Ricoh Fabric Printer Tutorial
Step 1: Preparing the fabric
1.
Find / remove the tray
Remove the tray from the printer by grabbing the front of the tray with your thumbs on the green tabs and lifting the front end and then pulling the tray out of the printer.
2.
Open the tray
Press together the two tabs at the front of the tray to open the frame
3.
Load your fabric
Position your fabric over the center platform so that a single layer of fabric is in the desired area. For a tshirt, you'll need to open up the tshirt and put just the front or back on the platform and fold the rest of the tshirt underneath.
Orient the cloth in the correct direction for your design, centering and straightening for the desired results. Note that the top of the shirt will be at the front of the printer (closer to you), not the back (by the wood wall).
4.
Tuck fabric in & close tray
Place the cloth on the tray, smooth out the wrinkles, and tuck all of the excess cloth underneath the black printing stand in the tray. It is important for the printing area to be as smooth and free of wrinkles as possible. Also, do not leave fabric poking out from the sides of the frame.
5.
Iron fabric
Before the cloth can be printed on, it needs to be ironed and pressed.
a.
Press the “Power” button on the finisher (the lower unit)
b.
Press the large, silver “Preheat” button.
The machine will start preheating.
c.
When it's preheated, press and hold the “Stop/Unlock” button while opening the tray door
Once the temperature stops increasing the finisher will beep and/or the light will go on.
d.
Place the tray into the finisher
e.
Slide the lever to the left in order
Lever to the left to press and iron the fabric.
f.
Remove the tray
After 30 seconds the timer will go off. Slide the lever back to the middle, and press and hold the “Stop/Unlock” button to open the door. Remove the tray. Leave the finisher on for the curing process later
Step 2: Printing
1.
Turn on the printer
If the printer is not already on, press the power button until it turns on.
2.
Load tray into printer
Load the tray with your fabric into the printer by placing the rear side of the tray into the printer and then slowly pushing until you hear a click, at which point the tray is fully inserted into the printer.
2.
Load tray into printer
Load the tray with your fabric into the printer by placing the rear side of the tray into the printer and then slowly pushing until you hear a click, at which point the tray is fully inserted into the printer.
3.
Open Ricoh Design Software
Open Ricoh Design Software on the computer next to the printer.
If you have create a design to be printed, make sure it is loaded onto a USB drive and insert the USB drive into the computer
4.
Select Advanced Designer
Then select garment type, thickness, size (normal size is A4), and orientation.
5.
Import design
Bring in your own design by selecting "import image" and then "computer, SD/microSD card, USB memory", then "select image" and locate the image on your USB.
6.
Adjust design
Adjust the design of the image on the garment. To adjust the size of your image, click on it and drag the blue circles outward or inward.
7.
Select Print/Save when you're done
This will send the print to the printer
8.
Print
Once the “Start” button lights up blue on the printer, press it and printing will begin.
9.
(if needed) Adjust height
If the printer tells you to adjust height, press the buttons to the left of the “Start” button labeled “Adjust Height.” Lowering the height of the tray will most likely fix the issue. Do this by pressing the down arrow repeatedly until the tray is as low as it gets. The tray moves very slowly up and down, so look closely to insure movement is happening.
Step 3: Fixing the ink
The lower unit lets us heat press the fabric so that the ink lasts for longer.
1.
Remove tray from the printer
Once the “Start” button is no longer lit and the LCD on the printer reads “Ready,” printing has finished.
Carefully remove the tray from the printer by lifting the front end and pulling it out of the printer, without touching the top of the fabric.
2.
Insert tray into the finisher (the lower unit)
Press and hold the “Stop/Unlock” button on the finisher, open the door, and insert the tray without touching the inside of the finisher.
Ideally, the finisher is still hot from the ironing process. If not, follow the preheating instructions beginning in step 5 of the “Printing Your Design” section.
For most applications, leave the temperature and timer at the settings they are already at. If you need to adjust the temperature or time (for a special fabric or use), see the Makerspace attendant for help.
3.
Slide lever to the right to start the finisher
Once the “Start” button is no longer lit and the LCD on the printer reads “Ready,” printing has finished.
Carefully remove the tray from the printer by lifting the front end and pulling it out of the printer, without touching the top of the fabric.
4.
Remove tray from the finisher
Once heating has finished, slide the lever back to center and press and hold the “Stop/Unlock” button to open the front cover. Carefully remove the tray, making sure to not touch anything inside the finisher other than the tray. Immediately close the front cover of the finisher.
5.
Finishing up
Remove your fabric from the tray
Put the tray back into the printer as described earlier.
Turn off the printer and finisher by pressing and holding the “Power” button of each one.
Next Steps
Now you are eligible to take the quiz! After passing the quiz you will be able to use the fabric printer.