Customizing Print Pro DTF Environments

Why customize Environments?

As you develop experience printing a wide variety of images, you will eventually come across designs that require modifying the default parameters provided by the built-in Print Pro Environments.

Some of the easily adjustable parameters that get set to specific default values based on your Environment selection include:

  • Underbase
  • Highlight*
  • Fuzziness*
  • Color Strength
  • Color Booster
* Note that although Highlight and Fuzziness values are present and may be altered, these options have no effect in multi-printhead, single-pass DTF printing.

These and other settings can be quickly adjusted on the fly from the Print Pro toolbar after loading your selected Environment (with its presets), and that’s the best way to make a fast, one-off adjustment.

We’ll show you how to create and save a modified Environment, customized to your parameter preferences, which can improve your workflow & efficiency if you frequently use designs that look best with modified settings.

Environment Groups

Before we create a custom Environment, it will be helpful to understand how Print Pro’s Environment Groups feature helps us keep Environments organized and easy to locate.

Environment Groups are like folders used to organize a set of Environments under a common category or theme. Whenever you click on the New button on Print Pro’s Layout toolbar, the product name that appears below the ‘Open Layout…’ and ‘New Layout…’ options is an Environment Group name. For example, “Omni DTF – Gen 3” and “Omni DTF Mini” are examples of Environment Groups found in Print Pro for those respective models.

Layout tab > New button > Environment Groups
Normally only one group of Predefined Environments will be shown — just the latest group for your printer, rather than the larger list shown above.

Creating an Environment Group

We recommend creating new Environment Groups to organize any custom Environments you create. You may want Group names based on a client name or a particular design type — whatever makes sense to you when you’re later looking for a particular customized Environment (or set of custom Environments) is fine.

If you expect to have a small number of customized Environments, you may want to simply use a simple name like “Custom DTF” for them all. In any case, we recommend that you don’t add customized Environments to the default, built-in Environment Groups.

Here’s how to create an Environment Group.

  1. Click on the Manage Environment button on the Print toolbar.
    DTF Print - Manage Environment - Grouping
    The Manage Environment dropdown options of ‘Environment…’ and ‘Grouping…’ appears.
  2. Click on the ‘Grouping…‘ option.
Click on an open image file if the Environment… and Grouping… options are grayed out and can’t be selected, then try again.

The Manage Environment Group window appears.

  1. Click on the Add Environment group icon, as shown below.
    Add Environment Group
    A new Group will appear at the bottom of the Environment list with an initial name of “Group 1“.
    New 'Group 1' created
  2. Click on the ‘Group 1‘ new group name, type whatever name you want to call the group, then press the Enter key. For this example, we use the name ‘Custom‘.

    The new Group name appears at the bottom of both lists — Environment list and Associated groups list.
    New Environment Group named 'Custom'
  3. Click the green checkmark near the bottom right corner of the Manage Environment Group window to save the new Group and close the window.
The new Environment Group does not yet appear in the options available under the Layout toolbar’s New tool because there are no Environments in it yet.

Saving a New Environment

Whenever we change options (e.g. Underbase %, Color Strength %, etc.) on the Print Adjustment toolbar, we temporarily replace the values from the selected Environment’s default settings.

Here’s how to save a set of modified values to a new Environment.

  1. Select an Environment to be used as the basis for a customized version. Pick the Environment with same resolution and, if applicable, shirt color so you’ll only need to make changes from the Print Adjustment toolbar.
    Select baseline Environment
    For this example, we use the Omni DTF – Gen 3 Environment Group’s 720×2400 Environment. Its presets appear on the Print Adjustment toolbar as shown below.
    DTF Gen 3 - 720x2400 Env default parameters
  2. Use the Print Adjustment toolbar to adjust the Underbase, Color Strength, or Color Booster values as desired. For this example, we will change the Underbase from 85.88% to 90% and the Color Strength from 75% to 80%.

    We’ve so far created an Environment Group and made some changes to a set of default Environment parameters to create some context for what comes next.

