How do I fix colors that fade after washing?

Increase heat press curing time by 10–15 seconds and raise temperature 10–15°F. Also verify pretreatment is applied to the garment.

Why do reds and purples look muddy on my prints?

These colors exceed DTG gamut. Use a linearized ICC profile specific to your printer and test print with color bar to see achievable hue.

Underlay prints first under all colors to brighten them. Fill adds white on top for opacity. Most DTG printers handle layering automatically.

Pretreatment is optional for light garments but essential for dark colors—it ensures adhesion and prevents bleeding and poor color saturation.

Color Separation Preview: See exactly how your design will split into CMYK + white layers before sending to print.

White Ink Control: Adjust white ink coverage independently—light underlay for dark colors, full coverage for light areas.

Registration Preview: Visualize layering with color highlights to catch registration issues before waste.

File Format: TIFF or high-quality PNG, RGB color space (24-bit or higher).
Resolution: 300 PPI at final print size for photographic quality.
Color Management: Use linearized ICC profile for your specific DTG printer and garment type.
White Ink Settings: Configure underlay, midtone, and highlight coverage separately.

Underlay (White Base): Prints first on dark garments. Controls opacity and adhesion of colored inks above.

Mid-Tone White: Adds opacity to areas with medium color density (around 50% coverage in print).

Full-Color CMYK: Printed on top of white layers. The white underneath brightens and saturates colors.

Load and Scale: Import artwork to 300 PPI at final print size. Check color mode is RGB.
Configure White Ink: Set underlay percentage (30–50% for light garments, 80–100% for dark).
Select Color Profile: Choose ICC profile matching your DTG printer and garment color.
Preview Separation: Display white, cyan, magenta, yellow layers separately.
Adjust Registration: Check for misalignment by viewing CMYK overlay; fine-tune if needed.
Queue to Printer: Send file and monitor first print for color accuracy.
Heat Press: Cure at correct temperature and dwell time for garment type (usually 315–350°F, 45–60 seconds).

Profiling: Create a custom ICC profile for each combination of printer, ink set, and garment color. Stock profiles are generic.

Test Prints: Always run test prints on scrap garments before full production. Colors shift with ink saturation and curing time.

Gamut Optimization: Some colors (bright reds, purples) cannot be reproduced perfectly. Map these to the nearest achievable hue.

Linearization: A linearized profile corrects ink saturation across the tonal range, reducing banding and posterization.

Temperature: Too low = colors stay soft and fade quickly. Too high = garment damage and color shift. Follow garment blend specs.

Dwell Time: 45–60 seconds is typical, but thick garments and high ink coverage need longer.

Cooling: Cool the garment completely before stacking to prevent color transfer and ink pooling.

Washed Colors: Insufficient curing or wrong temperature. Increase dwell time or raise temperature 10–15°F.

Poor Color Match: Stale ink, wrong profile, or garment color change. Replace ink and recalibrate profile.

Banding or Posterization: Low color depth in file or poor linearization. Use 24-bit+ images and profile correction.

Ink Bleed: Too much white ink or insufficient garment pretreatment. Reduce white coverage and increase flash time.