With all the different types of laser transfer papers on the market, it can be a little confusing for someone who is new to the segment and just getting started in laser transfers. If you’re looking for a simple solution for brilliant, soft, economical laser transfers, we have good news. SIGNWarehouse recently expanded our Logical Color brand of top-quality heat transfer products with the addition of LXF Dark. LXF Dark is our revolutionary new two-step laser transfer media for dark garments.
But not every job requires black shirts or two-step transfer media. For customers who want something bright and soft on white apparel, we offer LXF Light. LXF Light should be your go-to solution for quick and easy transfers on light and white shirts. It works with just about any laser transfer platform on the market and offers some great benefits.
If you have a CMYK laser transfer printer, a CMYW four-color or even a CMYK plus White five color setup, LXF Light is compatible with your printer and your software. If you have a CMYK printer, it can be an essential part of your successful t-shirt printing strategy. If you have a white toner printer, LXF Light offers benefits in efficiency and economy that shouldn’t be ignored. Let’s dig into the details.Why LXF Light?
LXF Light is a self-weeding, one-step laser transfer paper engineered for decorating white and light apparel. In the laser transfer world, most of the attention is on dark garment decoration, which requires two-step papers. But there is still a business case for decorating light or white shirts with full-color, high-quality images. This is where LXF Light comes in. Since you don’t need to cover the color of the garment, you don’t need a white adhesive layer. LXF Light is a faster, simpler, and more economical solution for these kinds of transfers.
It’s simpler because all you do is place the sheet on the shirt, press, and peel. It’s faster because the single heat press cycle that transfers toner to fabric takes 15 seconds. Two-step transfer media can take up to two minutes). And it’s more economical because each sheet costs 79¢ or less. Two-step transfer papers can cost up to $1.25 per sheet. So there are lots of benefits for choosing LXF Light for your white garment transfer jobs.
You will have high-quality, full-color prints for white and light-colored shirts. Your customers will be very pleased with their new shirt and wear it with pride.
LXF Light Laser Printer Options
CMYK or CMYW? LXF Light can be used with lots of different laser transfer printers and toner sets. The best transfers on light apparel come from a CMYK toner set, as opposed to CMYW. This is because the presence of black toner offers maximum contrast where you need it, which can make your graphics crisper and sharper. So, if you have a CMYK-only printer such as an OKI 831-TS, you’re in business. That said, if you have a four-color CMYW printer, you can still use LXF Light to save time and money on your white-apparel transfers.
If you have a five-toner printer such as an iColor 500, 550, 600, or 560, or the Oki Pro 8432WT, you’ll want to use LXF Light with the CMYK option for all the reasons noted above. NOTE: The IColor 650 is NOT compatible with LXF Light paper. Using LXF Light could damage your fuser or transfer belt if using the wrong settings for a long period of time. These are not covered under warranty.
Suggested Software Settings
Print it, RIP it, whatever: You can get great results with LXF Light by printing through a bundled RIP or printing directly to the printer driver from your favorite graphic design application. If you’re using a CMYW or five-toner printer, make sure you use the "White Off" setting in the print driver. Use the multi-purpose tray and choose Labels or Labels2 as the media type and remember to flip it.
If you’re using the ProRIP software with an iColor printer, choose the CMYK queue. The UniNet 1-step paper option and Labels paper type settings produce vivid, correct color. If you’re using Forever TransferRIP with an OKI Pro 8432WT, make sure you’ve downloaded the new ICC profiles for CMYK printing. You can also print to the 8432WT using the print driver straight from your design application.
LXF Light Tips & Instructions
LXF Light is a self-weeding, one-step laser transfer paper engineered for decorating white and light apparel. In the laser transfer world, most of the attention is on dark garment decoration, which requires two-step papers. But there is still a business case for decorating light or white shirts with full-color, high-quality images. This is where LXF Light comes in. Since you don’t need to cover the color of the garment, you don’t need a white adhesive layer. LXF Light is a faster, simpler, and more economical solution for these kinds of transfers.
