What you should know before buying a DTF printer.

It’s the hottest thing in textile printing right now DTF (Direct-to-Film) printing. Since this is a fairly new process, there is a lot of conflicting information and it is hard to decipher what steps you should take. Before making the investment we recommend understanding the various equipment available, who is going to support it, supplies  recommended for the equipment, and the technical knowledge involved in the operation & maintenance of the DTF printer you are looking at. 

Who is going to educate you in this process?

• Is it the manufacturer? Now if you think the manufacturer is going to teach you, or you will receive an in-depth owner’s manual that you can read, well you may find yourself a little disappointed, because virtually all the DTF machines are manufactured in China (no matter what color it is painted or wrapped). Unless you can read Mandarin, you are probably going to be out of luck with a comprehensive owner's manual.
• Is it the distributor? Once again, you are dealing with a new technology, and many of the distributors don’t even have a good handle on DTF printing. If you want to a good example of what we are talking about, go to a trade show, many of the printers aren't even printing in the booth, and you will see dramatic differences in print feel and quality. It is not always the physical printers fault, sometimes the operator doesn't know how to print.
• YouTube Experts?  Don't you love those two words together ...youtube and expert...Of course YouTube is an awesome educational resource, but we all know you can't believe everything you hear on YouTube. (ie: the world is flat)

What are some of the factors you should consider before making the investment?

• Print quality - Most DTF printers are using the same Epson i3200 printheads, therefore they should have the same excellent printing quality. If they don't - run away!
• Ease of Use - This is a long and varied subject in itself, and it all depends on the experience of the operator.  Many DTF systems are very easy to use, until there are not.  What if you need to try and match a color to screen printing, or even to something you printed a while back, can you figure it out on your own? Is the maintenance easy or does a technician need to be scheduled to come out and do it for you?  (much, much more on this subject)
• Production speed - No one believe everything they read, so don't believe the production speed on the specification sheets - see it in action!  If you can't see it in person, ask for a customer that runs the unit in production every day. Let them tell you what you can expect in actual production.
• Support / Maintenance / Warranty - We recommend gauging your decision on the unit's track record. There are printers coming to market every week, but without a proven track record you better make sure your investment is protected. Again, ask for references of people that have owned the printer for at least 6 months.  Most important question of them all - WHO (yes who in all caps and bold) is going to provide you with technical support?
• Cost -  Always an issue, for everyone, how much is it going to cost? Your price often will translate into the amount of support and education you are going to receive. If you are making a substantial investment, you don't want downtime, always have to have a technician work on it, or can't get your hands on the parts you might need down the road. The most important information you are going to receive is from users of partic

While it isn’t mandatory for distributors/manufacturers to teach customers how to print, our customers like the knowledge base they can use in the veloxforum.com . We have an extensive library of maintenance and operator videos, as well as  articles and tips on getting the most out of your DTF printer. 
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SPSI's story in the digital textile printing started with Kornit in 2004 as one of the first distributors in the U.S. The continued advancements of direct-to-garment (DTG) printing has led us to where we are now with DTF. Pairing our experiences from DTG and utilizing our digital technician teams' printing experience in multiple formats, we could not wait to jump in with both feet. Before the  VELOX DTF System  was available to the public we started with the research and development of pairing the right supplies with the printer. Then from there we took it into 3 beta shops and let them beat it up.  After months of successful printing and some minor changes to the printer, it was ready for the market. Currently SPSI has over 100 VELOX DTF printers in the market and as of today, all are still in full operation.

The VELOX DTF System not only comes with Wasatch rip software, but we have paired the system with an incredibly robust computer that provides the operator with the platform needed to print DTF in production. Here is the computer you get with the VELOX DTF:  

• PC - icore 9 sixteen-core with 32GB of ram,
• 1TB M.2 NVMe, 2TB M.2 NVMe,
• Windows 10 pro. 

We aren't telling you what you should have, we are just pointing out that this is something you should look at if you are planning on production DTF printing.

For each VELOX DTF System purchased, the owner/users are provided with the following:

• VELOXFORUM.COM: This is a user-based online support and service ticketing system. All VELOX users have access to over 50+ operational and maintenance videos. This provides proper instruction assisting in the reduction of user errors and issues, leading to better performance and less down-time.
• INSTALLATION / TRAINING: There are no self-installs for the VELOX DTF System. Our technicians set them up at our warehouse, test them out before they leave the facility, then we package them to be installed at the customers. A VELOX DTF technician will come to your shop, format your unit, and then spend hours training the new users. 
• FREE VELOX SEMINARS: SPSI provides free seminars for Level 1 and 2 training on the VELOX and DTF printing.  These are free to all VELOX customers and they can come as often as they like. Currently we are running 4 seminars a year. Members of the users group can come multiple times, and each organization can send as many attendees as they like. 

Yes, we are proud of our  VELOX DTF System  and we have things in the works that will provide even greater production speed, we'll share more soon!

#dtfprinting #bestdtf #whichdtf #veloxdtf