    The following steps will result in these parameter changes being saved to a new Environment which we’ll later be able to recall from the DirectRIP toolbar’s Environment dropdown.

    Use the Print Adjustment toolbar to adjust the Underbase, Color Strength, or Color Booster values as desired. For this example, we will change the Underbase from 85.88% to 90% and the Color Strength from 75% to 80%.
    Changed Environment parameters

    We’ve so far created an Environment Group and made some changes to a set of default Environment parameters to create some context for what comes next.

    The following steps will result in these parameter changes being saved to a new Environment which we’ll later be able to recall from the DirectRIP toolbar’s Environment dropdown.
  3. Click the Print Setup icon near the left end of the Print toolbar.
    Print Setup button
    The Print Setup window appears.
  4. Click the Save Environment button (see below), the last icon to the right of the Print Setup window’s Environment Name dropdown list.
    Save Environment (Print Setup)

    Save As dialog window appears with the default name being that of the originally selected baseline (unmodified) Environmet in the File name text box.
Do not click the Save button until after changing the File name or the original Environment will no longer have its default values.
  1. Replace the default name with a name of your choice for the new Environment in the File name text box, then click the Save button.
    720x2400 mod.env name & save

    We’re using “720×2400 mod” in our example.
  2. When the Save As dialog box closes, click the Print Setup window’s ‘OK’ button to close that window, too.
  3. Click the Manage Environment option on the Print toolbar, then select ‘Environment…‘.
    Environment... (Print - Manage Environment)
    The Manage Environment window appears.

    Scroll to the bottom of the Manage Environment window’s list where you will find an entry with no Environment Name and no Environment Group. This is the Environment that you created.
  4. Click on the empty Environment Name field and type in a name for the new Environment.
    Environment name (Manage Environment)

    The name you create here will appear when you use the toolbar’s Environment dropdown list in the future, so name your new Environment in a way that will be meaningful to you next time you want to use the same set of parameters. We’re using “720×2400 mod” again for our example. You may want to use something specific to why you’re creating a custom Environment.
  5. Click on the empty Environment Group field, then click on the dropdown box and select the new group name you previously created.
    Assign Group to new Env
  6. Click the green checkmark to save your selections.

You’re finished with the process and your new Group & Environment are now available from the Layout toolbar’s New dropdown list, under the heading of your new Environment Group.

OmniDTF & DTF Mini Software Setup

There are three software elements that we work with when setting up a PC for use with the OmniDTF and Omni DTF Mini systems:

  1. The Windows Control Panel Ethernet adapter configuration.
  2. The OmniDTF & DTF Mini UI control software installation & configuration.
  3. The Print Pro DTF & DTF Mini RIP software installation & configuration.

The following videos provide step-by-step demonstrations of each of these, plus how to update the Environments (a collection of print type “presets”) within the Print Pro DTF software. The installation & configuration processes are identical for both models.

Windows Ethernet Adapter Configuration

Use Windows Control Panel to set the IP address and Subnet mask on the PC that will be used to control the system.


UI Software Installation & Configuration

See the below video for details of installing the OmniDTF & DTF Mini UI control software (including the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime libraries, if needed).


Print Pro and HASP Key Driver Installation

See the below video for details of installing the Print Pro DTF & DTF Mini RIP software and its companion HASP (Sentinel Key “dongle”) driver.

When prompted for the CD code enter:

776-3691394

When prompted for the Serial number enter the following letters but replace the “####” symbols with the four digits on your Print Pro dongle and thumb drive:

LPWM####DXVWU


Configuration of New Print Pro DTF Installations

See the below video for details of configuring a new Print Pro installation, including:

  • Job Spacings for the Layout feature.
  • Printer Name Mapping, including setting the Physical Printer Port to the “TCP/IP RAW” option, selecting the Printer Model of “OmniDTF”, and assigning a Printer Name of your choice.
  • Entering ink costs into the Cost Settings feature.

