System and method for direct to garment printing

A system for enabling direct-to-garment printing of an irregularly shaped article comprising:

• a. one or more direct-to-garment printers;
• b. one or more platens with one or more eyelet holes passing through a body of the one or more platens wherein the size, position, and number of the one or more eyelet holes correspond to the size, position, and number of eyelets of a corresponding irregularly shaped article, and wherein the one or more platens are configured to stretch the irregularly shaped article such that the irregularly shaped article has a flat and regular print surface;
• c. an imaging device configured to produce one or more image datasets indicating a position of the irregularly shaped article;
• and
• d. a management server configured to:
• i. receive one or more image datasets associated with the imaging device;
• ii. determine and register the position and orientation of the irregularly shaped article based on the one or more image datasets;
• and
• iii. produce a build path for the one or more direct-to-garment printers such that one or more direct-to-garment printers can accurately print onto the irregularly shaped article.

A method of direct-to-garment printing of an irregularly shaped article, the method comprising:

• a. receiving one or more correlated image datasets;
• b. identifying optical characteristics wherein the optical characteristics are associated with the irregularly shaped article;
• c. determining a type of irregularly shaped article based on the optical characteristics;
• d. determining an orientation of the irregularly shaped article relative to a viewed point based on the image datasets;
• e. determining a position of the irregularly shaped article relative to the viewed point based on the image datasets;
• f. determining if the orientation and position of the irregularly shaped article are usable;
• and
• g. providing a build path for a direct-to-garment printer such that the direct-to-garment printer prints on a desired area of the irregularly shaped article.