Thank you to those of you who registered for this presentation, and also to those who planned to attend. Due to the amount of graphics and high resolution images included in the presentation, we are experiencing technical difficulties uploading. We are diligently working to resolve this issue and plan to have the video posted this afternoon or tomorrow at the latest. We will notify those who have registered by email and include the link when the presentation is available for viewing. You can also follow us on Twitter @gggraphics for updates.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Thank you for your understanding and for making Great Garment Graphics your resource for heat printing education.

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School’s are letting out and day camps, vacational bible schools and other summer parties for kids are looking for activities to keep them busy. While you’re making these groups their t-shirts also give them activity that solves two problems. Use their group shirt as a coloring activity! This keeps the customer’s costs low for their group t-shirts and gives the kids a fun activity.

Start with a one color design to keep the cost of the transfers low. Designs that have large open areas gives the kids a lot of area to color. You can either create your own design or make it easy to choose from customizeable design layouts such as Easy Prints®. Your design will be screen printed and made into a transfer for you to heat press onto the shirts.

Next, purchase white t-shirts and visit your local craft store or search online for fabric markers or paints for the children to use to color their own shirt.

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Transfer Express offers thousands of layouts and clip art in our Easy Prints Idea Book, but if you make or get art from a customer we can help you get that printed too. You don’t have to be a designer to deal with artwork you just need to know the basic questions and terminology about art to be able to communicate well with your customer and our Reps during the order process. Knowing the answers to these questions will help get your custom art quoted and printed in an efficient manner. Below is a pdf the common questions/answers to help guide you though a custom artwork interaction with a customer.

The slides from the webinar are downloadable here : Artwork Slides PDF

If you have artwork you would like get transfers made from, upload it here.

Artwork Questions PDF

Video: Crash Course in Custom Artwork

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One of the greatest advantages of owning a heat press and/or vinyl cutter is the ability to pack it up and go mobile!  If you are already decorating teams and leagues in-house, why not consider taking your equipment to events and providing on the spot, instant personalization?  In this webinar, industry expert, Ken Chadwick, gives the complete lowdown on taking your press to events from the preparation phase, to a checklist of exactly what to bring, to pricing, profit, and venue information.

Remember, going mobile with your heat press is not confined to sporting events. Some other ideas include:

-Bachelor/Bachelorette parties

-Children’s birthday parties (decorate your own T-shirt, backpack, or lunch bag)

-Seasonal Parties (decorate a tree skirt, etc.)

-Motorcycle club events

-Local trade centers open on weekends

-Conventions

To what events have you brought your heat press? Do you have creative ideas for venues that you would like to share? One of our attendees offered this safety suggestion for your mobile generator:  “I have a Honda 2000 inverter/generator.  I bought a 4′ x 4′ metal gated fence to keep my generator in.  It is about 3′ tall.  It keeps little fingers out of a hot exhaust and/or outlet.”

Do you have additional tips for those who have not yet gone mobile? Leave a comment – we would love to hear from you!

Video: Get the Show on the Road! A Guide to Mobile Heat Printing

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We’ve started off the spring season with many races including marathons, 5k walk/runs and triatholons that support many causes. With hundreds of runners and supporters turning out for some of these events, especially in larger cities, this opportunities for custom t shirts shouldn’t be passed. Since the exact name of major races may be trademarked, using the city name in a running related Easy Prints® layout is legal.

Below are some examples of designs for custom screen printed transfers that can be heat applied to t shirts of any color. You don’t have to be a designer to create one-of-a-kind designs in your area.

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This year there’s an additional reason to consider entering the Stitches magazine Golden Needle Awards™ competition. A new category has been added, Embroidery and Heat Printing, and Stahls’ ID Direct™ is sponsoring it. The winner not only will be featured in the November issue of Stitches magazine, but will also receive a $250 gift certificate toward Stahls’ heat transfer materials or custom cut products.

Stitches is accepting online entries until Monday, May 21.  For more information on the categories and rules, visit the Stitches Golden Needle Awards page.

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Multimedia designs can add a little pizzazz to a standard design and also bring a little more money into your pocket. Creating them is easy once you know a little about the different medias and how to work with them.

In this webinar we take you on a tour of the different media that can add flair to a garment and cover areas such as cost, pricing, and how to work in CorelDRAW^® to set these designs up for easier production.