Updating the Print Pro DTF Environments

How to identify Print Pro DTF’s currently installed Environments and install updated Environments, if needed.

Print Pro Queue Manager Deep Dive (video)

In the below video and the following step-by-step instructions, we demonstrate how to rip an image or Layout to get the ink cost without printing. We’ll also show you how to save the ripped Layout to a file, including all sizing and configuration settings, and also how to load a previously saved rip for immediate printing.

Rip Without Printing

Once you have images and Layouts fully configured and ready to print, it’s simple to rip them without printing. Features of Print Pro’s Queue Manager can then be used to do things like determine the cost of ink needed to print the rip or to save the fully configured rip and quickly load and print it in the future.

For a refresher on how to set up images and Layouts see the Setting Up a Print knowledge base article.

Here’s how to rip an image or Layout in Print Pro.

  1. First complete your image(s) and Layout setup, including sizing and creating the white underbase choke for the images.
  2. Place the image(s) onto a Layout if you want to rip the full Layout.
  3. Select the image or Layout you want to rip by clicking on it.
  4. Click on the Add Job icon in the Queue Manager toolbar — the 2nd icon from the left.
    Add Job icon in Queue Manager
  5. Right-click on the new item added under the Queue Manager’s Job Info heading, then click on Rip. You may instead select the new line, then click the Rip Job icon on the Queue Manager toolbar — the 8th icon from the left.
    Rip icon in Queue Manager
  6. Queue Manager’s Status column will display “Ripping…” as it begins ripping the job. This message will change to “RipDone” when the rip is finished.

Viewing Ink Costs of a Ripped Job

  1. Click on the ‘+’ symbol to the left of the ripped job’s name in Queue Manager’s Job Info column.
    Ink costs in Queue Manager
  2. Scroll down the expanded view in the Job Info column to find the amount and cost of each ink color used in the design, as well as the total ink cost.

Saving a Ripped Job

Saving a ripped job is a two-step process. We first tell the software where we want the file to be saved, then we save it.

  1. Review the Save Location for the ripped file in the far right column of Queue Manager. If you want to save the rip to the currently designated location, skip to step 5.
  2. Under the Save Location heading, click on the line of the ripped job that you want to save.
    Save Location in Queue Manager
  3. Click on the ellipses (“…”) that appear at the right end of the line that you clicked on.
  4. In the “Save As” window that appears, navigate to the folder where you want the rip to be saved, and click on the Save button. This does not save the rip. It simply lets you edit the filename to be used and saves the location where the rip will be saved when you do save the rip in the next step.
    Save As... Rip location
  5. Click on the Queue Manager’s Save Job button (a disc icon) to save the rip to your designated location.
    Save Job icon in Queue Manager

Loading a Saved Rip

Loading a saved rip is quick and easy. Since all image and Layout parameters were included when the ripped file was saved, once the rip is loaded it can be immediately printed.

  1. Click on Queue Manager’s Load Job icon. The first icon from the left, with the appearance of an open folder.
    Load Job icon in Queue Manager
  2. In the File Open window that appears, navigate to the folder where the rip file you want to print was stored, then select the rip file and click Open.
    Open a saved rip file in Queue Manager
  3. When the saved rip appears in Queue Manager’s Job Info column, right-click on it and select Print or click on the Print Job icon in Queue Manager’s toolbar.
    Print saved rip in Queue Manager
    • If the print options are grayed out, ensure your printer is selected in Queue Manager’s Printer Name column.
      Printer Name in Queue Manager

Print Pro DTF & DTF Mini Environment Options

About Print Pro Environments

The Print Pro DTF Environments are used to select the resolution and an associated collection of presets for use to set up & print a layout. The different presets, at various resolutions, are for working with different types of designs and color profiles, and can be selected (within a given products available options) based on quality, speed, and cost requirements.

The below video provides an overview of Environment types and the following article provides details about the intended use case for each type of Print Pro DTF Environment used with the OmniPrint’s family of DTF systems.

