Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1491555
5 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 S U B L I M A T I O N T here are a lot of different styles and types of heat presses depending on the application. The standard 16" × 20" T-shirt press can come in swing-away or clamshell styles. en, there are automatic air-operated presses, label presses, specialty presses for caps and mugs, and large-format presses. Be sure to find the right one for your business. Heat Presses C O U R T E S Y O F G E O K N I G H T FOR ALL APPLICATIONS Swing-away presses: Genera lly the most popular, these machines are perfect for full visibility and access to the bot- tom table, with the head swing- ing fully out of the way. Due to the parallel-pressing position of the heater, very thick materials can be presses, as well as tradi- tional textiles. Clamshell presses: ese are the most popular with DTG curing when used with an auto-release pop-up feature, and for traditional garment printing. A singular opening motion of the handle combined with front loading ease makes for quick turn around and smaller footprint for freed-up bench space. Automatic presses: Automatic presses feature sim- ple, quick, and easy push-but- ton activation, with automatic opening and closing of the press. at makes these machines per- fect for all-day higher production usage. ese presses remove oper- ator fatigue, and increase output, and make pressure a much more repeatable setting compared to manually adjusted hand-clamped presses. Label presses: Label presses are needed for pressing small patches, labels, left-chest logos, and bar coding of garments. e presses allow precise placement of small labels, without pressing large areas of the gar- ment or material with a full-sized heat platen. Normally having top heat only for most applications, label presses can sometimes be combined with a bot- tom heat platen. icker patches and appliques can be applied without heat effects and stamp marks to the top sur- face of the material, since the heating is from the bottom. Cap presses: Headwear needs its own curved heat platen, that will conform properly to the cap. Interchangeable bottom tables allow for different sized caps with dif- ferent profiles to be pressed. Normally having top heat only for most appli- cations, cap presses can sometimes be combined with a bottom heat platen. Thicker patches and appliques can be applied without heat effects and stamp marks to the top surface of the material, since the heating is from the bottom. Mug presses: Drinkware such as mugs, steins, ther- moses, water bottles, and other cylin- drical rigid items need their own flex- ible heater to wrap around the prod- uct and apply the transfer. Typically, adjustable for a range of diameter products, mug presses are an example of specialty machinery for non-stan- dard non-flat products that can be heat transfer printed. GP