Print Your Own T-shirt Designs!

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print you own t-short designs: PremiumCompatibles Blog

Create a personalised T-shirt revolution this summer and print your own!

There are many surprising ways to make use of your printer, which might just be sitting there waiting to be utilised. Why not get creative and make your own t-shirt this summer and set a trend?

Firstly, when you create a T-shirt design, you need to consider what your design is going to represent. If you are an illustrator or artist, maybe you can include your work in the design, but you need to think about how it is going to look on a T-shirt. Consider using a photo in your design; it could be yours or a stock photo.

Pick a colour palette taking into consideration the colour of the T-shirt that you are printing on. Avoid pastel colours on lighter T-Shirts as they may have visibility issues once printed. If you do use pastel colours maybe outline it in a darker colour. You are creating your own brand in effect so think about the colours that convey your identity. If you use adobe illustrator, the global colours settings can help with picking the right colour schemes.

Think about the right placement for your design on the T-shirt. Once you’ve created a digital mock up, create your T-shirt by transferring a printout onto a plain shirt using an iron-on transfer paper or a heat transfer paper and an iron. Make sure you iron across the whole image evenly. Peel off the paper and you’ll be left with the transferred image. The last crucial step is to place the silicon paper, usually supplied with the transfer paper, over your design and iron over it again to fix the image and help it last over.

print your own t-shirt transfer designs

Running out of ink or toner? For ink and toner cartridges compatible with your printer click here!

The Top 7 Printer Brands & Their Best Printers for Home & Office Use – Our Ranking

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Epson Stylus Office BX625FWD printer cartridge at PremiumCompatibles

The following ranking is based on two qualifications. Firstly, the company’s success as a brand and secondly the quality of printers and cartridges. However, when evaluating printers it is best to consider your requirements and pick accordingly as you don’t want to be comparing apples to oranges! The following rankings have overall rankings for home and office use. But, a machine lower on the ranking may suit your needs better than one higher up! Furthermore, all the printers listed are great machines!

  1. Hewlett-Packard (HP)
    1. For home – HP LaserJet Pro M15w
    2. For office – HP PageWide Pro 477dw
  2. Canon
    1. For home – Canon Maxify MB2750
    2. For office (professional photography use) – Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Professional Photo Inkjet Printer
  3. Brother
    1. For home – Brother DCP-J774DW
    2. For office – Brother HL-L8360CDW
  4. Epson
    1. For home – Epson ECOTANK ET-2750
    2. For office – Epson Stylus Office BX625FWD
  5. Ricoh
    1. For home – Ricoh SPC-240DN
    2. For office – Ricoh SPC842DN
  6. Samsung
    1. For home – Samsung Xpress C1810W
    2. For office – Samsung Xpress C480W All-in-One Wireless Laser Printer
  7. Xerox 
    1. Xerox VersaLink C405DN for office use, Xerox tends to be more suitable for office use.

HP PageWide Pro M15w Printer

Firstly, We hope that this ranked list of picked out printers was useful and helpful to you. We encourage you to make the right choice and at least think about one of the printers featured on this list.

Additionally, if you wish to contact us about anything, you can visit our store or you can go to our Contact Us page here. You can also call our number or get in touch with us on our Social Media Accounts. Please note that all links and information will be provided at the end of this Blog Post.

We hope this Blog post was useful to you and we encourage you to come back every Friday, when we post new content on our Blog!

Our social media accounts: Twitter | Facebook @PremiumComps

Address: 61 East Barnet Road, Barnet, EN4 8RN

Tel: 020 8449 4877

Print & Make Your Own Working Pinhole Camera!

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Did you know that it’s absolutely possible to make your own camera? Here are the instructions! Get creative and dive right in!

Pinhole camera

Firstly, you will need:

  • A3 Card
  • Photo paper
  • Thin piece of metal
  • Tape
  • Xacto Knife
  • Needle
  • Sand paper
  • This Template
  • Scissors
  • New film roll
  • Developer
  • Fixer
  • Water
  • Tongs
  • Towels
  • Dark room
  • Safe light

Step 1: Making the Pinhole

  • Poke a very small hole using the needle in the metal sheet and sand it until it is smooth.
  • Trim the metal sheet so that it is a 10cm square with the hole in the centre,

Step 2: Making the Camera Box

  • To be honest you can use any box that does not allow light in, but here is a template for you to print on quite thick A3 card, cut out, and make your own box:

pinhole camera template

(If you can’t print on card then print on A3 paper and stick the template on card and cut out the parts.)

  • Here are instructions to make the box and also add the film:

Step 3: Placing the Pinhole

  • Securely place the metal sheet with the pinhole so that the hole in at the center of the front opening of the box, and stick it in place.