Your OmniPrint DTF system’s Print Pro DTF Environments may differ from those listed below. You can download and install the latest Environments file for your model from the related knowledge base article link at the bottom of this page.

Environment Resolutions & Options

Environment selection begins with determining the resolution you want to print at. Depending on your design and garment color, you may want to also use one of the optional modified versions for your preferred resolution.

The use cases for the different modifier options will be listed below the base resolutions.

720 x 1800

This resolution of Environment is used when print speed, low production cost, and high volume output are most important. 720 x 2400 or 720 x 3600 resolution Environments are better suited for printing demanding designs with intricate details that need to be reproduced as accurately as possible.

720 x 2400

This resolution of Environment can be considered the base environment we recommend for printing on light or medium-color garments. Color accuracy is optimized rather than vibrancy. This Environment is recommended for all sorts of designs, including single-color text, muted tones, or any prints where details aren’t as important as printing speed, low production cost, and high volume output.

720 x 3600

This resolution of Environment is for use when printing more intricate designs with the entire color range of garments where quality and fine detail is preferred over production speed, despite the slightly higher ink cost.

Full Underbase option

A full coat of underbase is applied, even on black parts of the image. Usually only a thin coat of white underbase will be printed on black parts of the image as the black and white inks may interact with each other causing undesirable results.

This environment is only for edge cases and not to be used except for when black ink on the image dries before powder is applied to it, which makes it difficult for it to adhere to a garment. This environment should only be used if you are personally doing the film transfers on to the garments and it is not recommended to ship out prints to customers using this environment as we have seen issues with black & white ink interacting and causing issues with separation from film & ink bubbling.

Light Garment option

This option is designed for white or light garments with a lighter coat of white underbase.

Black Garment option

This option is strictly for use when it is known that the resulting print will be transferred to a black shirt. This Black Garment option prints no ink for areas of the design that are pure black (RGB value of ‘000’). Instead, the black shirt color will provide the black color for pure black content in the design.

This option is recommended only for cases where the print will be transferred to a black shirt before delivery to your customer. It is not recommended when shipping designs on film to clients.

Ethernet Configuration for OmniDTF & DTF Mini

The OmniDTF & DTF Mini printers use the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) over an Ethernet connection to communicate with your PC. This requires a one-time configuration in Windows, which OmniPrint Training sets up for you during your initial training session.

The following information will help you to perform that same configuration if you should ever need to update your PC’s Ethernet adapter or if you’ve reinstalled the OmniDTF UI and Print Pro software onto a new PC.

Your OmniDTF printer and its software implementation are not designed to communicate over the Internet or any other network. We use a simple point-to-point connection between one PC and the printer, directly connected with a single Ethernet (“RJ45”) cable.

There are two pieces of software where we configure TCP/IP parameters: Microsoft Windows (Control Panel) and Print Pro. We’ll cover both in that order.

Microsoft Windows

Windows Control Panel’s Network and Sharing Center is where any Ethernet adapters to be used in a Windows PC are configured. Use the steps in the below video or the following written instructions to configure an Ethernet adapter for use with the OmniDTF & DTF Mini.

  1. Run Windows Control Panel.
  2. Click on Network and Sharing Center.
    Windows Control Panel - Network and Sharing Center
If you don’t see Network and Sharing Center in Windows Control Panel, it is because Control Panel is in the Category View mode. In that case, first click on Network and Internet, then click on Network and Sharing Center.
  1. Select Change adapter settings
    Change adapter settings
  2. Double-click on the Ethernet adapter to be used (or right-click on the adapter and select Properties).
    Control Panel - Network Adapters
Your Ethernet adapter may have a different description than the Ethernet 4 pictured above. Don’t be concerned if there is a red ‘x’ on the adapter, which simply means that it isn’t currently connected to anything.
The ExpressVPN TAP Adapter does not represent a physical (actual) Ethernet hardware port and is not usable. This is strictly a “virtual” adapter built into Windows for creating VPN connections and has no purpose for the OmniDTF.
  1. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) (or single-click on it and then click the Properties button).
    Ethernet Properties
  2. Click the Use the following IP address radio-button (if it isn’t already selected) and enter the following, then click ‘OK‘.
    IP address: 192.168.127.12
    Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    IPv4 Properties (IP address)

The Windows Control Panel Ethernet configuration is now complete!

