When using heat print vinyl, cut designs in reverse so that once the excess material is weeded away, the design just needs to be turned over onto the garment. (All images and graphics courtesy the author).

Have you ever been told by someone to put your stamp on a particular project? Or maybe you’ve heard someone comment that they knew you had done or said something just because of the way it was done or said? It’s even possible to tell who directed a movie or produced a song just by the way certain technical or aesthetic aspects were handled.

 

For all of you that, like me, don’t have that definitive personal style, that trademark that makes your work yours, this “how to” is for you. I am going to walk through the process of personalizing apparel using a computer, a design program, a cutter and a heat press. The technology is actually nothing new, but the magic is in the ways in which you choose to use it. 

 

Design processes

A computer design software will put you on your way to being able to personalize apparel and other textiles. Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW can both create vector graphics needed to actually cut the designs, but buying an expensive design program with a lot features that non-creative types won’t use isn’t necessary for heat-print personalization. Check with a heat-print vinyl supplier; they should have some options available at no charge with the graphics and templates necessary to begin designing right away.

 

The author used an existing template to modify for his design. It was sized appropriately and then specs were noted for output to the cutting device.

Once the installation of whatever design program is complete, it’s time to begin designing. In the example provided for this article, I used a template in my program that has already been created, and simply personalized it by changing the clipart and text to match my personal style.

 

Now I have a design with arched and contoured text layered inside a piece of clipart that I am going to cut all at once. I plan on weeding out the cavities in reverse to create an effect that looks like a multiple-color print with the color of the shirt showing through. The next step is to size the design based on the dimensions of the T-shirt and desired placement. I want this design to fit on the left chest of the shirt, so I made it approximately 4" or 4.5" wide by a proportional height.

 

That’s it—the design is sized and ready to be sent to the cutter. One important note: When using heat print vinyl, you need to cut your design in reverse so that once the excess material is weeded away, the design just needs to be turned over onto the garment. 

 

Each vinyl should come with a full set of application instructions, including the time, temperature and pressure required to heat print as well as the recommended down-force and blade type used for cutting.

Cutting and weeding

In this case, the design will be applied to a T-shirt, so I select a heat-print vinyl designed for application onto cotton and polyester substrates and choose a neon color to draw attention to the graphic. Based on the vinyl I am using, I can expect my graphic to cost about $0.01 per square inch. Since this design is 16.5", I can anticipate a material cost of $0.17 for each piece.

 

Before sending the design to the cutter, consider the down-force necessary to cut through the heat print vinyl while not cutting through the polyester backing to which the vinyl has been laminated. This particular material requires a down-force of approximately 80 to 100 grams. I have been careful to set the depth of my blade to about 2 mm or about half of the thickness of a credit card. This is all that’s necessary to achieve a clean cut with the recommended force. Setting the blade any deeper can lead to perforated cuts and ruined cutting strips, which make cutting and weeding difficult.

 

After I make sure my cutter is ready to cut, the design is sent through the driver provided with the cutter’s software. To maximize material, nest or gang multiple designs in the area provided. When the design is finished cutting, remove the material from the cutter with scissors and head to a nice, flat surface to weed away my excess material. I recommend using a weeding tool to accomplish this task efficiently, but tweezers, an exacto-knife or your fingers can also do the trick.

 

The author completed this entire project with a computer, vinyl cutter and a heat press.

Here, I weed the excess material as well as some of the inside of the lettering to create a multi-color effect while only cutting and weeding one color. When I’m finished with my weeding of this design, which took about 90 seconds to complete, I am ready to place the shirt on the heat press for application.

 

Set and press

The particular heat-print vinyl used for this example required a temperature of 305º F and a heat press time of 10 seconds under firm pressure. Each vinyl should come with a full set of application instructions, including the time, temperature and pressure required to heat print as well as the recommended down-force and blade type used for cutting. Remember, the recommended down-force takes into consideration that the blade depth is set at about 2 mm.

 

At this point, I have designed the graphic, set up the cutter for the heat print vinyl being used, sent the design to the cutter, weeded away the excess material and set up the heat press for the recommended time, temperature and pressure. All that is left is placing the graphic and letting the press do the work.

Once the press is engaged, I reviewed application instructions to find out if the polyester backing should be peeled hot, warm or cold. The instructions indicated it could be peeled any of those three ways. I personally prefer a hot-peel product in production—there is no need to set the shirt aside and handle it again later. Most hot-peel vinyls have a pressure-sensitive liner, which means the clear backing is sticky. This not only makes weeding designs much easier but also allows you to cut smaller text and designs with great success.

 

Here is just one example of how, with a computer, design software, a cutter and a heat press, I was able to put my stamp on a T-shirt.