Step 4: Shooting the Picture

  • This only works when it is bright and sunny. Depending on lighting, hold the shutter open and point at what you want to shoot keeping the camera as still as possible for length of time as indicated on the template. Note that this should be between 1 second and 2.5 minutes.

Step 5: Developing

  • Firstly, make sure the dark room is pitch black and you use a safe light like an orange LED or a red darkroom light bulb.
  • The film will be negative so make it positive by putting photo paper under the developed negative face to face, with the negative on top.
  • Use the piece of glass to press them together and turn the lights on for a few seconds. Now develop the positive (using the developer, then water, then fixer and then air dry.)

Step 6: Decorating your camera

  • Don’t forget to also decorate your epic pinhole camera, you can paint it black or stick printed designs or faux leather on it.

Check out our own brand printer cartridges that cost you a fraction of the originals on the market!

Pocket Printers and Other Novelties

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With the increasingly busy lifestyles of the modern man and woman, comes the need to have easy fix solutions to problems. The print industry has seen many such problems as times change forcing the industry to evolve. The need to print on the move has caused a growing market for portable printing consumables and hence the advent of pocket printers. A Kickstarter campaign was launched which would revolutionise the print industry. Zuta Labs’ innovative pocket printer was invented as a result. This small robot moves across your page printing out your requirements as it goes. Due to its design, it can print on any size paper; wheels move across the paper with the omni-wheel system allowing the printer to turn and drive accurately in any direction. Print requests are sent via Bluetooth.

Zuta Labs Pocket Printer that runs on wheels

How small is the Pocket Printer and what can you do with it?

The device is only 10cm x 11.5cm and weights only 300g, making it perfect for carrying with you. However, it currently only prints using black ink.

There is, however, a range of other pocket printers on the market. The Huawei Pocket Photo Printer can print colour photos in 313 x 490 dpi resolution, and uses Zink – an inkless printing technology, which is used in instant photo printers. huawei pocket photo printerYou can print, peel and stick social media posts for example, when you print with the Zink stick-backed photo papers. Weighting only 195g, it is your ideal portable printing companion. Not only this, but it also makes use of Augmented Reality (AR) printing. You can link a video to your photo, which will play automatically when you scan the printed photo!

Augmented Reality Huawei Pocket Printer

In fact, platforms such as PhotoBloom AR take a modern twist on tradition online photo printing. The magic of moving portraits is no longer a novelty confined to the realms of films like Harry Potter! It used to be that this technology was only accessible with AR images in magazines and billboard posters. Now as you can make your own photos come to life using a new pocket sized printer and accompanying AR app, you can hold up the finished print and watch it animate on your phone! Lifeprint is another printer that has this technology in-built, and is priced at £134.95. It works with the ZINK Zero Ink Technology, which has invisible code that works with the accompanying app!

The Balance between traditional printing and innovation

However, if you’re happy to stick to traditional printers, but want that innovative sparkle, why not experiment with metallic inks? For printing businesses, in this age of evolve or die, this simple twist can give you that extra help to survive as a print company.

If you want premium quality compatible ink cartridges and toner cartridges, check us out! At PremiumCompatibles, we sell inks and toners at a fraction of the cost of originals!

Easter Mandala Cards for Your Children to Colour In

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Happy Easter From PremiumCompatibles

With Easter on the horizon, everything seems to be geared towards making the most of the festival period. From stacks of Easter egg boxes in supermarkets to 3D Easter cards, there’s many creative ways to celebrate the festival. Also children, who will be on their Easter holiday break, will need something to be inspired by and be creative. Why not help them make Easter cards to gift to their friends and family members? Here are some of our favourite designs, including mandalas, which you can print out for your children to colour in. Feel free to download and print them on card. (Print nearer one edge of the card as opposed to the center. You can then fold it into a greeting card.)

coloring-easter-and-rabbit-egg easter colouring in design  easter-mandala-1 easter-mandala-2 easter-mandala-3 easter-mandala-coloring-pages-easter-egg-mandala-coloring-pages-3

If you are running low on black ink or toner cartridge for printing these designs, try our compatible cartridges. You can use our search tools to locate correct compatible products for you printer by entering its make and model. We sell great value compatible ink and toner cartridges at a fraction of the cost of originals! Go to our homepage to do this. Have a wonderful and festive Easter holiday from all of us at PremiumCompatibles!

If you wish to contact us about anything, you can visit our store or also see our Contact Us page here. You can also call our number or get in touch with us on our Social Media Accounts. Please note that all links and information will be provided at the end of this Blog Post.