Print Pro

Also, Print Pro needs to know the IP address to use for its communication with the printer. Follow the steps in the below video or the following written instructions to set that up.

  1. Run the Print Pro program.
  2. From the Home tab, click on Printer Name Mapping.
    Printer Name Mapping button on Home menu toolbar.
  3. Double-click on the first cell space under the Physical Printer Port heading.
  4. Click on the drop-down lists’s down-carat symbol (downward pointing triangle) at the right end of the cell/box.
  5. Select “127.0.0.1,9100 (TCP/IP ,RAW)”.
  6. Double-click on the first cell space under the Printer Model heading.
  7. Click on the drop-down list’s down-carat symbol.
  8. Select “Omni DTF” or “Omni DTF Mini”, depending on your equipment.
  9. Double-click on the first cell space under the Printer Name heading.
  10. Type any preferred name for the printer, such as “DTF” or “Mini”.
  11. Confirm that your settings look like the image below (depending on your printer model and Printer Name choice), then click on the green checkmark icon to save the settings.
    Map Printer Name dialog

The Print Pro Ethernet configuration is now complete!

OmniDTF & DTF Mini Printhead Alignment

You will occasionally want to adjust the printhead alignment of your OmniDTF or Omni DTF Mini printer, to maintain ideal horizontal & vertical registration between the color and white layers of your prints. This adjustment does not involve manually repositioning the printheads. Instead, it is done using the provided UI software.

If the vertical registration of your OmniDTF is off, be sure to first check the tension of the feed roller knobs on the back of the printer and make sure the left and right sides are at their minimum tension/friction settings before making a vertical printhead alignment adjustment. This mechanical adjustment is critical and too much tension may cause random vertical registration issues that cannot be resolved by the software alignment of the printheads described below.

The process is identical for the OmniDTF and the Omni DTF Mini printers. View the below video or read the following instructions for each step of the printhead alignment process.

Print Speeds

There are three Print Speed settings for the OmniDTF & DTF Mini printers. In both cases, we recommend using the default setting, which is the fastest speed.

All printhead alignment adjustments are made for a given Print Speed, so the print speed selected for alignments should be the same as the print speed selected for printing on the Settings tab.

On the OmniDTF the default and fastest speed is named “Production” and on the Omni DTF Mini the default and fastest speed is named “Fast”.
Print Speed, Omni DTF & DTF Mini
Print Speed default setting names on the OmniDTF (left) and Omni DTF Mini (right)
The UI software’s default Print Speed of Production (on the OmniDTF) or Fast (on the Omni DTF Mini) are recommended and deliver the fastest output at any Environment selection in the Print Pro RIP software.

Alignment Types

There are four types of alignments that can be done. We’ll explain and detail the process for each following the list of types below:

  1. Head Vertical Distance Adjustment
  2. Head Horizontal Distance – Left Adjustment
  3. Head Horizontal Distance – Right Adjustment
  4. Bidirectional Adjustment

To get started, all printhead alignment adjustment types are found under the Align tab of OmniDTF UI program.

Head Vertical Distance

This adjustment, labeled Head Vert Distance Adjust in the software, aligns the white printhead with the CMYK printhead as the film moves forward while printing. (This “vertical” movement of the film is considered the Y axis, while the carriage’s left & right motion is considered the X axis.)

  1. Select your Print Speed to match that on your Settings tab (or the speed you want to now align for if you’re running alignments for multiple speeds.)
  2. Select the Head Distance option on the left side of the Align screen.

    DTF Mini UI - vertical head distance alignement
  3. Click the N Check button under the Head Vert Distance Adjust heading when you’re ready to print the test pattern.