Some things to keep in mind while working with multimedia designs:

• Make sure you have a working order for your films – go from the media that applies at the highest temperature to the lowest to prevent damaging more sensitive films
• Have a production flowchart – this helps in determining what media is which and how to apply them
• Use a template for trickier designs or ones that have tight registration
• When adding a specialty film – calculate the additional cost and remember to include time in labor for the additional heat pressing

If you have any questions on the webinar, please leave them in the comments section and our presenter, Steven Jackson of Imprintables Warehouse, will respond.

Video: Maximizing Heat Applied Films & Multimedia Applications

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We recently attended the United Franchise Group trade show in Las Vegas this past week and met with many EmbroidMe franchisees looking for new ways to expand their business. If you have started your own embroidery business, you made a big investment on the equipment as well as knowledge to get started. But occasionally a customer’s budget or art just doesn’t fit as embroidered apparel. There’s no reason to turn that business away. With just the addition of a heat press that many embroidery companies even own, you can offer screen printed apparel. No other investment is needed. With just a heat press and the service of a screen printed transfers, offering printed apparel is easy.

Many of the embroiders that we met with use screen printed transfers to give their customers a more cost effective alternative to embroidery. Many use screen printed numbers and player names for team uniforms and even take their heat press to tournaments and events for extra profits. Something you could never do with an embroidery machine.

The most important part of adding a heat press and transfers to your embroidery business is being able to take control. So you aren’t a screen printer but with transfers, you don’t have to outsource to a screen printer. You can take control of what apparel you are decorating, how much of it and when it gets done without sacrificing quality of work.

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Rhinestones have been around for a while and are more popular than ever these days!  What you may not know about rhinestones is how to create a stencil to make a rhinestone transfer.  There are software programs made specifically to make this process easy, but what if you are just starting out?  Maybe you have the essentials to make some basic designs, but are not ready to spend the money on rhinestone design software.  If you have CorelDRAW^® and know some basic functions of the program this webinar will get you started.  To create and produce a rhinestone transfer as demonstrated in the webinar, you will need the following equipment and rhinestone accessories:

• CorelDRAW
• Vinyl Cutter with a sharp blade
• Rhinestones or Rhinestuds
• Stencil Material
• Backer Board
• Transfer Tape
• Brush
• Squeegee
• Tray
• Tweezers

This on-demand recorded webinar will teach you tips and tricks for making rhinestone designs with text in CorelDRAW, but whatever steps shown with text can be applied to any design.  Create sparkling transfers while increasing your sales and determine the tools you’ll need to go to the next level.

After watching this webinar on how to create rhinestone transfer designs in CorelDRAW, check out our video on How to Cut and Produce a Rhinestone Heat Transfer Design to experience the entire process from start to finish.

Video: Creating Rhinestone Templates in CorelDRAW

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Cover sheets are an important accessory in heat printing.  Reusable cover  sheets, Kraft paper,  and flexible application pads will all serve the main purpose of protecting your design from the heated upper platen of your heat press. And while you need the heat to activate heat transfer material  adhesive, you don’t want any residue or debris to melt onto the upper platen. If all of these do the same thing, why then does it make a difference which one you use? Let’s explore each one so you can see which type to use and when.

Reusable Cover Sheet
If you are looking for a glossy finish for your designs, this is the cover sheet to use. They are reusable and can easily be cleaned with a heat eraser or damp cloth to remove any stains, ink, or debris. To extend the life of your non-stick cover sheet, store it in a flat area to prevent creases and wrinkles.

Kraft Paper
Kraft cover sheets are reusable, but won’t last as long as reusable sheets. As opposed to the glossy finish produced with reusable cover sheets, Kraft paper leaves a matte finish, and it helps reduce static cling buildup when doing several shirts. It’s paper, so you should also store it flat, but make sure to get a new sheet if you see any stains, residue, or ink. It can’t be wiped clean the way reusable cover sheets  can.

Flexible Application Pad
What is a flexible application pad, you ask? The flex pad is a silicone rubber pad that enhances heat application onto nylon and will protect your upper platen if you are pressing near buttons, zippers, or snaps. If you have ever experienced a gloss “box” in the shape of the platen appearing on your garment when pressing leather, nylon, or sublimated or highly saturated polyester, you will want to have this accessory handy. You’ll need to increase application time slightly because the heat will take a little longer to transfer through the pad. Also, the flex pad is slightly textured, so if you want to add some dimension to your design, this is a great way to do it.

So now that you have the skinny on cover sheets, will it be a glossy, matte, or texturized design for you today?

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