It’s simpler because all you do is place the sheet on the shirt, press, and peel. It’s faster because the single heat press cycle that transfers toner to fabric takes 15 seconds. (Two-step transfer media can take up to two minutes). And it’s more economical because each sheet costs 79¢ or less. Two-step transfer papers can cost up to $1.25 per sheet. So there are lots of benefits for choosing LXF Light for your white garment transfer jobs.
You will have high-quality, full-color prints for white and light-colored shirts. Your customers will be very pleased with their new shirt and wear it with pride.
LXF Light Compatible Heat Presses
Swingaway Only: When using any laser transfer paper, it is strongly recommended to use a swing-away heat press. This is because the polymer coatings that make self-weeding laser transfers work rely on specific levels of heat and pressure. Pressure has to be evenly applied across the paper in order to produce a smooth transfer.
Clam-shell presses produce more pressure at the back of the table, so they just don’t work well, even with one-step transfer papers. A good swing-away press – with an accurate temperature display – gives the best results time and time again. SIGNWarehouse offers two different EnduraPRESS swing-away heat presses: the 12” by 15” MF15 Multifunction Combo press, and the SD20, which is a rugged, reliable 16” by 20” workhorse.
SIGNWarehouse also has the SilverBolt Heat Presses. There are two swing-away heat presses that work seamlessly with LXF Light. The SilverBolt 1620SA and 1620PA have been tested with LXF Light and work perfectly.
We also offer other high-quality swing-away models from Geo Knight and the Stahl’s Hotronix line . All these heat presses are compatible. Okay, now that we have the swing away disclaimer out of the way, here’s a quick overview of how to use LXF Light.
How to Use LXF Light Laser Transfer Paper
As noted above, you can use LXF Light with or without a RIP. But always, always choose the correct media type, which is Labels or Labels2. If you use ProRIP, the CMYK queue will come pre-loaded with the right profiles and settings. You would select UniNet 1-Step Light paper. If you use TransferRIP with a converted 8432WT, select the CMYK toner set in step one. If you don’t have such an option, you can download the profile from our blog article.
Fig 1: When printing your image, make sure you mirror your image.
Design Tip: Avoid using very pale hues. One-step self-weeding papers may not interpret these well. Anything above 10% saturation should work. Pale grays and pinks may not transfer well.
- Unless you’re using an iColor 550, load the paper in the Multi-Purpose tray, print side up. With the 550, all transfer paper goes in the bottom tray, print side down (imprinted side up).
- In the Windows driver or RIP software, select the Labels 2 or Labels media type setting.
- Set your swing away heat press to 330 – 345° F (165 – 175°C) with medium to firm pressure. Best results with Polyester are achieved at 330°.
- Place the print face-down on the fabric and press for 45 seconds.
- Open the press and Rub the paper with a soft cloth for 15 – 25 seconds (15 for cotton, 25 for Polyester). Then peel the paper from the garment in a smooth, even motion. Don’t lift the garment from the heat press during peeling. Keep the fabric flat on the press and peel the paper along the table at a 180° angle.
- To ‘fix’ the transfer, place a silicon sheet or Kraft paper over the transfer and repress for 25 seconds. Wait about 5 seconds, remove the paper and stretch garment slightly. This will help with washability, durability and flexibility of the transfer.
That’s the quick summary. For detailed instructions and troubleshooting tips, please click here to view and download the PDF instruction guide.
How to Order
LXF Light comes in two sizes, A3 and A4. A3 sheets are 8.27” x 11.69”, just a little taller than US letter size. A3 sheets are tabloid-sized at 11.7” x 16.5″. We offer them in boxes of 50 or 100 sheets. A box of 50 A4 sheets costs $39.95, while a box of 100 A4 sheets is only $69.95. Tabloid-sized printers can handle A3 sheet sizes. Those start at only $75.00 for a box of 50 sheets.
LXF Light is an excellent one-step self-weeding laser transfer paper engineered for white and pastel t-shirt transfers. It’s a faster, simpler, more economical complement to your two-step, dark garment transfers. It’s compatible with just about any laser transfer printer on the market, including Oki 831-TS, Oki WT, and the IColor 500, 550, 600, and 560 laser transfer printers. And it produces great-looking graphics! Get a pack today and see for yourself!