The test pattern prints a series of black & white horizontal line segments above numbered labels. The numbers range from -14 to +14, in increments of 2 and with zero in the center position.

Vertical alignment test print example
Vertical Alignment test print example (partial, on OmniDTF)

While the alignment process on the OmniDTF and the Omni DTF Mini printers is identical, the test pattern for the vertical alignment is slightly different. So we’ll also show the pattern printed on the Omni DTF Mini, as well.

Vertical alignment example print from Omni DTF Mini
Vertical Alignment test print example (partial, on Omni DTF Mini)

Yes, it’s a bit of an eye test, but our task is to identify the column number whose line segments show the black & white portions in best alignment with each other, resulting in a single straight horizontal line. In the first of the two above examples (printed on the Omni DTF), the best column is ‘+4’.

In the ‘+2’ column the white segments are slightly below the black segments, and in the ‘+6’ column the white segments are slightly above the black segments. As you look to the left of the ‘+2’ column you can see that the white segments keep getting further below the black segments and to the right of the ‘+6’ column the white segments keep getting further above the black segments.

So, our takeaway from the evaluation of the test print is that the column with the best alignment is ‘+4’.

  1. Now let’s return to the OmniDTF UI software’s Head Vert Distance Adjust section and note the current value of H2. In our screenshot from step #2 above, the value of H2 is “1453” and the number we got from evaluating the test print in step #3 was ‘+4’, so we add ‘4’ to ‘1453’ and enter the result of 1457 into the H2 field.

    If the column number from step #3 had been a negative number (‘-4’, for example), we would have subtracted ‘4’ from ‘1453’ and entered ‘1449’ into H2.
  2. Click the Save button in the top right corner of the OmniDTF UI window to make the alignment adjustment.


  3. Repeat step #3 above to print another test pattern. This should result in the best-aligned column sitting in the ‘0’ position. If this is the case, the vertical distance adjustment is now completed. If not, repeat steps 3 – 5 to ensure that the best alignment is in the ‘0’ position

Left Horizontal Distance

There are two horizontal distance adjustments under the Head Horz Distance Adjust heading. This is because your OmniDTF prints bidirectionally, so the white and CMYK printheads need to be aligned in both printing directions. The Left Adjust is used for the horizontal alignment when the carriage is moving from right to left, and the Right Adjust for when the carriage moves from left to right.

The process and test patterns for both the Left and Right printhead horizontal distance alignment adjustments are identical, so we will detail the process just once. The instructions will call out the Left Adjust button and H2 field, and you will follow these same steps modified for the Right Adjust button and H2 field for the Right Horizontal Distance Adjustment.
  1. Click the Left distance N Check button to run a test print.
    OmniDTF head alignment, Horiz, left

    The test pattern prints a series of black & white vertical bars above numbered labels. The numbers range from -12 to +12 with zero in the center position.

    OmniDTF UI: Horizontal alignment test print

    The goal is to have the best-aligned set of black & white bars in the 0 (zero) position. So, our takeaway from the evaluation of the test print is that the column with the best alignment is ‘-11’.
  2. Now let’s return to the OmniDTF UI software’s Head Horz Distance Adjust section and note the current value of H2. In our screenshot from step #1 above, the value of H2 (for the Left Adjust line) is “9”. The number we got from evaluating the test print was ‘-11’, so we sum together ‘9’ (or ‘+9’, to be exact) with ‘-11’ and enter the result of ‘-2’ into the H2 field…

    OmniDTF - H2 = "-2"

    …then click the Save button.


  3. Repeat step #1 above to print another test pattern. This should result in the best-aligned column sitting in the ‘0’ position.

    OmniDTF UI: Horiz alignment test zeroed out

With the 0 (zero) position of the test print showing the black & white segments in perfect alignment, the Printhead Horizontal Distance Adjustment (for the leftward motion, in this example) is now complete.

Right Horizontal Distance

The exact same process as the Left Horizontal Distance Adjustment is used to check and adjust the rightward motion alignment.

