Have you ever wondered why Joto carries two laser dark transfer papers?

CL Dark Premium and CL Dark II may seem like the same paper with the same purpose, but they are not.  There are a lot of similarities in both papers. They both are for dark fabrics, which mean they are both a white opaque printable film with a backing sheet,  they both require cutting of the image or graphic, and both work in oil and non-oil laser printers and copiers.

The main difference of the paper is that one is applied at a significantly lower temperature than the other.  CL Dark II is applied at 255F for 10 seconds and CL Dark Premium is applied at 385F at 25 seconds.  Because of the lower temperature and time required, CL Dark II can be applied to more heat sensitive fabrics such as non-woven bags like the ones used at trade shows and grocery stores.  In addition, CL Dark II has the ability to produce two different finishes depending on what protective sheet you use when pressing.  When using a silicone sheet you will achieve a matte finish.  A gloss effect can be produced when using a gloss finishing sheet or when using our MuliTack tacking sheet.

With all the useful features of CL Dark II, why don’t we call that the premium paper?  Well it’s simple, the CL Dark Premium washes a little bit better, and the hand is also a tiny bit better than the CL Dark II.  Because most customers will be using laser dark transfer papers for shirts, the lower application temperature of CL Dark II is not that significant.

Having said that, the difference in hand and wash resistance although is better with the Dark Premium it does depend on the type of laser printer you are using.  We offer to sample customers both types of paper for their testing to ensure they can properly evaluate the image quality, hand and wash results on their piece of equipment.

The bottom line is that we want to give our customers the option to choose the right laser dark paper for their business.  Some people may want CL Dark II simply because the lower temperature and time works better for the products they are imaging; others may choose the CL Dark Premium because they found it washed better when tested.

Heck if you can’t decide, stock both the laser dark papers and let your customers decide which one is better!