Shrinkage Compensation is designed to combat printed textile size distortion after the finishing processes, shrinkage compensation allows users to measure, compare and calculate the amount of distortion, and enter a compensation scale for all prints in a particular queue.
Finishing processes such as washing and steaming can have a shrinkage or expansion effect on printed textile samples. The effect can vary between samples and specific materials.
How to workout your Shrinkage Compensation
- Open and print a design on a specific textile substrate.
- Put the printed design through the relevant finishing processes.
- Measure the physical width and height of the printed textile design after finishing.
How to setup your Shrinkage Compensation
- Select the relevant queue window and go to Queue Menu > Shrinkage Compensation or click on the Shrinkage Compensation Settings button in the toolbar.
- Enter the original design width and height, as stated in the digital AVA file, in the Expected Size fields.
- Enter the printed design width and height, as measured after finishing, in the Actual Size fields.
- Click on Calculate Scale. The actual scaling will be entered in the Horizontal and Vertical Scale fields at the top of the window.
- Click OK and the shrinkage compensation is now set for the selected queue.
This will mean that after printing / finishing the final file will be the correct size (size sent to print). You can repeat steps for other queues / substrates and processes requiring different scaling compensations.