RICOH develops DTG printer with separate print stations

RICOH’s newly developed RI4000 direct-to-garment (DTG) polyester printer has adapted to the company’s existing Ri2000 DTG printer which already uses two separate print stations to speed up productivity. The newly introduced RI4000 uses the first of these print stations to lay down an optimiser, followed by white ink and then the second one applies colours. Most of the ink sits on the surface but some is absorbed into the material.

All these advancements in the new RICOH RI4000 DTG printer lead to much higher productivity than with DTG from a relatively basic set up, which is one reason why so many print service providers favour it. The final stage is to place the blank fabric together with the transfer in a heat press. The plastic base can be peeled and is usually recyclable so there’s no sustainability issue. This can be done straight after printing, or at a later date, or you can simply post the transfer print to a customer or another supplier to apply it to the final object.