We hope this Blog post was useful to you and we encourage you to come back every Friday, when we post new content on our Blog!

Our social media accounts: Twitter | Facebook @PremiumComps

Address: 61 East Barnet Road, Barnet, EN4 8RN

Tel: 020 8449 4877

How to Save Ink when Printing Photos (if you’re not a Photographer)

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Save ink when printing photographs

The amount of ink needed to print even the smallest of photos is too much if you do this on a regular basis. Unless you need great professional quality photographs (in which case this post is not for you) there is no reason why you should keep to the photo settings of the original photograph. And photographs pop up everywhere in this digital age, from ordinary documents, newspaper articles to blogging sites. But Ink doesn’t come cheap, especially if you buy original ink from the manufacturer of your printer, so it goes without saying that you would need tips to edit those photos to make your ink or toner cartridge last a bit longer. Indeed, there are several ways in which you can adjust your photos and the way you print them to reduce your print budget.

Shrink the Print Size of the Photos

Shrinking the photo decreases the area of the paper needed to have ink dispensed on it, thus requiring less ink. You can usually reduce the size of a photo in a word processor or photo editor/viewer. Shrinking can be done to percentages of the original image. If you reduce by 50% you quarter the amount of ink required!

Reducing the Photos’ Saturation Levels

Pretty much all photo editors including the free or basic ones (an even photo viewers) have tools to reduce saturation. Even if editing Microsoft Word document, you can adjust the saturation levels there too. Saturation is the depth or intensity of colour of your photo; it is the extent to which your photo contrasts with white. It is intuitive to see that if you decrease the saturation level that the amount of ink used can be reduced too. The down side of this is that the lower the saturation level, the lower the vibrancy of the photo your printer would print as less in is needed to be deposited on the paper.

reduce saturation to decrease ink dispensed

Black and White Printing

If you don’t require a colour photo and are just using a photo, graphic or illustration for supplementing other material, you would probably be better off with a black and white photo as black ink tends to be less expensive that colour inks. Usually you would be able to change to black and white where you find the toggles to change saturation. In fact a greyscale photograph is just a photo with all its colour saturation reduced to zero.

Therefore, if you don’t have the option of making the photo black and white in the software you are using, reduce the saturation to zero. It should do the trick. This method would work if you printer takes and dispenses black ink separately to colour ink. However, it doesn’t benefit you if the colour inks are mixed to make the black. In this case you might even be worse off, so check how your printer recreates black first.

Print in Economy Mode

When you go to print, the print settings box will pop up. You can change the setting to the economy mode which sometimes goes by the term ‘Print on Saver Mode’ or ‘Save Toner’ or even ‘Draft Mode’. Selecting this option will often reduce the resolution and the printer will know to dispense less ink. Ideally this setting is used for initial drafts of documents where overall quality is no important.

As ink is expensive and photos tend to consume a lot of it, you need ways to reduce your budget. We hope these tips are helpful!

save ink when printing photos

If you wish to contact us about anything, you can visit our store or see our Contact Us page here. You can also call our number or get in touch with us on our Social Media Accounts. All links and information will be provided at the end of this Blog Post.

We hope this Blog post was useful to you. We encourage you to come back every Friday, when we post new content on our Blog!

Our social media accounts: Twitter | Facebook @PremiumComps

Address: 61 East Barnet Road, Barnet, EN4 8RN

Tel: 020 8449 4877

DIY Virtual Reality Headset For Kids – Step-by-Step Tutorial

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Make it Using Everyday Objects – You don’t even need to buy the lenses!

VR Google Cardboard Headset

To make the Headset you will need:

  • Scissors
  • Cardboard (A3)
  • Paper (A3)
  • Stencil Cutter/Knife
  • Glue
  • Quick Dry Epoxy
  • Clear Plastic Bottle made of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
  • Syringe with needle
  • Velcro or Rubber Band
  • Glue Stick and Glue Gun
  • Neodymium Magnet (optional for older iPhones)
  • Smartphone (iOS/Android)
  • Downloaded template

The Steps:

  1. Make the Lenses
  2. Make the Template
  3. Make the Enclosure/ Headset

1. Make the Headset Lenses:

What you need to do to make a pair of Biconvex Lens for the VR Headset is:

  • Firstly, make a circular template (25mm in diameter) on a sheet of paper.
  • Use the template to cut circular pieces from the plastic bottle using scissors. You need 4 of these. Make sure to use the part of the plastic bottle with good curvature.
  • Combine 2 of the circular plastic cut outs to make a biconvex shaped lens and carefully seal the circumference using the quick dry epoxy.
  • Do the same with the remaining pair of plastic cut outs.
  • Now, fill your syringe with clear water and carefully inject it inside the biconvex lenses. (You can gently squeeze the lens to remove any air bubbles and then continue to fill.)
  • Seal the hole made by the syringe and leave to dry.
  • Repeat steps 5 & 6 with the second pair of lenses.

