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G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M A P R I L 2 0 2 3 • G R A P H I C S P R O 1 9 will need room to work.ey will need to load rolls of film in the back of the printer and fill the inks as needed. ey will also have to add the powder to the shaker and check on the feed roll as needed. Having three feet of clearance makes it a lot easier to do these things. Every machine will be a different size, but keep those three feet of open space as a rule of thumb. Clearing the air If you are not able to exhaust your DTF machine outside, make sure that you invest in an air purifier that can han- dle temperatures of up to 285 degrees Fahrenheit. You have to remember you are printing with inks and adhesive pow- der, as well as using a dryer system. We vent our dryer into the recommended sys- tem from ColDesi, but as always, we take it one step further. Our printing room for vinyl graphics and the new DTF machine is 14' wide by 41' long, so we also invested in two standalone air purifiers and put one at each end of the room. is helps pull any dust and contaminants out of the air. When using a DTF printer, you also need to keep an eye on your humidity and your inks. Every DTF system is dif- ferent in terms of what the manufacturer suggests for humidity in the air. We just invested in a humidifier to get the humid- ity up to 40 to 50 percent, as suggested by the manufacturer. You will want to watch your inks closely. You do not want to store them below 40 or above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and you want white ink that is good for six months and CMYK inks that are good for up to 12 months. Before you put ink into your machine, shake it for five minutes to make sure all of the chemicals are mixed well. e ink you keep in stock should be shaken once a week to be safe. e inks for this process need a little attention, but trust me, it is well worth it! Since August of last year, we have learned so much about this newer pro- cess. And as we keep learning new things about it, we keep pushing the boundaries. I will keep you up to date as it all unfolds in order to give you direct information on DTF every step of the way. GP Here is our printer next to an open door that is 48" wide. 43.5" is recommended to fit the printer in. I suggest 48" so you have some extra space.