×100 cm sheet the way a t-shirt front does. Here is a practical sizing cheat-sheet.
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60 cm → 120 cm DTF roll: what actually changes
Doubling the roll width sounds like doubling throughput. In practice it is closer to 1.4×, and the rest of your workflow has to stretch to accommodate the wider sheets. Here is what the move actually costs, gains, and breaks — and how to know when you are ready for it.
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Pricing DTF per m²: math, traps, markup
Most DTF shops bill per square metre. Most DTF shops lose money on small orders and over-charge on large ones. The reason is the formula, not the rates. Here is a pricing model that stays honest across order sizes.
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Photoshop to NestSheet: a 1-week migration plan
Every DTF shop that scales past three sheets a day eventually hits the Photoshop wall. The manual arrangement step stops scaling and starts eating operator time that should be going to production. This is the seven-day migration plan I wish I had when my own shop crossed that line.
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