Auriga launched in 1957 working in the field of embroidery software,  partnering in 1977 with Studio Auriga to market Tajima multi-head embroidery machines from Japan. In 1990 a new company formed, with Studio Auriga as parent company, to better coordinate research and development, programming and implementation of the embroidery software, as well as technical assistance for the machines they market. The company offers all the tools necessary to optimize their garment decoration products. They have a 600-square-meter showroom in Solaro (MI), while sales and administrative offices are located in Milan.

For more information about Studio Auriga, or to locate a distributor in your country, visit our Distributors page.

Now until May 31, 2012, when you buy a new AnaJet printer we are going to include a free license of InkSoft. If you haven’t seen this already, you should. Here’s the link to the special on our site. It’s for USA customers only.

We have had literally hundreds of customers pick up and start using InkSoft – some of them even before they took delivery of their printers. Ask your regional manager how you can get up to three free months of subscription. The total value of the bundle is up to $1,446 and, if you maintain your Max Pro subscription, the annual savings alone is $1,800.

See the offer page. There’s a good demo of what InkSoft can do for you.

The sponsor of the free shirt was Marisa, a major retail clothing outlet in Brazil. Seems like a great way to honor mothers and get some amazing good will for the brand!

Thank you to Danfex, our distributor in Brazil, for sharing this with us. Here’s the link to Marisa’s web site – looks like a full-scale store.

Here’s a link to the digital version of the issue. Direct to garment is mentioned on page 38.

“Beyond requiring minimal space and enabling you to print on natural fibers like cotton, direct-to-garment isn’t difficult to learn, and the turnaround time from art to production is often faster than with embroidery or screen printing. Perhaps the biggest benefit for your business is that you can begin offering customers a print solution and compete in the personalization market, fulfilling one-off and small-volume runs of t-shirts, with color-rich embellishments, at a reasonable price.”

Some of the other advice in this extended report include: starting a referral program, running a client profitability analysis, subcontracting (no surprise), networking, and stepping outside your comfort zone to exhibit at a non-industry show.

We often hear the question, where do you buy your shirts from? This issue also happens to have the top 25 apparel producers. We have used, over time, SanMar, Hanes, Alstyle, Gildan, Delta Apparel and Impotex (only one of whom appears on this list).

1. Production capacity relative to your needs. In a word, speed. How long does it take to print a good batch of brilliant, full-color prints without a lot of babysitting and hassle?
2. Ink control. How granular is the ability to control ink drop size, for high resolution, washable prints? This directly affects aesthetic quality and finish.
3. Durability of components, especially print heads. How long do the parts last in normal use, and how costly is it to replace wear items?
4. Degree and frequency of maintenance and downtime. How much time and effort does it take to clean and maintain your printer, and are you willing to sacrifice that time?
5. WYSIWYG: How faithfully can you reproduce an image? Do the printer and RIP software deliver on expectations for fidelity to the source?
6. Ink consumption and cost per print. How much money can I expect to spend printing a given type of image? This highly variable cost can determine pricing strategy and profit.
7. Washability of finished goods. How well does my ink cure and adhere to the fabric? How well does the ink work in tandem with a pre-treatment solution?
8. Availability of tech support. When are techs available?
9. Training and learning curve. What tools and seminars are available and how much do they cost? How long does it take to become competent with the machine?
10. Depth of user forums and online community. Are there other people out there doing what I am doing? Have they been able to solve some of the challenges I am facing?

There are many other factors as well, but these ten should definitely be considered in such a decision. Check out the article for more details.

Top 10 Garment Printer Evaluation Factors AnaJet

Check out this YouTube video just posted by a new AnaJet customer, SLG Art Boutiki. They’re using the mPower mP5 digital apparel printer to print a full-color band shirt for a customer. They expect to print them on the spot for concerts.

The mP5 appears to be running in fine mode with high saturation, so the print takes just under a minute. Imagine what they could do with twice as many print heads on the mP10. They can be found at www.artboutiki.com. Good luck, folks!

Update: SLG added a page dedicated to their d-t-g product offering. They posted some basic single-unit pricing. Might be nice to check out how they’re marketing this as far as verbiage.

http://www.artboutiki.com/dtgprint/

They communicate the value to the end customer perfectly:

“Unlike screen printing, digital apparel printing is a high resolution, full-color process. Basically anything you can get out of a laser printer or desktop inkjet printer you can get out of our new DTG machine. It prints equally well on dark or light shirts (dark shirts cost more though) and unlike screen printing the finished product does not feel like a giant plastic shield on your chest. Examples of shirts we are selling in our gallery can be seen here.”

I hope to see their gallery expand over time. Good luck folks!