Best way to align heat transfer vinyl

[polock]

I bought a plotter and heat press from a friend and have made some shirts but most of the time the graphic is crooked. What is the best way to make sure the vinyl is straight on the t shirt?

 

[HDvinyl]

Welcome.................






I fold it both ways, then heat press it to a make creases down the middle

 

[DizzyMarkus]

Practice, practice, practice :0)--- it will allbe second nature soon

Markus

 

[Sign-Man Signs]

Look at your shirt. Most have a fold crease in them. I made a line down the center of my press pad and the align it with the crease. Like Dizzy said. Just takes practice. There's no magic bullet.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

We use a mirror attached to the wall near the heat press. I lay the shirt out flat on the table, stick the heat press on, then hold ths shirt up in front of the mirror located about 10 feet away to make sure it is straight before pressing. Works great for us.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

We use a mirror attached to the wall near the heat press. I lay the shirt out flat on the table, stick the heat press on, then hold ths shirt up in front of the mirror located about 10 feet away to make sure it is straight before pressing. Works great for us.

That's a little trick that has served us well for a long time as well.

However, we also have couple of t-squares and other tools marked up for measuring out where to put logo crests or full size patters for various sizes as well, so we mainly only use the mirror trick now to make sure everything is good, if it looks like there is a slight variance.

 

[Jackpine]

Ditto! Practice.....

Look at your shirt. Most have a fold crease in them. I made a line down the center of my press pad and the align it with the crease. Like Dizzy said. Just takes practice. There's no magic bullet.

 

[polock]

Thanks everyone. I don't mind it being a little off center if it is just shirts for me or the kids, but I am helping a friend with some soccer jerseys and want to make sure they are straight and center. I will try the mirror trick.

 

[SignManiac]

I use a digital micrometer, very accurate.

 

[Mosh]

By eye, now that I have done it 25 years....T-square and I hold my hands up on each side to center it...I presume both your hands are the same size. I have a swinger from shaulz

 

[Mike_Koval]

as they say, practice makes perfect...there are some alignment tools and even some laser targets you can mount on your press, but a little overkill.

t-sqaure, ruler and the good old fashioned eye ball. on a clam style press, i like to load it in backwards so that the collar is closest to you. makes it easier than reaching back under the heat press to line it up.

 

[mfatty500]

like this:
http://drugline.org/img/term/cyclops-3837_0.jpg