Every gap is information.
For the people who run print-on-demand production — apparel, drinkware, wall art, objects, books. Source-checked, measured, direct. No vendor fluff, no number without a link.
Updated 2026-10-26 · 9 sections · 83 verdicts · Pulse Mondays · Podcast
18 confirmed · 39 partly · 7 unproven · 19 failed — each links its source →
“The Kornit Apollo prints up to 400 pieces per hour, with wet-on-wet pretreat and inline drying.”
Kornit's own page says all three: “up to 400 impressions per hour” in the hero, “Up to 400 shirts per hour” in the technical specifications, and “350-400 prints per hour” in the FAQ. Kornit
Read the verdict →We check before we print.
FACT-CHECK →“AI-powered 8K line-scan cameras behind dryer tunnels are becoming the standard in DTG fulfilment.”
No vendor or fulfiller has documented such a deployment.
Read the verdict →This week, checked:
- 01
Bertelsmann builds a POD book plant. The group is opening a print-on-demand book facility at the Mohn Media site in Gütersloh in April 2027, with an initial capacity of 1.5 million books…
printbusiness.co.uk → - 02
STAHLS' signs a five-year deal with the University Co-op in Austin. The Co-op gets Hotronix heat presses, Fan Edition software and sales kiosks, Fulfill Engine automation, blanks and decoration products, so it can…
screenprintingmag.com → - 03
M&R brought DTF automation to Dallas. Returning to Impressions Expo after a break, M&R planned live demonstrations of its Quatro industrial DTF printer and the Orbiter, which loads…
impressionsmagazine.com →
Inside Issue 002
OCTOBER 2026 · 9 SECTIONS →A preliminary 27,000 against more than 30,000 a year earlier, an equipment-weight figure the organiser's two releases do not reconcile, and the stand where a heat press rated at up to 300 garments an hour was quoted at 300 to 400.
Open section →15× apartCost & durabilityCost and wash life, quoted without a methodInk cost per shirt, cure time and wash life, as the people who sell the ink quote them: different units, no stated method, and one pair of figures that does not survive multiplication.
Open section →7 checksCertificationWhat a mark actually certifiesInk certified in 2018 and 2020, read as if the printer and the shirt were too. Seven checks since August found the same pattern: a mark that covers one narrow thing, quoted as if it covered a broad one.
Open section →3 top speedsEmbroidery & colourOne machine, three speeds, and the threadOne machine with three top speeds depending on the frame, a thread that can cap all of them, and colour tolerances quoted in formulas nobody names.
Open section →800 an hour, advertisedMarket & floorA speed belongs to a configurationA folding machine its maker rates at 700 pieces an hour, for an A4-sized piece, advertised at 800. Apparel returns at a 25% median beside 35 to 45% on the same page. The autumn's deals and rate changes, read the same way: the number, and the scope it was stated for.
Open section →4% or 12%EventsTwo attendance figures for one showThe Print Show in Birmingham reported a 12% rise; counted without one exclusion, it is 4%. Then the calendar to 2028 and the places to look things up.
Open section →Earlier: Issue 001 — state of the industry, August 2026 · All issues →
How we work
METHOD →A Verify
83 claims went through the check and 19 were published as failures. "AVT Helios does textile QC"? Label-industry tool. "8K cameras are standard in DTG"? No evidence anywhere. The failures stay up.
B Measure
A heat press rated at up to 300 garments an hour on its maker's page, and quoted at 300 to 400 on the stand. Every figure in this issue sits beside its source, none smoothed over. Every figure carries its link: 157 sourced references in Issue 002.
C Listen
Forums, podcasts, show floors. What operators actually argue about: DTF eating everything, cheap-machine trust after the Procolored malware scandal, the AI double-bind. Twenty voices worth following, mapped and linked.
What the file needs
PREP →- DTG printing DTG in RGB or CMYK? 150, 300 or 360 DPI, sRGB, not CMYK, black knocked out or underbased on a black shirt: what Printful, Printify, Gelato and Epson ask.
- DTF DTF in RGB or CMYK? 300 DPI at print size, a true transparent PNG, strokes and gaps of 2 pt: what DTF makers, RIPs and shops ask, and where they split.
- Sublimation Mirror sublimation images? On cotton? Mug template size: four platforms, four aspect ratios for an 11 oz-class mug; placement drifts 0.5 to 2 inches.
- Wall decor Canvas and poster print DPI (150 or 300), poster size in pixels, sRGB, 4 mm of bleed and up to 1.5 in lost per canvas edge: what platforms and labs ask.
- Screen printing Screen printing moire, white underbase and halftones: 300 DPI raster, 1 pt strokes, 2 pt gaps, 46 to 55 LPI: what printers and RIPs ask of a file.
- Embroidery Embroidery minimum text size 0.25 in (6.35 mm), lines at least 0.05 in, 6 thread colours from 15: what platforms ask of a logo file, and where they split.
- UV printing UV printing white ink and varnish: spot swatches above the colour, 300 dpi at final size, UV-DTF line minimums of 0.3 to 0.6 mm: what makers and RIPs ask.
- HTV and vinyl Mirror HTV or not? 5000 paths on Cricut, 0.001 mm cut lines on Roland, Poli-Flex's 1 mm minimum size: what makers and cutter software ask of a file.
- Resolution and DPI 150 vs 300 vs 600 DPI? 150 for DTG and 300 for DTFlex at Printful, no DPI at Redbubble or on a cut path: floor, recommendation or printer output.
- Colour RGB or CMYK for printing? sRGB or RGB on most platforms, CMYK first at two DTF shops, RGB inside two screen RIPs: what sources state, and who converts.
- KDP spine width, bleed and cover size KDP spine width, bleed and cover size: 300 ppi at KDP, Lulu and IngramSpark, 150 at Gelato, bleed of 0.125 in or 4 mm, a spine set by page count.
- Stickers Sticker cut line, bleed size and white ink on clear: 300 PPI, 1/16 to 1/8 in of bleed, a cut line named by spot colour or drawn as a magenta stroke.
- Mug and tumbler template sizes, DPI and seam Mug and tumbler template size changes per platform and product (2538x945 px, 2718 × 1112 px, 200x96mm): 300 dpi at print size, a seam under the handle.
- All-over print All-over print template per panel, at least 150 dpi at print size, 9038 × 8148 px canvases, print shift from 0.5 inch (Printify) to 2 inches (Printful).
- PDF/X-1a vs X-4 and printer PDF rules PDF/X-1a vs X-4: X-1a at KDP, X-1a or X-3 at IngramSpark, X-4 at Gelato and Cloudprinter, no flavour at Lulu: what each platform asks of a PDF.
House rules
PRINCIPLESSend a claim through the nozzle check.
A vendor said it, a forum repeats it, a brochure printed it. Paste it here — if it clears the gate, it gets a verdict with sources. Failed claims get published too.
1 · scout queue→2 · human gate→3 · verdict
A claim without a link cannot be checked · we read everything · no email required