If you wish to put full-color graphics onto clothes and different textile merchandise, essentially the most handy selection is DTF (Direct-to-Movie) printing. On the hobbyist, prosumer, and small enterprise finish of that market, Procolored has turn out to be an attractive possibility in recent times. The Procolored F13 DTF printer is one among their hottest machines and I’ll provide you with my trustworthy ideas about it on this assessment.
What’s DTF printing?
The title itself, “Direct-to-Movie,” describes how DTF printing works. A DTF printer has an inkjet-style printhead that deposits ink onto (often translucent) switch movie. It first deposits a full-color CMYK layer, then deposits a white layer on high of that.
After printing, the consumer shakes a particular adhesive powder over the printed ink. That powder sticks to the ink, however to not the movie. Then, the movie (with ink and adhesive powder) goes right into a particular oven for a few minutes, which melts the adhesive powder right into a layer on high of the ink.
At that time, the movie switch is secure and able to both retailer for later or to use to one thing like a t-shirt. The appliance course of is straightforward: simply place the movie on the clothes (ink aspect down) and use a warmth press to stick the ink to the material. After it cools a bit, the consumer can peel off the switch movie and depart the ink behind.
DTF printing is lots simpler and cleaner than display printing, and it produces very high-quality graphics in full colour. In comparison with dye-sublimation (which is just appropriate for white polyester), it has the benefit of working with a variety of textile supplies and colours. And it doesn’t have as many upkeep complications as UV printing.
Total, DTF printing is a good selection for making t-shirts, tote baggage, and comparable objects.
The Procolored F13
The F13 suits someplace in the midst of Procolored’s present catalog of DTF printers. They provide each extra inexpensive and dearer fashions, with the F13 being a reasonably priced possibility good for small companies and unbiased makers.
That is an A3-size printer, that means it may well print as much as 13” extensive. The printable size is actually infinite, because it prints from a roll of movie. The F13 has an Epson L1800 printhead, which is a well-liked selection on this trade that may produce CMYK+WW colours (two devoted channels for the white layer).
The F13 lacks some comfort options and consumer interface parts, however has all the pieces mandatory for a workhorse printer. There isn’t any fancy touchscreen interface, however there are essential options like white ink circulation and computerized printhead cleansing.
For those who already personal an oven and warmth press, you may order the F13 by itself. Or you should purchase a bundle that features these, which is what I obtained and might be reviewing.
The viral elephant
There isn’t any manner for me to put in writing this assessment with out speaking about my final assessment of a Procolored product, which bought numerous consideration from publications within the cyber safety trade.
In brief, whereas testing the Procolored V11 Professional UV DTO printer for that assessment, I observed that the included software program was being flagged by my antivirus software program. Karsten Hahn, an analyst who specializes on this type of factor, checked out Procolored’s supplied software program and located some fairly critical malware. Hahn and I each revealed what we discovered, and the story was picked up by a number of cyber safety information websites, blogs, and podcasts.
The final consensus was that Procolored’s software program had turn out to be infested with malware because of poor safety practices, reasonably than any intentional inclusion on their half. Following this ordeal, Procolored promised to wash up their act and take safety severely. After all, I used to be eager to seek out out in the event that they caught to their guarantees after I obtained the F13.
Briefly, I didn’t discover any malware within the F13 software program.
Two packages raised flags: the included UltraViewer installer and one thing referred to as Restter.exe. Karsten Hahn was solely capable of take a cursory look at these, however plainly the UltraViewer installer was being flagged merely due to what it’s (a distant viewer/controller that may modify the consumer laptop) and Restter.exe was being flagged as a result of it was manually unpacked and modified with LordPE and ImpRec.
Hahn says these are packages typically used for cracking software program, which results in checksum mismatches that antivirus software program finds suspicious. That mentioned, there are some probably authentic causes for that and, extra importantly, Hahn didn’t discover any indicators of malicious code. He wasn’t capable of spend the time on a full investigation and so can’t present an official assertion on the matter, however I felt protected sufficient to proceed.
Setup and software program
My Procolored F13, oven, and warmth press arrived in a pleasant case, like what you’d see roadies carrying right into a live performance venue. I’m used to seeing transport crates made from low-cost plywood, in order that was fairly cool.
After unpacking all the pieces, my first thought was that the panda graphics on all the pieces had been form of cheesy. That is purely subjective and a few folks will love them, however the pandas really feel a bit infantile to me and wouldn’t be my first selection for tools that prices hundreds of {dollars}.
However that’s minor and doesn’t actually matter. What issues is that all the pieces arrived in good situation. There was a small scuff/discoloration on one fringe of the F13, however not unhealthy sufficient that you simply’d even discover it for those who weren’t searching for it.
The setup was fairly straightforward and largely consisted of filling the ink reservoirs, then drawing ink by means of the tubes to the “ink sacs” above the printhead with the included syringes. That takes a little bit of time, however is important. Attaching the output shelf and movie roll holder solely took a few minutes.
On the software program aspect, the Procolored F13 requires the supplied Professional RIP software program. Following the revealed video directions, that solely takes 10-Quarter-hour to arrange. And, in contrast to with the Procolored V11 Professional, Professional RIP is the one software program essential to run the F13.
Testing course of
The F13 is the primary devoted DTF printer I’ve examined (I’m not together with the eufyMake E1’s DTF operate), so I don’t have any form of standardized testing course of established.
