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1 6 G R A P H I C S P R O • A P R I L 2 0 2 3 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M Specialized inks for DTF printing. You can see by the instructions on the bottle that these inks require a little more attention than other inks. (Images courtesy Howard Potter) M A K I N G S H O P M O V E S | H O W A R D P O T T E R Making Moves with Your DTF Machine Filtering through the good and bad info about this new technology A P P A R E L D E C O R A T I N G Howard Potter has worked in the promotional industry since 2003, doing everything from designing to building brands and a family- owned business. He is the co-owner and CEO of A&P Master Images LLC with his wife, Amanda. Their company offers graphic design, screen printing, embroidery, sublimation, vinyl graphics, and promotional items. Howard, his family, and the business reside in Utica, New York. For more information, please visit MasterYourImage.com. D irect to film is still a very new process, so along with the good information out there, there will be bad information as well. Last year the process grabbed my attention, which is a very hard thing to do with how busy my days are. I did a ton of research. Let's break down the things we did to learn as much as we could about DTF, along with what we have learned in the early stages of its deployment in our shop to help you better understand what you're getting into before you purchase your first machine. Opening research Right out the gate, I researched how long the average DTF print can last after being washed, and just like with our DTG machine, each DTF printer manufacturer has different rat- ings. Some can last around 40 washes, whereas others can last through up to 55 washes. It comes down to the quality of the ink, adhe- sive powder, and dryer. So, it is very important that whichever man- ufacturer you choose, you ask for the proof. We ended up buying the DTF-24H4 from ColDesi. ey had their DTF prints tested by Florida State University and they held up to 55 commercial launderings before any sign of breakdown. And even then, the average per- son would not notice any problems. at was huge to us. e average business client expects to buy uniforms yearly, and the average retail customers does not wear the same shirt more than once a week. So, with 52 weeks in a year, we figure the average DTF print can hold up for one and a half years. The manufacturer e next thing we did was set up a meet- ing with ColDesi via Zoom to go over basic information, like the print handle. A lot of people out there will tell you the print is too