Now that you have your lenses we can make the cardboard enclosure for them.

2. Make the Template

For the template:

VR Cardboard Headset template for Kids

  • Save this jpeg and print it landscape on A3 paper. The dimensions should be just right. You would need colour cartridges to print the red lines. (For everyday printing use such as this, why not try our great value and premium quality range of compatible ink and toner cartridges?)
  • Glue the template on A3 cardboard and once dry, cut out using scissors and a stencil cutter/knife. Take care to cut only along the black outlines.

3. Make the Enclosure/ Headset

Now you are ready to assemble you headset. Follow these instructions:

  • First of all, fold along the red lines.
  • Affix the two biconvex lenses in to the lens part and fold so that there are 3 layers of cardboard to make the lens holder.
  • Next, attach the flaps of the cardboard lens holder into the boxes of the other cut out.
  • After that, affix the disk magnet using glue on the dotted circle with mirror image of ”Magnet” written on it.
  • Then, stick the ring magnet with the other on the reverse side.

Your VR Head is ready for use!

Download the Cardboard App from the Google Play Store onto your Smartphone to use it. Place your phone inside the VR Headset and secure with Velcro or a rubber band. Enjoy!

If you are feeling confident and more adventurous, why not use AutoCAD to design a 3D model this VR headset? Check out our range of 3D filaments.

Google Cardboard VR Headset

The Evolution of The Printer

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The evolution of the printer

The continuous evolution and innovation of print technology has meant that we are now heading towards 3D printing, which is becoming increasingly capable of recreating everything from circuit boards and automobiles to body parts! However, the invention of inkjet and laser printers has had a profound impact in transforming our personal and professional lives. The current era is seeing printers that create beautiful images ideal for photography printing such as the Canon ImagePROGRAF series.

Facts of the Industry in the Modern Era

The origins of printing in fact dates back millennia and due to the ever-increasing demand for better and better quality prints, printers have evolved to the printing technology we have today. However, as times change and technology evolves at the high rate it is currently advancing in, the old technology quickly goes out of date, meaning printers become cheaper and cheaper more quickly, provided you are not buying the latest technology of course. The need for speed drove the development of new printing technologies and toady high productivity is ensured in the field of industrial printing. High-speed one-pass printing is now the norm. The truth is, we have probably reached a level of printing efficiency that is optimal for everyday use, so we are just innovating for better quality prints for use that is for professional or niche uses.

So, if your purpose for printing is for normal everyday use, then you probably won’t need the latest invention – any decent printer on the market would do. However, as printers become outdated, prices go down, and margins lower. So the printing industry can only profit from the sales , as they are replenishable and would provide consistent revenue. The result – huge margins on OEM (original equipment manufacturer) products. This therefore means the prices of cartridges are high to say the least. At PremiumCompatibles we sell non-original compatible cartridges of premium quality for a fraction of the cost of original cartridges. Which means that our products are better value.

The Origins

The origins of printing are hard to trace and come from different source. The Diamond Sutra is recognised as the world’s first printed book dating back to the Chinese T’ang Dynasty in 868AD. However, the Sumerians, who are considered to be the first civilisation to invent writing for the purpose of language, invented clay tablets dating back to 3200BCE. Paper, in the form we are familiar with today, spread from China via the Silk Road in 206BCE. It also seems that the history of ink dates back millennia too! The Egyptians and the Chinese both seemed to have used to inks in 2500 BCE.

The Gutenberg Press

Gutenberg came up with the idea of putting each letter of the alphabet in its own block so that printers can then shuffle them around to create words and sentences. The impact of this simple idea was profound – before his invention, there were around 30,000 books in all of Europe, less than 50 years later there were around 12,000,000.

The Xerograph

Chester Carlson invented a method of printing using dry ink. He used static electricity and flashes of light to help powdered ink stick to a drum. It was then rolled over paper to produce the image. This method became known as xerography, and printing today uses the same principles.

InkJet and Laser Printers

Laser and inkjet printers were invented at the same time. About thirty years after, Carlson, Gary Starkweather experimented and combined a laser with a xerographic copier. InkJet printers on the other hand were inspired by a coffee percolator! A researcher named John Vaught realised that ink could be heated and made to pop and shoot at a page. At PremiumCompatibles we specialise in compatibles of both kinds! Check out our range of HP inks and toners!