As a substitute, I merely printed a bunch of t-shirts and different objects I believed could be cool. I made shirts for myself utilizing my very own paintings, stuff for my spouse, issues for mates, and so forth. I attempted to print all kinds of kinds and graphics to get a really feel for the best way the Procolored F13 dealt with colour copy and its consistency.
I additionally selected to make use of solely the warmth press and oven that got here within the F13 bundle. I do personal one other warmth press that’s a lot bigger, however I needed my assessment to be primarily based on the identical expertise that almost all patrons would have.
{Hardware} ideas and printing outcomes
Total, I used to be happy with the prints that popped out of the Procolored F13. The colours look nice with the default printing profile and had been very constant to my eye. And the F13 is fairly quick, too. A print sufficiently big for a typical t-shirt solely takes 5-10 minutes and so it could be environment friendly sufficient for a small enterprise.
The oven was straightforward to make use of and has a built-in timer. There’s even a devoted holder for a bit suction gripper factor to seize the recent movie after baking. It’s sufficiently big for these t-shirt prints and I by no means skilled any points with it.
I particularly favored the warmth press, as it’s computerized and actually nice to make use of. There’s a corded distant that permits you to rapidly alter temperature and time. Then, with a easy click on on that distant, the warmth press will routinely shut, keep in place for the set period of time, after which open.
I don’t have any complaints in any respect about both the oven or the warmth press.
And nearly all the pieces I made turned out rather well. The ultimate outcomes look superior and the method was clean and straightforward.
I solely skilled two failures:
The primary was as a result of the movie caught to the highest of the warmth press, so when the warmth press opened it prematurely peeled the movie from the shirt. I feel that was my very own fault, as I in all probability bought some stray adhesive on that aspect of the movie. After that, I began placing a sheet of parchment paper on high of the movie and that prevented some other sticking eventualities.
The second was a results of the print not sticking properly and coming off when peeling the movie. Once more, I feel that was consumer error. I won’t have utilized sufficient adhesive powder or it might have been that I attempted to peel the movie earlier than letting it cool sufficient.
I don’t suppose both of these failures was an issue with the tools, however there are some things I dislike in regards to the F13 itself…
Issues I don’t like
In my view, the largest downside with the Procolored F13 is the consumer interface. On the proper aspect of the printer, there’s a readout for the printer’s thermostat. As a consumer, you don’t actually ever want to the touch that. On the left aspect (of the entrance) there are 4 buttons: energy, thriller button, ink circulation (perhaps), and trash.
As you may in all probability inform, I wasn’t capable of decipher these buttons. For essentially the most half, I solely ever touched the facility button.
And, lastly, there are two buttons on the printer’s left panel for feeding the movie roll out and in. They work high-quality.
I felt like these buttons had been cryptic and until the F13 was actively printing, I by no means fairly knew for positive what state it was in. Even a small LCD with a standing readout would have been useful. However actually, the F13 would have benefited from an interface designed by somebody who actually understands how customers work together with machines.
That was additional exacerbated by the truth that the printer would typically find yourself in a state the place it wouldn’t settle for new print jobs. I’m not fairly positive why that might occur and it often occurred after I didn’t use the printer for some time (hours or days). However when it did occur, I couldn’t begin a brand new print and must flip the printer off and again on once more.
Lastly, there’s a design flaw with the little clip that holds the ink tubes in place earlier than they attain the printhead. The issue is that when the printhead strikes to the left, the tubes fold upwards and rub on the printer’s lid. That’s noisy and I used to be involved that it could put on by means of the tubes. I might really see marks on the lid the place the tubes had been rubbing.
To repair that, I designed and 3D-printed a substitute for that clip. It extends to the left and prevents the tubes from flexing upwards, eliminating the rubbing. For those who purchase an F13 and have the rubbing difficulty, you will discover my substitute clip over on Printables.
Upkeep
After turning into acquainted with UV printing and all of its upkeep complications, I used to be keen to seek out out if the Procolored F13 (and DTF printers basically) have comparable upkeep necessities.
Procolored does have a beneficial every day, weekly, and month-to-month upkeep schedule, however I discovered that the F13 is way much less delicate to upkeep neglect than UV printers are.
For those who depart the printer on (as it’s best to), it would routinely run cleansing cycles. And the printhead isn’t practically as susceptible to clogging as a UV printhead.
I even left the F13 sitting for about three weeks and it nonetheless printed simply high-quality after working a cleansing cycle!
All of that to say that whereas the Procolored F13 does require repairs and it’s best to observe the upkeep schedule, it isn’t going to turn out to be a paperweight for those who depart it unattended for a weekend. One of the simplest ways to maintain it working properly is to easily print one thing every day, however a few missed days shouldn’t be a difficulty.
Closing ideas
I’ve been utilizing the Procolored F13 for about six weeks now and I’ve fashioned a assured opinion about it, which is that it’s a first rate machine.
My greatest criticism is in regards to the poor consumer interface, however that’s extra of an inconvenience than an actual downside. I used to be additionally irritated by the ink tubes rubbing, however that was solved with a 45-minute 3D print.
Total, the Procolored F13 (together with its oven and warmth press) works properly and produces superior t-shirts. I feel patrons might be glad with the outcomes.
Nevertheless, this market section has turn out to be fairly aggressive in recent times and there are lots of different choices on the market. I don’t have expertise with any of the competitors, however there are fashions out there at comparable costs and even just a few which are extra inexpensive.
All I can say with confidence is that the Procolored F13 labored properly for me and I feel most patrons could be proud of it.