Follow the instructions from the above Left Horizontal Distance Adjustment section, substituting the Right Adjust button to run test prints and the Right Adjust H2 field to enter updates to that value, as needed.

Bidirectional

Our final task is to align the printheads during bidirectional printing (both left and right.)

  1. Select Bidirec Adjust from the options on the left side of the OmniDTF UI program.



  2. Click on the N Check button to print a test pattern.




    The Printhead Bidirectional Alignment Adjustment test pattern will print.

    OmniDTF UI: Bidirectional alignment test pattern example

    The vertical bar test pattern has top & bottom black segments and a grey middle segment.

    Our task now is to identify the number under the test bar where the middle segment is best aligned with the top & bottom segments, creating a straight vertical bar with the right & left edges of each of the three vertical segments perfectly aligned.

    In our example test print image above, the ‘+3’ column is vertically aligned.

    Bidirect test pattern aligned at +3

  3. Returning to the OmniDTF UI program, we take that value (‘+3’) and sum it with the number in the direct Value field (‘12.00’ in the above screenshot example.) 12+3=15, so we will replace the value of ‘12.00’ with ’15’.




    …and then click the Save button in the upper right corner.



  4. Click the N Check button again to print another test pattern and confirm that the vertical segments are perfectly aligned at the 0 (zero) position.

    OmniDTF: Bidirect test print aligned at zero position


    With the 0 (zero) position of the test print showing the black & gray segments in perfect alignment, the Printhead Bidirectional Adjustment is now complete.

Wrap Up

Congratulations! If you’ve been following along on your OmniDTF printer while reading this article you have now completed all four printhead alignment processes: the Vertical Distance, Left Horizontal Distance, Right Horizontal Distance, and Bidirectional Adjustments.

Remember that these adjustments are each made with a specific Print Speed setting, so if you print using different speed selections at different times then you’ll need to repeat this process for each speed that you use.

Print Pro DTF: Setting Up a Print

Print Pro provides a rich set of features to set up a print job using one or more images to automate the creation of “gang run” layouts, making the most efficient use of your film effortless. This article is intended to supplement your Omniprint training as a handy reference to refresh your memory and to use as an annotated checklist of the process steps.

View the below videos or see the following instructions for all the basics of loading & configuring images, then creating and positioning the images onto a Layout.

Loading Images

Loading your images is the first step in creating a print job. You can either use the Print Pro ‘File Browser’ or click on the Print Pro printer icon in the top-left corner of the program’s window and select ‘Open…’ to navigate through the Windows file system and select image files to load.

The latter option is recommended because it lets you make your selection from thumbnails of images, rather than just their filenames.

Whether you’re printing a single design or multiple different images for a print job, you’ll want to load and configure each image individually.

Setting the Image Configuration

As each image is loaded, set the following parameters using the Q Rip tool.

If the Q Rip tool isn’t visible go to the Home menu tab, click the Panels item, then select QRip from the drop-down list.

Size the Image

Size the image in the Q Rip window, using the 3rd (bottom) option to rescale the image if needed, ensuring that the width does not exceed 14.25″ for the OmniDTF or 12.5″ for the Omni DTF Mini.

When resizing, be sure the padlock icon option is checked to lock the aspect ratio and prevent distorting the image (see red box in the image).

Position the Image

The default settings of ‘Left’ and ‘Top’ are always used in the Q Rip tool (see green box in the above image.) Changing this setting has no effect on where the image will be positioned on the layout. This is because Print Pro will find the earliest (topmost) point in the layout where each image can fit as they are being added to the print job, maximizing the efficiency of linear film use.

Create a White Underbase Choke

After configuring the image in Q Rip, click on the Image menu tab and then on the White Underbase Choke tool.
Image menu with White Underbase Choke option

Click the ‘OK’ button to accept the default Choke Width value of 2.0.
Create Choke dialog

The image is now configured and ready to be loaded onto a Layout.

If you want to print a Layout with a combination of various images on it, repeat the above steps to open a file, set image parameters, and create a white underbase choke for each image before proceeding.