So there you have it, the printer went through many phases to reach where it has today. It continues to evolve today.

The Evolution of the Printer by Premium Compatibles

Printing Tips for Students & Teachers

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Printing Tips for Students and Teachers

Though the digital age has meant that everything has migrated online including within the education sector, printing is still a compulsory part of school/college/university life. Both Students and Teachers can see the impact that printing costs can have on finances. Here are some top tips to reduce costs so that you can save that little bit extra.

Firstly, investing in a printer will mean you would not need to go elsewhere to print that last minute dissertation and you will have the flexibility to print what you need when you need to. You will need a printer that fully integrates with your life – for example, Wi-Fi printing has now become almost mandatory. Choosing a printer that does not have a heavy running cost is a smart idea. However, as printer brands tend to adopt loss leader strategies (that is by selling the printer for less and charging extortionately for OEM cartridges) it would be wise to consider the overall average cost in the long term.

Buying a cheaper printer may often lead to buying expensive cartridges, so be smart and have foresight when selecting the printer for your needs. You will also save money in the tong term if you print smartly – that is choosing the print double sided for example, which will reduce paper costs.

Compatible cartridges save costs but often also guarantee the same page yield and quality as the originals – perfect for Students! There are a wide range of cartridge options available. Educate yourself in the best choice for your printer as well as your printing needs. Value cartridges will be best for everyday use for example. At PremiumCompatibles we sell only high quality products. Check the page yield, the capacity, and whether or not the cartridges are longer lasting ones. You could get a variety of descriptions ranging from high capacity and XL to ultra high capacity.

You may only require black and white printing as opposed to colour so keep requirements in mind when choosing printers/cartridges. (Also do not forget to do your research; make sure you printer will take compatibles without causing a problem. Some printers have been programmed to disallow non-original cartridges. However, don’t panic if yours does this – often it’s just a matter of adjusting the settings to make compatibles work!) On our PremiumCompatibles website you can search for compatibles by typing printer make and model or navigating through menu categories.

You may lower overall costs in the long term if you invest in twin packs or multi packs. Sign up to our newsletter to get special discounts and offers by opting in to the marketing at the checkout. You can then get offers and discounts via email. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and make use of the discounts advertised there. We have an offer where when your school buys from us for the first time they will get 10% off. All of these tips will help you print smarter! Students, Teachers – Buy Our Products and Save Costs!

Wi-Fi Printing; Tips for printing for students and teachers

Sustainable – The UK Print Industry

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Is The UK Printing industry sustainable?

The UK is the fifth largest producer of printed products in the world. Printing adds relatively more value than any other manufacturing industry, (it had the largest total Gross Value Added out of all industries in 2016). Most printed products have a significant impact on marketing from newspapers, magazines and brochures to packaging and ticketing. It makes sense; print delivers the greatest return on advertising expenditure. The statistics on the return on advertising spend from 2004 – 2015 show magazines to be even more successful than TV and digital video. Is the Printing Industry Sustainable Today?

In 2017, though the internet was the top ranked media (41.2% share), printed media was comfortable second at 29.9%. Although the internet is rapidly growing and taking the market share, overall advertising expenditure is increasing anually. Soxpenditure on printed media increases. So, is the industry looking to grow or decline in the next five years. It seems we’re at crossroads and both options look likely, but it’s unlikely that it’ll ever overtake online growth rate.

But, is Print Sustainable?

The print industry has suffered in recent years due to economic concerns, advancements in technology and an unpredictable business environment due to changing market expectations, which have contributed to the industry’s uncertain future. However, it has evolved after bearing through the years of struggle. Not only have printer manufacturers refined their systems to minimise waste and maximise productivity, but the use of renewable resource make print sustainable, and environmentally smart media buyers are beginning to go back to print. Unfortunately, some manufacturers of original printing products do not make their cartridges last long enough. This means increased waste due to more needing to be bought.

Our ink and toner cartridges are long lasting and tend to have higher page yields. We sell only premium quality compatibles and remanufactured ink and toner cartridges, which work just as well as the original. Our products are also a better value option.

The printing industry can nevertheless affect environmental sustainability. With printers automating and streamlining their processes to reduce waste and emissions and the quality of ink increased, the efficiency of the outcome of improves both commercial and environmental sustainability. Expert printing technology ensures fewer mistakes are made in printing. Also, companies in the packaging industry are adopting greener options such as using biodegradable packaging.

The sustainability of print also depends on other factors such as how good our recycling schemes are. The growth of print management companies have contributed to the conscious print management effort by larger businesses. Print could therefore be sustainable provided conscious choices are made by large individual companies industry wide.

printing industry in the uk and sustainability