Creating and Configuring a Layout

Now that any images that we want to print have been loaded and their parameters have been set, we’re ready to create the Layout that the images will be placed onto, using the following steps.

If the Page Layout window isn’t already open, select Open Layout from the Home toolbar
Open Layout

Create a New Layout

Whenever we create a new layout we must also tell the Print Pro software which Environment we want to use for printing the new layout. These Environments are a collection of “presets” that OmniPrint provides to simplify and streamline configuring print jobs.

See the Print Pro DTF Environments knowledge base article for more details about the recommended Environment selection for different situations.

Click on the Layout menu, then select New, then hover over Omni DTF and select the desired Environment from the list that appears.

The Layout window is then loaded and preconfigured with the parameters of the selected Environment.

Put Opened Image(s) onto the Layout

Images opened and configured using the above steps will appear as thumbnails with their filenames under the Page Layout window’s Opened Image(s) header.

Double-click on any item in the Opened Image(s) list to add it to the Layout.

You can repeat the above step any time to load more images from the Opened Image(s) list onto the layout, or to load more copies of a single image. But there’s a better way to load many copies of an image once it is on the layout.

Duplicating Images on a Layout

Once an image is on the Layout, you can create additional copies of that image on the layout by clicking the Ups option in the toolbar…
Ups button for image copies

…then enter the number of additional copies you want to add to the Layout into the dialog box that pops up and click the green checkmark.

Ups copies dialog

The additional copies of the image will now appear on the Layout.
Ups copies on Layout
Note: You can scroll down in the Layout window if you want to confirm the number of copies if they don’t all fit in the window’s view. You can also zoom out and in on the layout by using Ctrl+’-‘ (to zoom out) and Ctrl+’=’ (to zoom in).

The ‘Ups’ feature for creating duplicate copies of any image on the layout defaults to copying the image most recently added to the layout. If you want to make copies of a different image (that is already on the layout), first hold down the Ctrl key and click on that image anywhere that it appears on the layout to select that image. Then click the ‘Ups’ button.

That’s how to load images, set their properties, select an Environment for and create a new layout, and place the images onto the layout in Print Pro!

Printing a Layout

To print the Layout, click the Print menu item, then select Print Layout from the toolbar, or just press Ctrl+’p’….
Print Layout menu selection

…and make sure your printer is selected in the Print dialog before clicking the ‘OK’ button.


How to Update Print Pro DTF Environments

About Environments

Print Pro DTF Environments are collections of preset options used to select the printing resolution and other parameters when setting up a print job for the OmniDTF or Omni DTF Mini.

Installed Environments are found in Print Pro DTF by selecting the Layout tab, then clicking on New and hovering over Omni DTF or Omni DTF Mini.

To update the Environments in Print Pro for your DTF printer, download the file for your model at the bottom of this article and follow the instructions in the below video or the following written steps. The process is identical for the OmniDTF and the Omni DTF Mini.

Video Demonstration

Installing the Environments

The installation process of the Environments is quick and easy.

  1. Download the Environments file to the PC on which you’ve installed Print Pro.
    • See the download links at the bottom of this article.
  2. Unzip the contents of the downloaded .zip file (a single .kiee file).
    • Placing the downloaded file on the Windows Desktop is recommended to easily find the file. It can be deleted after this installation process.
  3. Run Print Pro.
  4. Select the Home tab, then click the Import button.
    Print Pro Home tab and Import button

  5. Select the .kiee file that was downloaded, then click the Open button.
  6. If prompted with a message of “Already ‘Omni DTF-720×3600’ environment exist.” (The actual environment name will vary), click the Yes button.
    • If prompted to Select environment settings to use, select ‘Use new environment settings only’ and click OK.
  7. Click OK on the “Media packages imported successfully” window.
    Import successful message

  8. Exit out of the Print Pro program, then restart it.

The OmniDTF or Omni DTF Mini Environments have now been updated and are ready for use.

Print Pro Environments download links